Fantasy ⊞Mistwalker Logs

[EmperorsChosen]

Selena Purcell
Northmound Outpost - Hanger C3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Selena merely gave the priestess a caring smile before turning her attention to the few that shuffled in after. They seemed to be in brighter and less abrasive spirits than some of the others, save for a boy. Another child, Selena wondered, her gaze settling on him in particular as he approached the three of them. He also appeared to have some kind of a reflexive response upon seeing them, though Selena didn't show any reaction to that. As he began blabbering off thoughts and hypotheses, the woman couldn't help cover her mouth with her sleeved arm to hide a soft chuckle.

It wasn't long after that the HR manager appeared to usher them all inside for a tour, which Selena stood up and followed along with while wheeling her luggage. The crew were a lively bunch it seemed, and they were even given rooms. That was a surprise as Selena fully expected them to be in some kind of living quarters with bunks. Instead, they just shared a roommate.

Selena settled herself into a room, teasing the serious man about sharing a dorm. Unsurprisingly he didn't seem to care, for the rooming nor her levity. Regardless, she had a good night of sleep.

The following morning, Selena dressed herself in what was her field garb. Clad mainly in white, she wore her identifying AIMC jacket over her shoulder, acting as extra covering for her right arm. Her top seemed to be some kind of alteration of a researcher's coat with wider sleeves as was her top the day prior, albeit these sleeves seemed detachable and revealed the top of her shoulders. Her left forearm was equipped with some kind of plate armor and glove. Her top flowed off into a dress at her waist with a cut on the left side for maneuverability. Underneath, her bottoms consisted of some kind of a bodysuit or tights which underlay metal boots or heels that went from her knee down to her feet. At her left hip dangled a long, mechanical sheath with a hilt.

She met with the others within the hanger, bidding good morning to those she encountered on the way. Selena watched with a neutral smile as the gremlin and Gene went. Looking on, it seemed she was next.

Stepping forward, her greaves clacking against the flooring of the hanger, Selena turned to face the group with her armored hand resting on the hilt of her weapon. "Good morning everyone~ I am Selena Pursell. Despite how I look, I'm not a combat specialist. My job will be conducting research on the mist during our excursions, as well as trying to make heads or tails of phenomenon we encounter, so I'll be relying on a lot of you. That said, I'm not quite dead weight," She said, throwing a bet of self-depreciation in despite her happy tone.

Facing the dummy, Selena's left hand tilted it slightly. With a clicking sound, there was an audible crack as if from a gun, launching the blade with ferocious speed at the dummy's head. The pommel smacked it, sending the head lurching back slightly and the blade back towards Selena where she caught it with her left hand, bringing the sword down once again on the dummy's shoulder. "It's modified based off Gerralian designs," She commented, sheathing it. Taking a more traditional stance with widened base and slightly rotated torso, her right arm gripped the handle, mostly concealed but what was visible appeared to be some kind of shiny, black, claw-like thing. Then, there was another click, followed by a loud crack, and Selena drew, cutting the sword against the dummy's side resulting in an audible whip.

Following this, she sheathed the sword once again and walked back to the group, leaving it at a simple demonstration.

Interactions: All present

 

[Nellancholy]

Kythera, for her part, had slept deeply but not in a notably comforting way. She couldn't remember the last dream she had, at that. Something to look into, maybe.

More to her surprise was the test set before them. She had expected some exercise, certainly. Maybe something like several kilometers' jog, or some elementary climbing practice, twenty feet or so of rough rock? The kind of skill that would serve them consistently. But perhaps deep down even their gracious hosts enjoyed seeing the kind of spectacle a combat demonstration would bring.

The first three participants gave quite the showing, though what impressed Kythera more was the sturdy construction of the dummies. So pliant yet still in one piece despite what they had been subjected to so far...

She stepped forward, turning to regard her new teammates. "Perhaps our first meeting was cut a little short." She clasped her hands under the icon hanging from her neck, bowing slightly as a gesture of politeness. "I am Cleric Kythera Ouranos, of Radionica's Celestia Power Plant. By U235's grace I am perfectly capable of survival on our expeditions into the Mist, in order to carry out my primary duty, securing of radioactive or otherwise contaminated materials..." Her voice trailed off as she walked towards the dummies, still explaining her field.

"...as for encoding, I specialized in containment..." Kneeling down, she held her EAD, marking the base of every other dummy with deflection glyphs before making her way back.

"While we work together, you may consider yourself as safe as those objects I marked." With her other hand, she drew her arc pistol, one of the fine examples of Radionican technology. She let it hum subtly in her hand for a moment, feeling the full charge of a fresh folded alkaline battery. With a flick of her thumb she set the weapon to maximum output, the better to demonstrate.

Another breath. She pulled the trigger.

A CRACK crashed through the air as electricity discharged in a voluminous, yet controlled burst from the weapon, a cone of lightning that struck every unmarked dummy, but conspicuously forked away from the marked ones.

"Hm." She allowed herself a satisfied smile. "And my abjuration is not limited to pre-emptive preparation. Allow me to..." And just how would she demonstrate that?

Considering her options, she holstered the arc pistol, pulling out her plasma rifle instead. "Perhaps..."

Careful to moderate its output to the lower end this time, she aimed it at a large clump of grass between the team and the dummies. She pulled the trigger.

A bright blue orb streaked from the rifle, igniting a portion of the grass in a flash. Just like that, it instantaneously generated a blaze the size of a large bonfire, one that would soon spread out of control, if not...

Kythera stepped forward, EAD in her other hand. Striding undaunted towards the flames, she twirled it around, like the gesture of a gymnast with a ribbon, or like she was gathering cotton candy. Rather than surging and licking at her as wildfire might, the flames swirled around her wand, condensing and forming into a sphere about the size of a ping pong ball, hanging in the air.

"Now, we are quite safe, though I cannot move the contained energies from this point nor dissipate them. However..." With that, she stepped out of the way and swiped the EAD forward.

With a swoosh, the contained flames slashed forward like a red-hot sword, again striking the unmarked dummies and lightly charring them.

"I do hope that was satisfactory?" As she stepped back, she flashed Marianne a smile.

 

[Cresion Breezes]

Navox Cerulewurst
Northmound Outpost, Hangar C3 Exterior
[22/09/1035]
Interactions: All
Mentions: All


Navox rolled his eyes when the airship's navigation staff said something about "not touching the things in the control room", or something like that, he didn't really listen, he was too busy looking at the mechanisms of the navigation system before they had to pack and leave.

The night was rather silent, there wasn't the sound of humming servers near him anymore, it was a different experience from his life back in Miscantia, different, but somewhat exciting. It took a bit to get use to the silence, only the footsteps of nearby scurrying outpost staff broke the high-pitch ringing in Navox's ears when it was too quiet. It'll be better when the ship flies. He thought.

---

"Ooooo..." The boy looked at the spectacle that was the combat demonstrations of those before him, the first two both used firearms, a good choice, but according to Mistcantia's Mistzone Exploration documents, the heavier firepower and range of complex weapons had the trade-off of being much more volatile if they ever backfire. But...if it was someone from the Gerralian Military and someone with 14 years of experience, it'll probably be alright.

The other two white-haired women didn't use firearms, instead one mainly used a modified mechanized melee weapon, while the other with Encoding focused on energy manipulation. It seemed like a good time for him to mention his skill set now, Navox thought as he walked up after the energy Encoder user.

"Heyo, everyone. Official introduction, I'm Navox Cerulewurst of Miscantia's Computational Sciences and Mistzone Exploration Departments, I'm not exactly here for research," He tilted his head at Selena, the woman who introduced herself as a researcher. "But of course, I'm eager to learn a thing or two about the Mistzone."

