3508: Vispa secret

* _3508_ is in here...thati s to say..in this kingdom full of rabid beasts.
<__> >Where we last left the Bellow named 3508, he had discovered the city of Vispa within this lost valley of fungal forests. A crumbling city of spires and palaces, a ruined castle on a plateau. He encountered a curious malformed creature in tattered red and gold robes- upon questioning, it furiously attacked, summoning droves of its comrades. Though mostly harmless to the stone goliath, their numbers are great enough to provoke a chase. After
<__> killing those that managed to hitch a ride on his hull, 3508 finds himself hidden among the low stone houses of an abandoned bazaar, having just witnessed the twos' corpses become dessicated, red particles hurrying off into the void.
* AFK is now known as Trotsky
<__> >Above, in the middle of the street, a curious statue. It looks like 3508 is in the middle of a tiny park, geometric roads wrapping around an open area.
<_3508_> "..."
<_3508_> > the Golem looked ahead, then back up at the cliff it had fallen off of. A n Obelisk was there...
<__> >It's not an obelisk. But there is a familiar green glow in the great palace at the top of the plateau.
* _3508_ was curious. What would it be that got it's attention?  As it pondered, it's ears twitched upward, listening to see if those rabid beasts were still rawling around..
<__> >Indeed, no perception checks necessary. The malformed are on the hunt, sweeping the streets above in groups, chittering savagely amongst each other.
<__> [hidden]
* _3508_ couldn't dig up there...well, it could, but it wouldn't be any closer to whatever that mysterious glow was. It pondered how it could get around there in the shortest way possible...
<__> >It should be mentioned again that these things pose little threat to the golem... But, at the same time, the risk of their spears flying true and disabling something crucial is there.
<__> >Perception
<_3508_> !roll 2d6
<GameServ> _3508_ rolled 2d6: 5 3  <Total: 8>
<__> >This little courtyard is illuminated by more of those strange lanterns- maybe they're all part of a unified grid. A shattered fountain lies in the middle.
<__> >Beyond, seems to be a street that wraps around towards the top of the plateau. Many of the buildings along the path are in a state of severe disrepair.
* _3508_ twitches its ears. The Golem trudges toward the fountain. It's pale eyes watch the fountain, making suren othing was in there and waiting to ambush it..
<__> >there's not enough to hide behind.
* _3508_ leaves it be then, and focuses his sight on the path back up to the plateua.
* GuyWithBigStick is now known as AutumnLeaf
<__> >the houses are all crumbling, nearly roofless, damaged by... something. Anything could be lying in wait, or waiting to be discovered. It's either this path, or the streets above now crawling with beasts.
* GalWithAShrunkenHead is now known as Morf
* _3508_ 's ascent slowed down as it took a moment to stare at the damaged houses. It was...strange, to see them fall so far from their original grace..
* Rydrake is now known as Sarasvati
<__> >perception, sight
<_3508_> !roll 2d6
<GameServ> _3508_ rolled 2d6: 6 1  <Total: 7>
<__> >There is a faint flickering of light in one of the crumbling houses.
<_3508_> ...
* _3508_ makes its way toward the flickering between the rubble. What could this be, he wonders..
* Morf is now known as Moon
<__> >The house was a modest one, in life. Now it is roofless shambles. It is looted of all its valuables, save for one thing... a flickering node of light that hangs in the air.
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* _3508_ stared at the anomoly..usually, light doesn't hang like this without a source. He tried to scan it, to get a reading of it, in case it was a trap..
<__> >Nothing, but it's vaguely magical.
* _3508_ slowly raised it's large hand to touch this strange marvel..
<__> <Memory>
<__> >the world around the golem changes to one of more vibrant colors. The lights are only slightly brighter- but the world is intact, ornate tapestries hanging on the walls of this humble house. No one is home.
* _3508_ is silent as it stares at the forgotten beauty of this home..
<__> >The world has a lightly hazy quality... There is a commotion outside.
* _3508_ turns its head to the sounds.
<__> >A crowd is moving down the street, and through the little courtyard. Something has their attention.
