Fantasy Steamhaven: Land of the Lost

[Cartoonicat]

"Oh, perhaps!" Fiona straightened, brows lifted like a lantern lit overhead. The pair head towards 'Ibar', Fiona hovering closely; almost immediately after they set out, she had her rosary back in hand and began chanting the perception blessing.

They walked for quite some time - or at least it felt like that long - before a large, partially broken but mostly intact building came into view. It stood tall, with a round, glass ceiling not unlike that of Missy Maya's lecture room, though much bigger.

Fiona stopped with a sharp intake of breath. "I sense darkness," she whispered. "A lot of it..." From where they stood, the only entrances they had were the front double doors and a broken window on the second floor - out of reach, unless they scaled the building.

- Proceed cautiously
- Walk right in
- Scale the building
- Search for another entrance
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

"Darkness?" Lianna asked, voice a low whisper, just in case, "You mean you can sense presence of inhuman creatures?" She sniffed the air, like a hound might. She was starting to feel like one anyway, a hunting hound, though she would prefer her sense of smell was better. "Let's walk around, see if there's any other entrance. I don't want to walk straight in. Do you have any chant that might mask our presence?"

 

[Cartoonicat]

Fiona shook her head. "I do not, no. We are 'holy beacons meant to guide the souls onto the right path' as Father Julian says." Holy beacons that, from what Fiona perhaps unintentionally implied, may not need to be glowing in order to attract creatures of darkness.

Lianna could clarify that with her as they moved around the tall building, which appeared more decrepit the farther they went, or leave it alone.

- Ask for clarification
- Ask something else
- Walk in silence
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

"Beacons?" Lianna turned to look at the nun, "That doesn't sound good. Are you saying that your presence will be noticed by the supernaturals? It might explain how the witch found us right away." Still, even if it did, Lianna would not drive Fiona away. Even if she wasn't useful with her protection spells, she could not leave her alone in the middle of a supernatural summit.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Fiona stiffened, as if fearing her answer would result in repercussions. With hesitation, she nodded slowly. "Y-Yes... we are beacons for every soul. Supernaturals more so; their corruptions act similar to our Divine Light, and so has made it a personal mission to detect and defend its victim against our intervention." She bit her lip, eyes worried as they walked quietly. The longer Lianna went without leaving her behind, the more she seemed to relax.

Eventually they came upon a broken part of the wall, so small they would have to suck in and force themselves into the gap. The struggle would likely make noise if they were not careful, and who knows where it'd lead them.

- Ask another question
- Ask something else
- Reassure Fiona
- Head in the front way
- Scale the building
- Go through the gap
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

Lianna assessed the entrance, but soon crossed it off the list. Being stuck in that claustrophobic place at the mercy of everyone attracted to Fiona's powers, that would be far from desirable.

"Don't worry, I was not planning on skulking about the whole day. If they sense us, let them come. They'll end up like that witch before." She said with a shrug, "Let's return and see if we can climb up. I'm sure I had a rope in my pack."

 

[Cartoonicat]

Upon searching her pack, Lianna would find no rope. Fiona looked on with lifted brows, lip between her teeth. "If you don't have any rope, I have... something," she said. Reaching into the sleeve of her robe, FIona pulled out a long, somewhat silken, gold cloth that she draped into a wide, loose circle across her free hand. Lianna needn't ask for Fiona to explain; the nun's face turned beet red, as though caught with her hand in the cookie tin, and stammered: "Don't tell Father Julian," she pleaded, apparently assuming Lianna knew enough to snitch in the first place. "I love the Church, just... not the curfew."

Fiona didn't seem the type to sneak out late at night, much less lie to her superior, but then again, she was a stranger.

The cloth looked sturdy enough, and if Fiona used it to sneak out, it likely held body weight rather well. Still, it felt lighter than a rope and caught wind rather easily; hooking it to a ledge would be time-consuming. Lianna could try that, or she could send one of them up and use the cloth to haul the second climber safely to the window.