Navox patted the strange case that he was wearing like a bag, the shell of the case popped open revealing a series of square buttons, some may even recognize it as a 'keyboard', some sort of new-fangled technology. "This is my partner, the Model 80 portable computer we developed. It can help me with casting Encodes, and contains a full index of every Antiquity ever recorded by mankind along with their quirks and weaknesses." He said as he flipped the case into his hands and quickly swiped some inputs onto the keys. "Just a few keywords and voila!" The boy turned the device over, the screen was too small for most people to read anyway.

"Hmm, but don't worry about protecting me while I do that, I can fight a bit too." Finally, Navox unhooked the glaive he was carrying on his back and twirled it around a few times. He rushed at one of the training dummies and struck it, the metallic striking sound rang out, but there didn't seem to be a lot of damage at first glance. However, in a split second, the edge of the glaive lit up and radiated some intense heat, leaving a visible burning mark on the training dummy with parts of the materials slightly melted. "Well...that's it I guess, without Encoding that is."

Turning the glaive downwards Navox whipped the polearm around and scratched a circle shaped onto the ground, then with a few more swipes and a flick of a switch on his portable computer, a completely Encoding glyph was projected and activated. The activation, however, was a bit hard to identify. Some with keen eyesight might be able to see a slight distortion in space where the circle was activated, but the results were mostly non-visible.

"Uh, let me explain," Navox took up the glaive again and stuck at the distortion in space, the metal weapon hit something, stopped, and recoiled back. "This is a vacuum barrier, it's a neigh unpenetrable shield that can delete a part of space itself." He said while knocking on the space distortion. "But it takes a while to cast without my computer, and even with it I can only get it up this fast a few times. But I hope you'll feel safe behind it." The distortion faded as Navox deactivated the glyph and scratched the ground clean with a few quick swipes.

"Mhm, that should be all." The boy shrugged and slung the glaive back onto his back, before walking off the clearing.

 

[November Witch]

Quartz Chroma

Status: Excited, eager, happy.

Quartz followed the group into the airship and was the last one in. She had been on airships before. While she hadn’t worked on them very much, she had helped troubleshoot and fix the communication systems on an airship here and there. Long story short, Quartz had been on an airship or two in her time. The tour didn’t exactly apply to her, but she stayed and listened regardless. Though she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts and trying to identify certain parts of the ship from within instead of paying too much attention to what was being said. Quartz knew the song and dance. She’d been with AIMC long enough. But she’d never been a Mistwalker before.

When she was acknowledged as the “onboard expert” pertaining to the helicopter, Quartz simply gave a small nod in acknowledgement as the others may or may not turn and look at her, as she had introduced herself as such earlier. Once they were all dismissed, Quartz would slip past them all to the ladies room. When she returned, she would find someone in the room she’d already placed her items in when she first arrived. Venator would have incidentally chosen the room Quartz had claimed as hers. The two would be roommates.

Quartz didn’t at all mind. She felt like the two could get along just fine. Venator would get a sneak peak at the girl’s arsenal which leaned against the wall in the corner of the room. A long sniper and a handgun set on a nightstand nearby.

“So,”

Quartz would break the ice.

“do you like weapons?”

__

Quartz would meet in the courtyard with the others in her combat gear this time. Her short combat jacket had been customized with the gold reflectors, as Quartz refused to wear the company issued one. This fit her style much, much better. She had a rifle slung over her right shoulder and a pistol holstered on her left side. It was likely clear to everyone what her fighting style would be, so she let others take the stage first. So far, a mix of encoding, powerful offensive abilities, good gunplay, and great defensive encoding too. It was shaping up to be quite the well rounded team. Or so that’s what Quartz thought. She waited a moment and as no one else stepped up to the plate, she would volunteer herself.

“Well, ya’ll likely remember me from yesterday. I trust your memories are good enough to not need a second introduction.”

She walked to the front of the group and turned to face everyone, her sniper resting on her right arm and pointed up into the air as she spoke.

“I’m not the best at fighting, specially cause I’ve barely been out in the mist. But I’d be happy to support you all from a distance.”

She turned to face the dummies, bringing her rifle down to meet her left hand where she steadied it on her first target. She squeezed the trigger and a bullet hit center mass, as a loud CRACK resounded around, muffled and absorbed by the nearby fog. Two seconds later, a second bullet hit the head on the same dummy. She took 4 seconds to acquire a new target, and within 3 seconds, there was a bullet hole in its chest and head. She showed off her incredibly precise aim. It might have taken a few seconds to get on target, but it seemed her aim was as good as any other.

She did this to 5 dummies before her rifle ran dry. She held it pointed towards the sky in her right hand and drew her pistol with her left before aiming at another. She emptied the magazine into the dummy with a spread of about a foot on its torso, though all 11 shots from her sidearm hit. It was her non-dominant hand, so this was theoretically the worst she would shoot. The reason why she didn’t use her dominant hand? Simple.

She felt like this was cooler, shooting one handed, still holding her semi-auto sniper with the barrel still smoking. Quartz would finish up, holster her sidearm, and turn around, a smile on her face from just unloading her weapons into dummies. It was clear she enjoyed the sport of shooting.

“I’m no good up close, but I’m a damn good shot. As long as I can see it, I can shoot it. Which might be a problem with all this fog, but I have a thermal scope, so I can see farther than normal out there. And this baby packs a damn good punch.”

She patted her rifle as she let it rest on the sling, finally letting it down.

 

[TreasureSniper]

Later that morning, Venator would make his appearance outside of the hangar, covered in his usual armor. For the ones with a more astute eye, would notice that this is a different set, with battle scars and marks different from the one yesterday. Hartwell always did keep a few spares with him and considered it his unofficial uniform. On the previous night, he took the opportunity to familiarise himself with the layout of the airship, as well as the crew. He liked it, it was cozy, reminding him of his time escorting a caravan.

Combat scenarios were easily Venator's favorite pastime in between operations and shifts. There was always something he could improve upon with each exercise and demonstration. This was especially true when watching his comrades in action, executing unconventional and unorthodox tactics and maneuvers. Besides their tactics, he was also envious of the overall quality of everyone's equipment. Compared to everyone else, his weapons and armor were more traditional and worn out.

And then it was finally his turn,

"Guess we're doing introductions again. Venator Hartwell, just your friendly ex-border guard." Hartwell spoke with a slightly gleeful town as he unholstered his pistols. Unlike the others, he didn't have fancy titles or state-of-the-art gear. But what he did have....was enthusiasm. The short moment of silence was broken by a barrage of gunfire fired at a blistering speed comparable to that of an automatic firearm despite his pistols being otherwise. He would first start with the middle dummy, both bullets landing a clean hit on the head as he advanced closer toward the group of dummies.

From there he Shifted his aim towards the outer dummies, targeting two targets at once, showcasing his skill at shooting different targets at the same time. Despite his speed, he did not miss a single shot. After emptying his gun, he gave his pistols a little flick before holstering them once more, immediately harpooning one of the dummies with his grappling hook and delivering a high-voltage shock. Meanwhile, his free hand readied the assault rifle right as the shock finished, pulling back the dummy towards him at great speeds, using it as a theoretical living shield. From there, he would fire a controlled burst of his assault rifle using only his free hand. Despite the weight of the rifle, his aim remained strong, with each shot still hitting the vitals of the dummy. Unlike his pistols, his rifle shots were incredibly loud, indicating it was a firearm that used a higher caliber of bullets.

Upon emptying his rifle, Hartwell kicked the dummy back to its colleagues and shot a torrent of flames toward them from his other gauntlet, engulfing the group in fire. Thankfully, he had the foresight of loading his grenade launcher with a special payload. THUMP. One grenade explosion later, the group of dummies was saturated with a special powder that extinguished the flames. "Don't worry, I'll save the real ones for later."

