Star and Lens

[22:46] {NARRATION} The Nethradin himself finds his shields ripped to shreds and with his magic unable to defend himself, the collided beam of magic between both parties turns the Nethradin to bones and ash below. As he starts to fade and crumble, the light in his helmet go dim as his soul was banished back to Hel.

Chains rip up from the floor and grab hold of the Nethradin, tugging whatever spectral force had left the suit of armor into the ground..

.. To a special place where Nethradin aren't meant to escape. Now the blizzard, at its height, doesn't seem quite so bad. Their magic shines through and illuminates just fine. Perhaps the dark influence from the Nethradin had forced their vision to be poor earlier?

Nevertheless, the group quickly navigates through Baukdengrad's ruins - Seeing multiple statues and ruined fountains. The dangerous feeling in the air had only very slightly faded, but after being attacked and almost killed in a game of cat and mouse - It would be hard to NOT be on edge.

The group stands outside of Baukdegrad's ruins, now.. Two paths ahead of the. A right path that leads down a valley and up a hill. The left path leads up a mountain's ridge and likely to some kind of summit.
[22:50] Now feeling refreshed, Tobias stepped up to the scattered arcanium rocks. His eyes squinted, appraising the minerals.. before widening once he realized what they are. "As long as you all don't mind.." he trailed off, pointing towards the scattered ores.

"I think I'll be able to find some use out of these. Call it a special sort of payment for going on this bizarre trip with you all." he said, grinning. If that was fine, he'd pick them up and stash them away for later. Then, he looked towards the navigator.

"Hey, Adar. Are you doing alright? I can offer you a healing potion if it starts to get especially bad." he offered. With a long path ahead of them, however.. it got his mind thinking of what they could do to prevent another ambush like last time.

"Do you think we could attempt what we were speaking of at the Gehenna fields? With your sextant, and my star.. perhaps we could map out this area and findany impending danger before it finds us." he suggested.
(Tobias Ulrich)
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[22:52] {Item} You picked up Nethradin Bone. Dropped by Setsuna Ukitake. .
[22:54] Mostly healed and relieved of his physical grievances, Yandir finally finds strength to go on! He in no means lacked determination or strength of will, but in the end, he was no true hero or virtuous defender, and rather...

A simple survivor. Getting by as best as he could manage, while guaranteeing the welfare of whoever he held dear and close to his heart in whatever ways were feasible.

The crossways before them, however, were yet another layer of complexity to an already difficult journey. Could they make this decision with a lax mind and criterion?

Squinting eyes gaze at the pathways ahead, before their impressions are let out:

"The right path is likely easier to trek through. Smoother, specially in this climate... but I fear it is longer."

"The ridge, however, seems to elevate into a peak. It will prove far harder to climb, I'd wager."
(Yandir)
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[22:55] Luckily they had been prepared, the injuries of both Tobias and Yandir being mostly healed. Light blues flickered from each party member, before she released a sigh of relief.

The Qilin focused primarily on the two paths before them. It would prove to be difficult, no matter which they chose. Upon hearing mention of Tobias and Adar working together, she tilted her head in mild curiosity.

"Yandir is right, of course. But I am willing to wait and see what you two have prepared. Anything to help us get to our destination safely."

If the ridge was truly the quickest route, she was more than willing to brave the dangers that lay within. Considering the state of the others, though, perhaps it wasn't the smartest option.

"Star and a sextant. I'm curious."
(Setsuna Ukitake)
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[22:57] Yandir says, "It completely went over my head. Apologies."
[23:07] Eventually coming to, Adar's blurred gaze managed to discern the feigned figure of the Nethradin few feet away from his battered comrades. Eventually, the unearthly, cursed pain would slowly gripe into his skin, effectively settling in. After a quick auxiliary tending-to routine, the navigator retrieved his cloak and threw it atop his shoulders once more.

The disgusting feeling of dread that the felled Nethradin emanated would resonate with each and every one of Adar's burns, making his skin sting fiercely. Despite this, the scholar brought himself to reach out and make part of it's remains his booty. The quest had already paid off.

His lost, ghostly gaze then trailed to his left, addressing Tobias' idea.

"Now you mention it, this might be the perfect time to try this out." Adar spoke, sluggishly articulating his thoughts, in an attempt to acommodate the flurry of bleak stimuli that the chaotic creature had subjected him to. "Being so far up, and considering that the visibility has improved, if we reach out to your star… I might be able to figure out where these roads would take us."

Retrieving the rusty spyglass-like object from the floor nearby, Adar kneeled down at a short distance in front of Tobias, looking through the optic hole.

"I need you to reach out to your star, then channel it's energy on my sextant… I'll handle the rest."

If this were the idealized tool that Iosefka would soon craft, then perhaps all of this wouldn't be necessary. But until then, their method should suffice!
(Adar Gutt)
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[23:08] {Item} You drop Master Staff.
[23:13]
{LOAD GAME}

[23:13] Tobias became a vessel for cosmic energy, the middle man between Adar and Omega. He silently called out to his star, golden energy flowing into him. Ethereal blue sparks of mana shot out from Tobias, as he continued to take in as much raw energy from the cosmos as was needed.

"It sounds simple enough, I suppose.."

More than that. He became the epicenter of Omega's cosmic magic, to the point where it began to overflow. This excess mana flared out from his back in the form of wings, but Tobias didn't take to the skies. These heavenly apparitions encased Adar and his navigation tool in a warm and otherworldly embrace.

Starlight was channeled into the sextant. He didn't entirely understand the science behind it, but from how it was explained to him, Adar would attempt to obtain a bird's eye view of the surrounding area from the Ulrich's contracted star. A connection between the tool and Omega was set temporarily set into motion by Tobias.

"Do you see anything?" he asked.
(Tobias Ulrich)
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[23:14] {NARRATION} D20. Both of you.
[23:16] {NARRATION} For the life of you, as you go to use the sextant - You really can't make left or right of things. You stare and stare, and.. Well. A sixth-sense somewhere in there tells you..

Just go up the ridge.
[23:18] Setsuna watched in awe, wide blues fixated upon both Adar and Tobias, as they worked in unison with one another. The Qilin had little knowledge when it came to the stars, or navigation in general, so there wasn't much she could offer.

"I had no idea you two were working on something like this."

She smiled, before tilting her head to the side gently.

"What do you see, Adar?"
(Setsuna Ukitake)
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[23:22] As the cosmic surge of mana surged into the sextant, Adar's own efforts would be found in channeling it's girth of information into a single image. For the life of him, he couldn't - the flurry of images and sensations was overwhelming. It was like looking at the entire cosmos, everywhere, every observable hint, all at once. Everything BUT the bifurcation.

The connection with Omega was overflowing, was this a fraction of what Tobias had to live with every single day?

With a pained grunt, Adar bobbed his head back from the eyepiece lens, placing the butt of his palm against his massively dilated left eye, then panting at a violent pace.

"T-Too much… I couldn't… make out anything." He complained, lamenting his own weakness. "I'm sorry."

Huffing, the navigator turned and spoke out of a hunch.

"I think… our best shot is to go up the ridge."