- Hook a ledge
- Climb up first
- Send Fiona up first
- Climb up together, without the cloth
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

"I won't say a word." Lianna smiled, taking the cloth. She looked up to judge the distance to the ledge. Scalable, for her at least. "I'll climb up and then haul you after." She said, before getting to work.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Fiona's shoulders lifted and she smiled, the sight not unlike that of a child let in on a big secret. She watched Lianna reach for a foothold - of which there were many, considering the building's age - and haul herself upwards. Lianna's boot dug into part of the wall and slipped on several loose stones that had decayed there, but she had enough of a grip on top to keep herself from falling through the air. Down below, Fiona whispered a concerned, "Be careful!"

Lianna slipped through the window frame just in time to hear Fiona startle below with a yelp. "Lia-Lianna...!" She peered up at her briefly before pressing her body against the wall, rosary clutched tightly, and stared in horror to the left of the old library; Lianna couldn't hear anything, but the direction Fiona feared was that which lead to the main entrance.

Something was coming.

- Toss her the cloth
- Pull out your shotgun
- Climb back down
- Tell her to run
- Leave her
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

Were they discovered? Lianna's heart leapt and she threw the cloth down, gesturing at Fiona to take it. She did not want to speak, not wanting her location to be known, but her gesture was urgent and she hoped the young nun would act quickly.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Like a deer, Fiona had frozen, wide eyes staring into the dark. She stood so focused on what was coming that she didn't seem to notice Lianna's gesturing. Fear held her still until, hardly seconds later, two hooded figures ventured out of the dark, their presence forcing Fiona's back flush against the wall.

Only then did she notice the cloth brushing against her shoulder.

It happened quickly: Fiona grabbing the fabric and climbing one, two, three feet in the air; the figures breaking into an inhuman sprint; the young nun screaming in protest as they yanked her from the wall. As she had with her rosary before, Fiona refused to let go of the cloth. "I may not succumb to darkness, I may not succumb to darkness, I may not..." Fiona cried, though her shield only protected her from injury, not abduction.

If Lianna were to use her shotgun, now would be the time to do so, but she would have to hold onto the cloth with one hand and aim with the other, lest she let Fiona fall. On top of that, shooting a gun would be incredibly loud; then again, so were Fiona's screams.

- Shoot shotgun
- Pull the cloth with both hands
- Let Fiona go
- Throw inventory items
- Climb down
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

Thinking on her feet, Lianna held onto the makeshift rope with one hand, while she rummaged through her pack with the other, looking for the jar of demon's blood that she still carried around. She remembered that the inky black liquid had acidic effects and thought it was safer to chuck it at the two unknown figures, than raise any more alarm with her shotgun. Fiona had a protective chant going, hopefully it would be enough to protect her from the blood.

Not having the time to remove the lid, she chucked the whole jar down with force, aiming for the glass to break against one of the figures, or at least the ground.

 

[Cartoonicat]

The glass shattered against one attacker's head and proceeded to eat away at the fabric as they faltered, clearly dazed. Fiona shook her leg free and kicked them in the jaw. The impact sent them to the ground.

Then came the wail and unmistakable smell of searing skin. The figure swatted at their face, which only smeared the acidic blood onto their hands, and their cry for help prompted the other figure to release Fiona.

...Who hit the wall with a thud. She looked at the panicking figures, both hooded, before trying again to climb the cloth.

Lianna could pull her up or cover her with her shotgun or other thrown projectiles, in case the figures attacked again.

- Haul Fiona up
- Cover her with shotgun
- Cover her with projectiles
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

Both hands now on the rope, Lianna pulled it up with all of the strength she had. Fiona was petite, and hopefully had some experience with climbing up and down after all of that time sneaking out of the nunnery. She only hoped that the young nun would be able to hold on.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Fiona, thankfully, knew what she was doing now that the desire to escape seemed to trump her fear; cloth in hand, she dug her linen slippers into the wall crevices and used that to speed up the climbing process. In just a few short moments, Lianna was pulling her through the window frame and onto solid ground. Slipper nearly catching on a long-since broken piece of glass, the nun tripped into Lianna's arms. Lianna could feel her trembling.