 

[Azurian Dream]

Octavius "Oct" Halbervi -Hangar C3, AIMC Outpost “Northmound”, West Gerralia.

It wasn't to bad the little grumpy tour given by the sleep deprived young man he clearly had been at this for a long time from the edges of his eyes lacked much youth at all in a gut wrenching way. If anything that meant he was experience, and boded well for what he was capable of in his field. Though others probably took it a lot more in annoyance he could respect the age of his craft. He was surprised by the green house though that would be actually beneficial for some seeds he had brought to accumulate some medical plants for his medical supply cache. Though when the suffering of being adults came up the cheery girl from earlier popped back in chastising him a fellow engineer by trade. They went a little back, and forth from their with the tour nipping at each others feet to which the doctor was amused it seemed they worked off each other in a coexisting manner probably kept each other sane to a degree.

Other than that the day was about adapting to the ship to which the doctor made good on spending most of it getting a good feel for the layout before choosing his designated bed for this venture. After which he made sure to know the best spots for emergency medical instances where supplies were all stored, and where best to write when the moment called.

~~~
Northmound Outpost, Hangar C3 Exterior
~~~~

The next day came rather fast, and wired for some proper samplings of their field skills in the combat range of all things as such the good doctor came suited up with his steam gauge built five barrel crossbow, his climbing/satchel medical gear, and a pair of the climbing pickaxes. Marianne got rather quick to the point and thus the following spoke for itself. Sylvia quickly gave way to her intensities brutally showcasing her heavy hitting abilities, Gene displayed his years of military with a precision of display between gun work & the knife, Selena took the stage surprisingly displaying physical stylings of the Gerralian empire of all things protruding a black claw momentarily before ending her quick sample, Kythera was more of a EAD that acted like a warding of sort extremely impress as her intense shots only damaged the unmarked dummies yet the display of setting a fire to than collect and unleash a fire slash... was definitely a mastery of her craft in EAD.

To turn it was Navox to which garnered a amused smile as he showcased his device hat had catalogs on prior entities experienced in the fog. That was indeed a helpful tool to bad the screen was so small though the sample came up allowing the thought to disperse as the boys glaive did the talking leaving a impressive burn mark where it had impaled to than be used to create a vacuum shield. The boy was very impressive Oct had to admit he doubt most would think of such a application for such a method. Quartz was quick, and to the point revealing her deadly accuracy with the sniper rifle nothing more, and definitely nothing less. Venator was quick to the trigger showcasing a superb display of ambidextrous arms work along with intense movement more than likely from time defending stationary positions ending with a display of intense firepower. When the scenario was reset the Doctor took to the stage next.

"Once again it is a pleasure to meet you all I am Dr. Octavius Halbervi. You may call me Oct, or Doctor for short if you like," he expressed as he took out his crossbow before with a rather unexpected spurt of speed starting to take shots left, and right impaling multiple targets as he weaved through them like somewhat of a boxer. The bolts that flew seemed to hit rather strange area's of the cylindrical dummies, but with those more prominent to the field of warfare they would catch he was aiming for imaginary joint points taking shots that would stop enemies movements, or capabilities in their tracks. More so the first two he had past with a quick slight of hand he had retrieved the bolts in fluid motion.

"I majored in both Steam Engineering, and Medical application. With five years of field experience to my name I am more or less a combat medic who can sew you up on the field giving you enough time to get you to a proper place for healing," when it came to his final sixth shot though he landed a head shot before with a unique tilt, and press of a side button launched a unique middle bolt triggered a flare blast of AIMC coloring variety that was enough to use as both a smokescreen, and signal location. Yet the two bolts he had retrieved were still in hand, and with a quick holstering of his weapon he charged a particular cylinder dropping at the last second as like a dart one of the bolt was thrown piercing into a imaginary neck as the second bolt was jammed into the bottom for a imaginary leg stab. Halting his sliding momentum Oct pulled out his axe picks moving proficiently with a few slashes in places where veins were mainly abundant. Finally pulling back though he spun the axes before resheathing them in their own holsters taking out his crossbow one more time refilling the bolts as he nodded.

"I am also adapt at scaling otherwise dangerous terrain, and am well experienced at rescue, and recover ops. Mind you though that I be the hand to stitch you together if it calls," he turned around once more to the field and with a heavy click of the trigger, and some notable push back against the doctor all six shots fired at once digging deeply dead center in one of the targets. His changing of style constantly on the field well showcased to a adaptably dangerous assassin like style.

"I can also tear things apart," he smiled giving a courteous bow before again retrieving his bolts, and removing himself form the field for the last two of the party left to show off.
......................................................................................
Mentions: Everyone Present​

 

[Cresion Breezes]

Official Mission Brief For Mistwalker Squad No.13
( Azurian Dream , November Witch , RedArmyShogun , Nellancholy , EmperorsChosen , @GummyWorm , TreasureSniper , RobOfIllusions )
[23/09/1035]

Mission Type: Search and Retrieval - Object(s)/Bio-Samples
Mission Requester 1: Gerralian Empire National Income Auditorial Department (Gerralia NIA
Mission Requester 2: Miscantia Academic Associa (Lathan-Ferra Campus) Department of Mistzone Studies

Location: New Mistzone (Former Gerralian Empire Territory) - Wuthering Gardens

Location Debrief:
Wuthering Gardens was a former close-gated living community in the Gerralian Empire, it is home to wealthy mercantile families and is home to many large mansion-like residences. It was one of the many wealthy communities purposely built close to the Mistzone before the expansion as a Mistzone tax haven, where many pseudo-fabricated events related to the Mist are used by accountants to artificially inflate the numerical value of tax breaks and write-offs.

Notably, many residents of Wuthering Gardens did not evacuate during the Mistzone expansion, the reason for this is currently unknown. It is also unknown the fate that befell the residents who stayed, as this location has not been surveyed since the expansion of the Mistzone 25 years ago. Please proceed with caution.

Mission Objective:
Two primary objectives were requested to be accomplished in this location, by the Gerralian Empire’s taxation management institution, the NIA, and a senior research group of the MAA’s Department of Mistzone Studies.

The request from the Gerralia NIA is to search for the massive amount of accounting books that were suspected to be stashed away and promptly abandoned when the Mistzone expansion happened. Many of these books are financial records of businesses and families that still operate within the country today, and have been used as an excuse to evade large amounts of taxes. They would like to attempt to have these books retrieved and serve as evidence to fine these businesses and families for the amount they owe to the state.

We have hesitated to take on this mission due to its potentially inconsistent return rate for a long time, however, there has been another request set in the same location. The two requests and the nature of the mission site create an intriguing bigger picture that could be beneficial to be investigated.

The second request in the same location from the MAA is for bio-sample retrieval. Wuthering Gardens (described as ‘Experimental Site MDS’ by the requester) is one of the few locations where the residents did not evacuate the Mistzone expansion, seemingly for no discernable reason, hence the research group in question would like bio-samples, especially those that belong to human beings, collected from this area if possible. Please retrieve anything that is, or is suspected to be human remains from this area, and use the special containers provided by the requester to store these remains once they are retrieved.

Potential Rewards:
The Gerralia NIA has agreed to give ~40% of retrieved evaded taxes as a result of the expedition to the AIMC as payment. Depending on the results of the mission, there is also potential for the creation and imposing of a “Mistzone Investigation Tax” that could provide the AIMC with stable long-term funding in the future.

The MAA research group has disclosed little detail about their project, however, they have confirmed the samples retrieved will be used in the study of new Mist Filtration Technology, specifically technology for reducing adverse effects of prolonged exposure to the Mist.

Agency for Investigation of Mistzone Catastrophes, Expedition Management Department
Approved: [01/09/1035]
Printed: [23/09/1035]

Northmound Outpost, Hangar C3
[23/09/1035] [1 Day Later]

“So that’s what those coffin-looking things are for. Bio-samples.”

Tangram looked out of the navigation room’s windows as some logistics staff pushed a few human-sized boxes onboard the ship.

“Hmph, thought it was some new protocol, considering how many rookies die on the first sortie.”He said half-heartedly before turning away, generally ignoring his concerned-looking young co-pilot before making the final preparations to take off.

The ship has moved out of the hangar and above it is now the boundless yet overcast sky, the grey clouds seem to have merged together with the Mist on the horizon into one giant grey blob. It was rather suffocating, but the members of the AIMC were used to living on the edge of suffocation. It was strange, but it provided a thrill like nothing else.

“Attention everyone, we will be taking off now. Everyone, please review your mission brief carefully and focus on the mission objectives! Don’t do anything reckless, and-”

The young girl stopped for a moment to take a deep breath, remembering what the HR officer Marrianne told her.

“-Let’s see some fun things together!”

---

New Mistzone (Former Gerralia Empire), Wuthering Gardens, Mistwalker Squad No.13 Airship Interior
[23/09/1035]

The slow descent of the airship can be felt as the windows outside were clouded with Mist. It wasn’t the thickest Mist though, things seemed relatively calm so far. The airship’s movements soon stopped as it hovered in the air above the ground 2 or 3 stories high.

“Currently, the Mist Density outside is Medium-Low, visibility is still existent, but please don’t let your guard down regardless.” Rubika walked near the airship’s hatch door, dragging a rope ladder with her. “If anything goes wrong, please don’t hesitate to retreat or signal for help.” She nodded firmly.

“Unless you got a million who-knows-what chasing you, don’t bring that back. Use your common sense, yada yada.”Tangram was on the side and commented with a yawn, causing the younger maintenance staff to glare at him briefly.

---

New Mistzone (Former Gerralia Empire), Wuthering Gardens
[23/09/1035]

The abandoned residential neighborhood was shrouded in Mist, and the buildings were clearly disheveled from two and a half decades of neglect, yet the large floor plan, intricate detailings, broken statues, and cracked fountains still indicated how wealthy this neighborhood was when the Mist had yet to encroach on it.

It was quiet for the time being, perhaps too quiet, but sound sometimes traveled differently in the Mist, no one can tell what’s considered too quiet, from an objective standpoint at least. The rusted gates, no longer pearly, creaked as some wind blew through them, the only sound that came from the environment for a long time.

The main road was the place the group happened to trend upon, it was by design, it was called the “main road” after all. The map of the neighborhood from before the expansion helped a bit, as it indicated the large buildings nearby that would likely house the finance books and human remains they would be looking for. Now the next step is to chose a direction, or perhaps follow a plan.

​

 

[November Witch]

Tourmaline Lamiaceae

Status: Nervous & vigilant.

It had been a few minutes since the group had been walking together. Not quite half an hour, but Topaz assumed it was somewhere around there, probably a little less. Some talk of their plan of action was exchanged back and forth until they arrived on site. At this point, there wasn’t exactly a consensus, but it did seem most people wanted to head into the clubhouse. Topaz wasn’t exactly thrilled at the possibility of fighting in small spaces. So, she would stay near the back of the group, letting someone more qualified lead the way into the building.

Until they entered, she’d keep a watch on the other buildings, scanning the windows and the roofs. It didn’t seem like there was a soul here, at least from outside. But the reptilian girl didn’t think it was that surprising. If anything were to give them more of a hint, then it would be the interior. Topaz would let someone like Sylvia or Venator take the lead, she felt those two would likely be the best fit, so until someone took the lead into the building, she would keep her eyes on their rear and their surroundings.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Gene Bennet - Sylvia Gannet - New Mistzone, Wuthering Gardens​

Now that something of an agreement was reached, it seemed for better or worse they would all stay together and the clubhouse would be searched first, fortunately it was a rather large building, affording it double doors, this many people in a house, such as the pool would simply fall upon themselves, get in the way of one another's lanes of fire, or would have to enter single file, through a single door. This would take some time and hopefully didn't draw the attention of things not already in the compound.

With these thoughts in mind, Gene takes up a position at the lead, taking a tactical crouch as he crept forward, keeping all of his senses focused on the area around them, index finger of the right hand resting on the trigger guard of his MP5 as he entered the immediate area of interest, gazing at the two nearest structures as the fog enveloped the region, he was not about to take any chances as he took position at one of the double doors, "If any of you want to split off and investigate the other zones, then stick with at least one other person. Now's the time. Alright.... Go."

With those words said, Sylvia cackled to herself and put a boot right into the door with a mighty kick, strong enough to knock the corroded hinges right off and send the door flying with a loud slam as she aimed her shotgun into the open space. "Eheheheheh! Knock! Knock!" What would be seen immediately inside?

Interactions: all

 

[Cresion Breezes]

New Mistzone (Former Gerralia Empire), Wuthering Gardens, Clubhouse Interior
[23/09/1035]

( Azurian Dream , November Witch , RedArmyShogun , Nellancholy , EmperorsChosen , @GummyWorm , TreasureSniper , RobOfIllusions )

The exterior of the clubhouse building didn’t look very unusual for an old abandoned structure, it still stood rather firmly, but the paint and tiling peeling off at many places on the walls. The building’s walls themselves were covered in ivy, again, not an unusual sight for older buildings that haven’t been maintained, but the leaves of the ivy were rather large and swayed gently even when there was barely any wind.

The entrance of the building had a small post beside it, mostly rusted with the words on it nearly smeared out by the weathering of nature, however, some words can still be made out.

​

Entranc e Gate ⬇​

Club Lobby ⬆​

Botanical Garden ➞​

Rare Book Li brary (2nd Floor) ⬈​

Record Offices (3rd Floor) ⬈ ​

​

When one first stepped into the building, everything seems…normal. Busting down the door or shooting it didn’t disturb much more than stagnant, dusty air. Peering in from the front door that was destroyed, the interior was rather dark, but some shapes can still be made out.

Immediately inside a decently open room can be seen, it seems to be the “Club Lobby” that the sign was pointing to, being straight in the direction of the arrow. Although it was dark, the shapes of furniture items such a sofas, cafe-style tables and chairs, as well as what seems like a bar area with broken tall stool pieces can be seen. All the furnitures’ outline seems a bit strange though, their silhouettes didn’t seem hardened and artificial, but rather weirdly bloated, as if a child tried to colour line art with watercolor badly, their shapes seemed to be bleeding out of themselves.

As the group took more steps towards the building, the decrypted, ivy-covered walls seemed to be rustling stronger and stronger. When stepping into the room proper, the first thing one would notice was the feeling underfoot. The ground was unexpectedly soft, it was no hardwood or porcelain or concrete floor, it felt mulchy and wet, like a dirt path right after a rainy day with a hint of sponginess to it.

The interior also became a bit clearer after human eyes adjusted to the darker environment. The strange silhouettes of the furniture became a bit more defined. It turns out that their bloated and organic seeming shapes were only caused by the items being covered in plant matter and dirt, it seems to have crawled its way into the building and onto everything.

The source of the plant growth was also rather obvious, as there was a large hole in the back wall of the building, to the right side. It matched the direction of the arrow of the “Botanical Garden” sign in the front, and many strands of lushly growing plants can be seen from the hole. The left side was a set of stairs, the railings and steps also covered in the same mulchy plant matter. A metal sign beside the stairs, still stubbornly hanging on to its reflective properties, glimmered as light from the torn open front door shone on it. There was a “no smoking” and “no flames” symbol etched upon it. Some faded text below as well.