- Show concern
- Reassure
- Hug
- Lecture
- Run
- Find a place to hide
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

"You are okay." Lianna whispered, arms wrapping around the nun in comfort. Then she looked around to see where have they ended up.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Fiona sighed into Lianna's embrace but did not move away - yet. As the nun collected herself, Lianna took in their surroundings. They stood in an old hallway with missing floorboards and broken windows. Several doors lined the opposite end of the hall, most withered or broken or completely missing. The ones - rather, one - that remained relatively intact stood closed with a padlock out front. It seemed they found themselves in a hallway of old study rooms rather than the main library area.

Eventually, Fiona's trembling subsided and she lifted her head. "Thank you," she said. Peered about curiously. "Where do we go?"

- Find the nearest staircase
- Proceed down the hallway
- Investigate the locked door
- Look in the rooms
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

"Straight ahead and see where it takes us." Lianna answered. There was not much point in hiding now, when the supernaturals were clearly alerted to their presence, and Fiona's glow would attract them like fireflies anyway. But they could evade them for a bit more. She took Fiona's hand and led her through the hallway, carefully, peeking into every room.

 

[Cartoonicat]

While the walls were primarily stone and brick and mortar, the second story floor was a decaying culmination of wooden planks and fuzzy patches of mold. Years of harsh weather definitely threatened to turn the building into a one-story with grandeur ceiling heights; the further they moved from the windows, the softer the wood became. Fiona yelped as her foot sunk through a board entirely.

"It's almost like quicksand," Fiona observed, lips turned into a grimace, brows puckered upwards in worry. Grabbed onto a notch in the wall to help pull her foot out slowly.

- Try outrunning the decay
- Tread carefully
- Head to the first floor
- Back out the window
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

Not wanting any limbs to be caught between rotting wood, Lianna did her best to walk as slow and careful as possible. "Let's be wary of our surroundings." She said, continuing forward with the intention to go down to the first floor.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Fiona nodded and followed close behind. Like a couple of sleuths, the pair slunk down the hallway, each step careful and precise.

It didn't take long, unfortunately, for voices to fill the quiet; sounds came from both ends of the hallway. Like before, several broken and open rooms stood on the wall to their right. Unlike before, Lianna caught glimpse of another hallway leading deeper into the building. No lanterns hung overhead, allowing darkness to swallow it up.

- Continue
- Hide in a room
- Go down the dark hallway
- Break the floor
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

Lianna concentrated on the voiced, trying to see if she could make out any words, or if any of the voices sounded familiar. She was starting to get worried about their companions. Hopefully her and Fiona would make enough of a distraction so that the others can sneak in from a different entry point. Though, knowing Clara and Dan, they would probably burst through the front door, exploding everything on their way in.

She took Fiona hand, and moved through the dark hallway, to see where it led.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Fiona swallowed dryly before allowing Lianna to lead her into the dark hallway. They slunk further into the dark as the lightest of footsteps sounded, voices loud and jarring in contrast. "Did you find the nun?" Asked someone gruffly. It sounded like a man.

A familiar voice responded, "She's close. Keep looking." A voice Lianna hadn't heard long ago, except this time Samael's sarcastic, sassy sway of words lent itself more to taking the situation seriously. He didn't sound like he was playing anymore.

- Wait in the dark
- Continue into the dark
- Jump out and attack
- Other

 

[ArcticFox]

Lianna stopped mid-step when she recognised the voice, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline coursing through her body. It was anger, she convinced herself. Anger and disgust and the urge to jump out and bury a stake through the heart of that vampire and anyone else that was with him. And she would have done it without thinking, had she been alone. But with Fiona next to her, looking so frail and frightened, she could not risk it. So she continued on, away from the voices.

 

[Cartoonicat]

The pair ventured on at a slow, cautious pace; here and there their feet threatened to sink into the molded wood flooring or snap the planks in half. Fiona stumbled in the dark, hands catching herself on the floor. "Oof!" She paused halfway through sitting up. "Oh... Oh no." Fear trembled her voice and her small, delicate hand wrapped around Lianna's wrist. She brought it to the ground.

There, Lianna could feel the slightest of finger indentations in the ground. They had been leaving a trail, and their pursuers could see in the dark.

Fiona began to chant her blessing of perception, but in doing so her eyes began to glow. To sense the supernaturals around them would come at the cost of their location, should anyone glance down the darkened hallway.

- Shush Fiona
- Let her chant
- Stay put
- Run
- Continue forward slowly
- Other