Important Document Storage​

No Smoking & Open Flames Beyond This Point​

​

The room was silent for a few moments when someone entered it, for the first time in a good two dozen summers, but soon the view outside the hole in the wall began to change. The plants began to sway as if caught in a windy storm, left and right, left and right, front and back, front and back.

But…

It’s a windless day.

There was no wind outside.

The moment of silence was broken by what sounded like a whip through the air as the mulchy ground was broken open by what seemed like a massive plant root. Its breaking speed only allowed a split second to react to the vibrating ground before it sent everything above the ground flying into the air. After the first fast root, more began to emerge from the dirt-textured floor, knocking the plant-covered furniture items around, and some towards the unexpected intruders of the room.

As thick, powerful plant roots emerged from the ground, other pieces of smaller plant matter began to crawl into the building from the hole in the wall, slithering like flowery, viney snakes towards the group that had just stepped onto the dirt they laid restfully in. The thinner vines had a sharp, bramble-like texture on them, and weaved through the thicker roots assault formation skillfully, like real sentient creatures, and attempted to shred the ankles and legs of the room’s intruders while they were being distracted by the thick roots’ surprise attack.

"WUTHERING BONTANY"
REGULAR ENEMY

Overview:
Mysterious roots and vines that are capable of working together to launch varied attacks through dirt and soil.

Stats:
Basic Mobility: ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱▱ 7/10
Tangibility Potency: ▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱▱▱ 6/10
Physiological Resilience: ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱▱ 7/10
Abstraction Potency: ▰▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱ 1/10
Psychological Resilience: ▰▰▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱ 2/10
Corrosion Resistance: ▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱ NA/10
Adaptability: ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱ 8/10

 

[TreasureSniper]

Hartwell was the first of the squad to breach the clubhouse. Unlike the others he didnt have much reservations of being the first one to enter. And here he thought that this was going to be a simple retrieval assignment. Just as they entered the area of interest, Ven would notice an uncomfortable silence. No wildlife, no wind movement, absolutely nothing.

While he could not make out exactly what manner of creature it was, Ven was instinctively open fire on the moving tendril like structures, seeking to dismember them as fast he could before any of them could reach him or his teammates. "Looks like we got a live one!" While at first he mistook them for snakes, he was soon realize that this enemy was closer to the floral variety. "A plant? Really now?" Taking aim at the thickest root tendril within range, Ven shot his harpoon into the creature and release a powerful burst of electricity hoping to see if the other tendrils would also react to one of them being shocked.

"Did anyone bring any weed killer? Seems like we could use some." Hartwell cracked a joke as he continued to electrocute the hostile plant. Given the nature of their mission, he would rather not kill the plant with his flamethrower, but he would consider it viable option should they fail to neutralize this threat through other means.

 

[Nellancholy]

The Kythera who descended the rope ladder off the airship looked ever so slightly different from the Kythera of the last few days. Her weapons and EAD were holstered firmly on her person, and the lower half of her face was shielded by a rebreather, the better to buy time against any hostile airborne elements.

The forecast of their mission site seemed to preclude the need for the full hazmat panoply, a situation that brought her relief. Nevertheless, she kept her Geiger counter on her belt, turned on all the way.

As the team made their way to and through the clubhouse, Kythera remained roughly in the middle, eyes peeled for any perilous phenomena. The Geiger counter registered no more than typical ambient radiation, indicating the small mercy that they wouldn't have to deal with radiation on top of everythg else.

They headed to the document storage. Of course, why wouldn't they? When it was so helpfully marked out for them?

No sooner had Hartwell made the first move than the room's slumbering inhabitant stirred to life.

He did not miss a beat, using a harpoon to try and electrocute it.

Yes, the plant was alive, likely well-hydrated. Which meant it would take a fair bit of effort to burn: the room and its contents might fall to cinders before the creature did.

But even so...

"You have the right of it, guardsman."

Kythera stepped out and a bit to the side of Hartwell, drawing her arc pistol from her thigh and firing a medium-strength burst at the crawling mass. Lightning arced between several of the smaller tendrils, sending them into spasms.


"Would someone with a sword care to assist? Perhaps we should prune it, then dig it out by the roots!"

TreasureSniper EmperorsChosen

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Selena Purcell
Northmound Outpost - Hanger C3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Selena made her way with the group. She had delved into the mist many times by now, but these areas always did elicit a feeling of loneliness from her. Eyes traveled from the empty streets, dilapidated cars and quiet homes before settling on the club they were approaching. This was the most eerie of all to hear nothing from. Her eyes narrowed slightly at the greenery, something not uncommon, but it was so when it was that large and seemed to move oddly.

After that brief pause, Selena followed the others inside. Her eyes next went to the furniture and their odd appearances as they delved further, her heels clacking against what tile remained with the periodic crunching of small shards of broken glass from the bar's cups, until that sound was replaced with the squish of fertile soil. There was a greenhouse in the club, which was odd in and of itself, and then there was that strange movement. Even if it was windy outside, there wasn't a reason that should leak inside. Even if there was a draft, for all of them to being swaying in unison.

"Oh dear," The researcher murmured as roots shot forth, seemingly upset by their intrusion.

Stepping forward, Selena placed her corroded hand atop Sylvia's head briefly, similar to when they had first met. "No fire yet," She told the girl softly, predicting the little gremlin would jump to burning everything down.

Removing her hand from the front from the girl's head, Selena created some space from her before the familiar sound of her sheath firing could be heard, cutting at several encroaching tendrils with forceful, yet precise strikes. "Unfortunately, it may be rather large to pluck out like a weed," Selena stated simply.

Interactions: All

 

[Azurian Dream]

Octavius "Oct" Halbervi -Mist Zone-Wuthering Gardens Clubhouse, West Gerralia.​

The first mission, there was always a certain unexpected element of a teams first mission like a trial by fire of unnatural proportions. It was a simple in context help the Empire regain some documentation for a long term financial case, and the academy for some samples to why certain persons of interest had hold up rather than escape the mist. Oct's descent from the airship was a realism wave of returning to land once lost covered by a fog of the unknown much to common in their world. The good doctor had been retro fitted a addition satchel carrying some vial sample extractor equipment encase the mission called for minimalism sample takes.

The club had been the designated first tour of choice to which as they neared a inaudible wave of unease could be felt from the Doctor... silence was never a positive sign. A rusty gate willingly broke the tension as they neared their established target of search. From their it was simple a push forward as Gene lead the group in with Sylvia knocking the door like a wrecking ball into its own halls. Nothing responded. Upon delving in a notable amount of fauna was noticed on the walls rather common for a area lost for years as nature always reclaimed back what human abandoned.

However the problem was the further they dug in the more advanced the vegetation took which made sense as their was a labeled garden, but it was the size difference, and overwhelming vegetated state of everything further... that made things strange. Oct pulled out his duel ax picks not sure what they could be expecting, but now definitely feeling the expectation. To answer his nerves the vines gave moving to and through with no wind to assist. The squelching steps of the party aroused a reaction to the new owners of the club living vines "Wuthering Botany".

"May I remind the madwoman there was clearly a no smoking sign, and that the whole ground is covered in potentially flammable vegetation we will lose the building most likely if we attempt to flame it," Octavius called out giving a understandable reminder that a long line of fire warning no doubt existed for some hazard reason. Oct was quick in motion as he danced around thrown chairs, stool, and in one instance had to dodge roll away from a whole couch. During this his allies had taken to opening attack patterns, and bullets, and electricity claimed the fire round of damage output. As the smaller bramble came gunning for them Oct took quickly to using his ax picks under blades like scythes shearing anything that tried to nap his feet as he moved looking for something anything to use.

"We could try to drop something on it kill it with pressure, but as my eye adjusts to the area I don't particularly see anything big enough for the cause. Unless they had a irrigation system implemented for this botany area I don't think we have a solid lead for poison unless you plan to jam it into its roots post mortem. Though maybe we could cut it at the root of the problem," Oct joked a bit with Ven blocking a thrown chair this before slamming it into more encroaching bramble.

Interaction: TreasureSniper RedArmyShogun Cresion Breezes EmperorsChosen Nellancholy November Witch

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Gene Bennet - Sylvia Gannet - New Mistzone, Wuthering Gardens - Clubhouse​

Glaring at the eyepatch man as Selena pated her head, Sylvia seemed briefly crossed as her facial features relaxed. Though like before there was just a hint of something dangerous there as huffs in contempt. "Hmph. I wasn't going to burn anything..." Though that did not sound very believable as she mounted behind her shield, dropping it upon the tendril swarm and discharged round after round of buckshot spread into the approaching mass. "Is it really important that we do all the objectives? Whats some grummy check books from a bunch of dead men going to do for the Agency? File tax reports for the Empire on the next of kin?"

"Stay frosty." Gene said in a quick, short response, though as he pulled his knife and rolled back, swinging it at the smaller tendril vines as everyone focused on the larger targets seemingly, there were three lines of thought which were dangerous, if not outright stupid. Taking aim with his MP5, the masked scout aims for the smaller vines, in an attempt to keep them back, speaking via the comm unit, as gunfire erupted hoping it worked as it seemingly had for the rest, he would at least explain the situation as he seen it. "It might not even be in here, some of the plant mass is coming from the outside. That is a root, not a bulb, not the body of a plant, and it's covered the whole building in part. It is not something you can just crush or dig up in all likelihood. We should focus on keeping it at bay, getting what we came here for, then let the gremlin set it all on fire as we get out.

If we seek to destroy it in some other means, we must find the body, not the root, but the bulb or main plant, I suspect its larger than a man and it's likely a carnivorous plant, watch your legs. We aren't dealing with a plant here, but an Antiquity. Once we see that, we can decide how best to kill it."

Interactions: all

 

[Cresion Breezes]

Navox Cerulewurst
Northmound Outpost, Hangar C3 Exterior
[23/09/1035]
Interactions: All
Mentions: All


The Mist, although the navigators said it was only considered medium-low density, was still rather suffocating to Navox. Afterall, he had only wandered into the real Mistzone for a few times during his time at Miscantia. The rest of the group, even the more veteran members also seem rather on edge. There was a bit of disagreement and awkwardness when it came to discussing plans on what to do in the dilapidated former luxury neighbourhood, which right now is more haunting than impressive with its intricacies.

When the group finally decided to head into the neighbourhood clubhouse, seemingly the largest building in the area, Navox followed suit. It was rather close by, and the sign out front indicated potential document storage in some areas of the more public building. He wondered why these rich people didn't keep their records in their own homes, maybe this entire neighbourhood was in kahoots with each other with whatever they planned for those Mistzone-based tax evasion schemes. But that no longer mattered, the Mist got to them and now they were here to recover what they were trying to hide.

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the clubhouse and his ears adjusted to the ruckus made by Sylvia when busting down the door, Navox looked around and quickly laid out a map of the floor and potential upper floors in his head. The atmosphere inside the building was murky, there was smell of soil and plants. "......I wonder if I can put smells in an interactive software..." He muttered as he looked around the interior while pulling out his glaive, seeing as everyone else was similarly on guard.

When the ground rumbled and the roots bursted out, Navox quickly tried to deflect one of the roots with his weapon, attempting to jab and slice a larger root that initially attacked them.

"Oh- So this is the 'botanical mutation' they were talking about-" He placed his finger on the trigger to activate the glaive's heated edge, but the mature white-haired woman nearby mentioned how they shouldn't use fire yet. "-Do-does this count as fire?" The boy shouted over as he tried to put some more strength into cutting the root without activating the heated blade, it didn't seem that effective.

When he got out of the way of the initial wave of larger tendrils, Navox pulled the glaive out from the thick root and proceeded to try to stab or chop up any of the smaller vines that were creeping into the room. He jumped around while twirling his weapon while trying to make some headway deeper into the room. It was strange that the plant only attacked them after the door was busted down and they had already stood in the room for a few moments, it seemed to only have noticed them when that trigger-happy girl busted in rather violently.

"It didn't attack until we stepped on the dirt! Maybe it won't be as sensitive to people on higher floors. What if we just get some peeps to look for that stuff while some others distract it then just get out-" He shouted to the others while continuously trying to poke at the crawling plants, hearing how others proposed to kill the giant plant. But currently the source of the plants was unknown, and they were pouring in from the outside as well. There's no way of knowing how big it actually is, and by extension, how easy it is to kill completely. "Uh- good time to reveal you're good at speedreading or something!"

 

[November Witch]

Tourmaline Lamiaceae

Status: Surprised, determined.

Topaz rounded out the back of the group as they entered the building. Her eyes had barely had time to adjust to the change in lighting before the floor erupted with vines and roots lashing out at them. There was little Topaz could do with her team in front of her. If she moved left or right, she'd basically have her back up against a wall. Which she didn’t trust, seeing most of the place taken by vegetation. So, Topaz did the most reasonable thing she could think of and backed out of the doorway.

Though this didn’t mean Topaz wasn’t going to help. She raised her staff and a purple light united from it in small transparent balls of light. One floated to each of her teammates. While they didn’t feel any different, they would have a slight purple aura to them. When a vine was about to hit them, this light would discharge into a force, pushing the vine in the opposite direction of its target. Similar to a small explosion, but without the flashy lights, sound, or destruction.

“Well, if you think we could win a battle of attrition with this thing, it may be a viable option.”

She said in response to Gene’s plan.

“But killing it would be safest. Who knows how far it stretches? Maybe it has its roots in the other buildings we need to search.”

She offered a counterpoint. The group just needed to be better at one of their options. A battle of attrition where they wear it down while others search. Or a quicker, more decisive one. As long as the group could do one of these, Topaz felt as if they would be fine.

Topaz would chance a glance over her shoulder and at the surroundings outside, just making sure they weren’t being snuck up on, and that nothing out of the ordinary was going on, before returning her attention through the doorway and to her teammates.

 

[Cresion Breezes]

New Mistzone (Former Gerralia Empire), Wuthering Gardens, Clubhouse Interior
[23/09/1035]

( Azurian Dream , November Witch , RedArmyShogun , Nellancholy , EmperorsChosen , TreasureSniper )

With the environment and the suggestions of some members of the group making it clear that using fire would be an extremely risky maneuver in the situation, some opted for the second-best option of trying to use electricity, hitting the plant tendrils with electrified weapons or energy bullets. The roots did recoil at being hit by electricity, it also left a scorched mark on the location of impact on the thick plant. The root shook a bit and its movements became slowed and sporadic for a moment.

However, as the electricity traveled downwards into the earthy soil, it appeared to have its effects disappear. The other tendrils nearby are still moving around and violently lashing out at their surroundings, it appears that the soil has grounded the electrical currents and caused them to disappear into the earth, only being able to paralyze the tendril that it makes a direct impact with. There were still many roots dancing around the room, and although the electrocuted roots have recoiled and spasmed, they seem to be regaining their movement abilities as time passes on.

Those who didn't use elemental attacks opted for an attempt to cut the plant matter. The smaller tendrils that were sneaking up to the intruders on the ground were much thinner than the roots from the initial assault, they were covered in thick brambles however, and the thorns on them were much harder than the vine itself. They acted as both offensive and defensive features They were armouring the more vulnerable plant matter. If melee weapons were to hit directly on one of the vine's thorns, it would be likely to be deflected, but precise attacks that aimed at the vine-y portions of the plant would severe the tendril from its source cleanly. The thorns were also being used as spears to assault the legs of the group.

But thanks to a defensive encode casted by a girl who lagged behind the group, outside of the doorway. Being outside the doorway, it seems like the tendrils that she was defending against didn't notice the encoder, even though she made it much harder for them to deal damage to the intruders.

---

Crunch-

There was a sound beyond the whiplashing of the plant tendrils that the group initially heard, it sounded like the crunching of wood or stone.

The view was rather obscured by the wiggling plants, but as tendrils recoiled from various attacks, one would be able to catch a glimpse of their surroundings better through the openings. On the left side of the room, where the stairs and the sign pointing to the study and document collects were more plant matter that wrapped around the staircase and railings. Sensing the presence of the humans, they began to exert force on the structures they were wrapped in. The wooden staircase and railings creaked and cracked under the pressure, sharp-eyed people may even catch a few small wooden splinters beginning to fly out of the staircase to the upper floors.

It seemed like it was only the staircase that was creaking under that weight right now, but underneath all the chaotic sounds of combat, the same sounds were also coming from the walls.

-Bzzt-

The static-y sound of the radio communicators sprung to life.

"Oh...Heyo, this is Squad 13 Airship, you guys found any stuff yet? The ground Mist density cleared up a bit and surveyance says not much weird shit is dwelling around, we can get closer if you all need. Didn't they ask you to carry like...books? Corpses? Those lead coffins Miscantia put on here are big as hell, it's probably real icky to carry that many 20-year-old corpses back. Don't thank me- What's that noise in the background, are you all walking on a pile of broken wood?"

"Clearly! They're probably fighting something! Stop distracting them!"

"Fine fine...I was trying to be nice. Change of plans then, we're gonna get closer, but not right on location if there's stuff that needs to be fought inside that bougie deathtrap."

"Oh yeah, by the way, if you don't get back to us in 72 hours we're obliged to assume you all died."

"Tangram! You can't just say that at a time like-"

"They should know that already! Maybe if you stuck to being oh so by the books and told the-"

-Bzzt-

It appears the signal was cut.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Gene Bennet - Sylvia Gannet - New Mistzone, Wuthering Gardens - Clubhouse​

Listening to the idea of Navox, neither of the two soldiers had reason to disagree, he had wanted to keep them together, but honestly, this was way too many people, though some of them seemed to be bothered by the mist more than the rest. Well, he couldn't solve all the problems, still, he wasn't against following a good idea as it wasn't one of his own. "Yeah, I'll go with the search team. I would like to kill the plant, then we can search in peace, but it may take some time. I-- Copy, this is Bennet, say again Airship... We are a bit busy-" Before much else could be said the comms broke down into infighting gibberish, it seemed they were moving in closer and that the Mist was lessening in some areas, but the sudden cessation of communications didn't sit well with him. For now, getting out of this place would be for the best. The creature was likely outside in the gardens if he had to guess as he heard shells being fed into the tube of a shotgun with rapid and well-practiced pace.

"I rather kill it, but I can keep it busy with a few others, who knows maybe we can still kill it, eheheh! Though, the sooner you all get what you need, the sooner I can set it all on fire, no one will stop me then, right?" The mischievous look on the shotgunner's face showed she didn't have any intentions of just running away, even as the thorns were slashed, blasted and stomped, catching hold of armor in its attacks to little if any effect at all. "Well, let's be quick about this, I just want to end this little pet shop of horrors." The look in her eyes was such that it was hard to say she would actually wait for them all to get out before she started slinging her fire.

Interactions: all

 

[Azurian Dream]

Octavius "Oct" Halbervi -Mist Zone-Wuthering Gardens Clubhouse, West Gerralia.​

"It seems all things considered I agree with Navox's approach mixed with a hint of Sylvia's. We don't need the books physically just the information, and accounting numbers attached to what the taxing venue was after from their they can pull up some variables to potentially pull their case together. Lucky me I have photogenic memory so I can even recreate some of the pages later on if given enough time to speed run through any book we cant take," Oct expressed breaking away as he had little luck handling the bramble vines cutting way to few, and being deflected by most. Though in the case of the chair it seemed he had indeed severed a small vine. With a quick roll he grabbed the vine before putting it into a small jar for potential sampling.

"Only problem is our route to the books is being threatened we need to deal with the vining their or prep for a higher escape route via potentially jumping out of the building form the second floor if the distraction team loses the stairs. Though I do have enough rope to make a a tether point to have use scale down... if the plant doesn't own the sides of the building yet," Octavius noted starting to head that way.

"Actually that's a valid point we don't have to complete each objective a hundred percent. Atop of that AIMC was hesitant on this one in particular. Gene, me, and anyone else can just run grab, and come right back into a full retreat if not escape via roping," Oct suggested not completely taking to the stairs yet waiting for a encoder, or gunner to handle the scenario he was not equipped for. So far it seemed the best option was to gun for it let the distraction team handle the plants for a few minutes, and grab whatever they could with Oct going over some books extra to redraft later to ease the burden of taking physical matter with them as far as taxing literature went.

The pressure of the plants on the stairs suggested they would have little time, but all that given the wooden material atop of it being primarily away form the soil that it would be a good target for starting a fire upon their escape. As such Oct motioned to Gene a few hand signals with the suggestion for him to relay prep to Sylvia upon their return.
..................................................

Direct Interaction: (Gene/ Navox/Sylvia) RedArmyShogun Cresion Breezes

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Selena Purcell
Northmound Outpost - Hanger C3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

"Gene is correct. To kill it, we would likely need to find the bulb, which is a greater task than is worth in all likelihood..." Selena added, not mentioning that she certainly didn't believe that the team gremlin would not have started a fire without being told not to. "I don't think so... though you have a point. Some plants have defense mechanisms that detect based of sensor hairs or vibration. I would hazard a guess that the upper floors and artificial ground do not transmit to it as well as the damp soil..." She said next, responding to Navox.

Selena's eyes momentarily drifted to Tourmaline, or particularly that the vines didn't seem to care about her. However, she also wasn't inside the room, but past the doorway off the soil. Selena's eyes then glanced to the gremlin once again, following the broadcast from the ship. "...Are you even old enough to know that reference?" She pondered aloud before sheathing her sword.

It seemed they had agreed on splitting up with one team distracting and the other looking for what was needed. "I'll search. If we find any samples up there as well, I'll be able to take them faster than most here. We shouldn't dally too much, less the greenery bring the walls down upon us."

RedArmyShogun Azurian Dream Cresion Breezes @Pretty much everyone there.

 

[Cresion Breezes]

Navox Cerulewurst
Wuthering Gardens
[23/09/1035]
Interactions: Selena ( EmperorsChosen )
Mentions: Octavius ( Azurian Dream ), Gene ( RedArmyShogun ), All



"I mean, plants don't have eyes! Uh, or at least this one doesn't. So you'd think it senses us through something else." Navox responded to Selena's comment. "Maybe anyone fighting it should let us know if they see it grow eyes."

"Guys? Guys, do you hear that?" Navox added, there was a weird crunching and cracking sound nearby. He was rather close to the stairs and could hear it a bit more clearly, the weird communication from the airship mentioned that noise as well. Perhaps everyone was tunnel visioning hard, including himself. Navox jumped to avoid another tendril that tried to trip him, and activated the heated edge of his glaive to slice at the moving tendrils. "We better move faster, I don't like that sound." In the dimly lit room, Navox was rather close to the staircase, out of the corner of his eye he can see the vines begin to wrap around them.

He dashed towards the staircase while flipping on the switch of his glaive, a bright line lit up along the blade of the glaive as he sliced down on the floorboards of the staircase. "We might be losing the stairs before we split into teams if we don't deal with this!" Navox shouted over. "It's only the small ones on them, but there's a lot!" Previous attacks have already shown that the smaller vines were vulnerable to precise bladed attacks, Navox did his best to try to slice the soft stems of the vines rather than the hard thorns. Those who spoken out about going upstairs were also ones with bladed weapons.

"I'll go up too, I used to read so many blueprints- I mean, I'll make sure to defend us if they do come climbing upwards." The boy called over again. as he continued trying to go up the stairs, but his steps were hindered by the need to constantly hack away and defend against the assaulting vines "A little help here? Anyone?"[/COLOR]

 

[Nellancholy]

It had come to pass that the group was being pulled in two directions by the simple necessities of their duty, and the...relentlessness of their foe that had yet to be addressed. Kythera certainly didn't consider herself bloodthirsty. Though in prior situations that weren't too different from this, she had inclined herself towards direct engagement of threats, demonstrating the might of U235 and Radionica's technology to render any threats to ash.

This was another of those times, more or less.

In a smooth motion, Kythera ducked under a swinging vine, reaching to her waist and pulling her EAD into her free hand as part of the same movement. The moment she was able to stand up again, she broke into a trot, alternating between firing her arc pistol in the general direction of the shambling mass to keep it at bay by means of continually shocking the smaller tendrils, preventing them from exercising a firm grip, and using the momentum of her dodging and ducking to scratch glyphs on the nearest wall or floor, warding whichever part of the room she marked.

In several seconds, she had marked very roughly a semicircle along the perimeter of the room, around the central mass of hostile plant life, protecting a portion of the records and flammable construction as well as the connecting part of the staircase in particular.

"There you have it. Little hellion, young serpent, don't hesitate to show this foliage what you've got."

She addressed Sylvia and Topaz, directing them towards their opening for attack.

RedArmyShogun November Witch

 

[Cresion Breezes]

New Mistzone (Former Gerralia Empire), Wuthering Gardens, Clubhouse Interior
[23/09/1035]


Upstairs

( RedArmyShogun , EmperorsChosen , Azurian Dream , Cresion Breezes )

There were numerous rooms in the upstairs hallway, all furnished with the same fancy-looking carved wood furniture and velveted linings, even if it was all abandoned and covered in dust. Most of the rooms looked like bedrooms similar to those that were found in hotels, or lounges with a disheveled wine rack or pool table. But in the dark, a metallic sign that reflected the dim light from the window clung to the cracking brick wall stubbornly.

"Rare Book Library"
(Document Closet Within Library)​

It was the largest room that seemed to be in the center of the building, the room smelled of dust and old paper. Some of the glass window panes were broken, allowing the slightly chilly breeze into the otherwise stuffy room. The large glass windows allowed plenty of natural light into the reading room...if the outside world wasn't constantly covered in Mist, of course. Now it gave a glimpse of the botanical garden in the back of the clubhouse. Those who would take a moment to look out the window and take in the view before diving into the search for their objective would be able to catch the shape of trees lining the garden. Usually, trees weren't the main component of decorative gardens, but perhaps it was that all plants in the area grew so furiously they became as large as trees. The slow, crawling movements of various tendrils can be seen fading in and out from the Mist, like gazing into the depth of an ocean where unknown creatures lurked.

At the end of rows and rows of books was a heavy door, not made out of wood or carved with fancy patterns like the doors the group had seen so far. This was looked to be made out of heavy iron, fastened with a padlock as well. There was faded writing painted on the door in some calligraphic font.

"Authorized Personnel Only"​

The heavy door was at the back of the room, but the large windows that lined the library were present throughout. The ground was made out of what seemed like wooden boards, it was yet corroded by soil like the flooring of the first floor, but it gave off a distinctive musky scent regardless and creaked underfoot.

The creak of the flooring seems to have conjured something.

-Crack-

A few of the window panes of the library suddenly bursted open whenever the creak of footsteps could be detected, from them lashed out ivy-like vines. The assaulting enemy had leaves and stems that looked exactly like the inconspicuous crawling ivy that layered the brick walls of the clubhouse on the outside. Glass shards flew everywhere of a sudden as whip-like vines began to swarm into the room and lash around, they weren't as thick as any of the tendrils that attacked on the first floor, but the broken glass and unsettling creaking of the floorboards still sent a sense of danger through the book-filled room.



Downstairs

( RedArmyShogun , Nellancholy , November Witch , TreasureSniper )

None of the roots or vines seemed to try to follow those who tried to go upstairs past a certain point, once the people have gotten upwards enough to make it to the molding wooden floor rather than portions completely eaten away by dirt, the plant stems seemed to have began to ignore them. If the Encoder girl who was formerly outside of the doorway still hadn't moved closer to her allies yet, the bulk of the plant matter would be attacking the three who remained on the soil-filled ground floor. Now, with about half of their targets lost, the plant roots began to focus their attacks on the fewer people who decided to remain.

Rather than a few roots being spread out across many targets, now the reduced amount of targets lends much of the roots to work together on one coordinated attack.

The smaller vines began twisting amongst themselves, they weaved in and out upon each other and eventually created barbed tendrils that were much thicker than any individual vine. Despite being formerly thin and easy to cut with a precise strike, now the thickened tendrils were almost as tenacious as the heavy roots.

Speaking of the heavy roots, they have begun to take a different tactic after the few moments of initial chaos have passed. The smaller vines that twisted into thicker ones have begun to take over their role as the pillars of assault, while the thicker roots began to do something else.

The first root that showed abnormality was the one that Venator and Kythera had formerly attacked with electrical charges. The scorched electrical burn on the surface of the root pulsated before splitting open and spilling out some sort of liquid, like pus from a wound that burst all over the vicinity before becoming shriveled and limp. When the liquid touched the ground, or any object around, a small sound that sounded like hissing could be heard, and the surfaces that the liquid splashed on began to smolder slightly along with a distinct sour smell in the air.

The objects and surfaces that touched the liquid began to break down after a few moments of steeping within it. Of course, the same would happen to any equipment, clothing...or human tissue that has also come into contact with the acidic internal sap of the plant roots.

 

[TreasureSniper]

"Well and here I thought I've seen everything." Venator quipped as he switched over to his rifle. He's had this fair share of dealing with dangerous flora, but this was very extreme even for a person of his background. "I won't lie to you, the prospect of torching this thing is looking more and more tempting." But unfortunately for him, absolute incineration wasn't exactly a viable option for this mission. Seeing the plant he had just shock shriveled and spit acid everywhere put into perspective just how ineffective some of his weapons were.

"Alright let's try this then." Switching to his higher caliber rifle, Venator unleashes a hail of bullets onto the thickest parts of the vines, trying to essentially cut a good chunk of the tendril, hopefully turning it into a much more manageable stump. The armored man did not hesitate to push onward, aggressively continuing his assault seeking to tear apart as many of these vines as possible. Despite the frequency of his shots, each pull of the trigger was done methodically, ensuring each bullet would shoot through multiple targets.

Upon emptying his first magazine, Venator would shoot his grappling hook toward a table. "Duck." Hartwell warned his teammates as he proceeded to use the table as a makeshift wrecking ball, violently slamming it against roots, while also giving himself and his teammate some time to reload and regroup. "As much as I like shooting Mist monsters, we're gonna need a more efficient solution, anyone got any suggestions?" He was hoping that if he killed a sizeable chunk of they would all just retreat, but by the time they did that, they might not have a building to investigate. For all he knew, this place was being held up by the plant.

RedArmyShogun Nellancholy November Witch