* _3508_ slowly walks out to the crowd, curious of what's gottne them together like this..
* Moon is now known as Morf
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<__> >Colorfully dressed canines chattering to each other in multiple regional dialects hurry down to the lower level of the city. Vispa in its pre-fall glory is awash in colorful clan banners and buzzing with activity, colorful smoke rising from the bazaar and markets.
<__> >The artificial light is just bright enough to provide a view of the valley beyond, young forests teeming with color.
* _3508_ simply studied the surroundings..
<__> >The crowd seems to get thicker. Their voices are so thick that the golem can't pick out anything useful.
* _3508_ starts walking through the imaginary crowd. What in the world could be the cause of the commotion?
<__> >3508 walks right through them. This world isn't real.
<__> >They're all headed in the same direction- the lower levels of the city where 3508 first found himself.
* _3508_ knows, that's why he said "through the imaginary crowd." He noted their action. Are they heading toward the fountain?
<__> >No... But the fountain looks nice- a climbing spiral carved from a single piece of stone.
* _3508_ tries to see where they were headed - mayhaps it can lead to some survivors..
* AutumnLeaf is now known as Cayenne
<__> >The continue traveling down the street. From the side alleys come more people and their children. Lowly servitor ponies return to their dwellings, but some follow their beneficiaries like shadows.
* _3508_ ventures further down, keeping its ears perked in case someone or a group atleast made a reference to what was going on..
* Cayenne is now known as Screwball
<__> >Ahead, a yelling, screaming crowd. In the wide streets and city square below, a wide circle of canines and their servants is held at bay by a line of battlemages, their wards preventing the onlookers from crossing an invisible line. Twin skiffs have have landed as a pair, more soldiers disembarking from the transports and carrying... prisoners. Dogs and ponies alike. They are bound tightly and kicked roughly into the middle of the square.
* _3508_ continued his stride. He walks through the images to get a good look at the battlemages and their captives...
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<__> >The battlemages are clad in angular plate armor of a bronze and tan finish, their red clan badges worn like banners over their chests. The pony prisoners look ragged and raw, their body language resigned, but the dogs are all well-dressed and in a state of panic, pleading with their captors.
* _3508_ listens - of all his memory before his previous shutdown, nothing spoke of this..
<__> ?: No, you don't understand! It wasn't us! We wouldn't do business with, with, these rebels! This is a mistake!
<__> >The canine that spoke up tries to stand, and is savagely kicked to a face-down position by a guard as the crowd boos.
* _3508_ 's ears twitched. Rebels..? He looked through his databases, wondering if it was any faction that he was aware of.
<__> "Liar!" "Blood traitor!" "You set them on us!" "The sky beasts are razing the surface!"
<__> >The crowd throws debris over the barrier at the prisoners- in response, the battlemages draw their wards into a bubble, where they simply hit an invisible wall in the air and slide off.
* Screwball is now known as Magnolia
<_3508_> "Sky Beasts. Probably name for: Dragons."
* _3508_ watched the skirmish play out..
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<__> "My businesses are in ruins! They destroyed everything!" "I lost my entire stock!" "Kill them, strike the spirits from these horse lovers!"
<__> >A red-and-gold-clad canine of obvious importance steps forward from one of the skiffs, and several in the crowd cheer for him. 3508 immediately sees an enemy.
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<__> >He doesn't know why. All of this does seem like there is familiar context, but 3508's database might be more damaged than he thought.
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<__> >He knows they're talking about the dragon incursions... but he knows that conflict was resolved.
* _3508_ twitched his ears.  Could this have something to do with the incursions..?
<__> "Quiet! Let the Visser speak!" "Let the man speak!" "It's Nzar, he's found the rebels!"
<_3508_> "..."
<__> >The visser strides forward, waving a hand to calm the crowd. "Noble Vispa! I have brought our enemies low once again! These traitors, they are guilty of a grave crime! We found these Tren merchants and their slaves to be in communion with dragons! It is they who swayed the beasts against us, turned their balfire against our people on the Surface!"
<__> ?"No, you don't understand! It wasn't us, it was Roz! We saw what he did-" A boot collides with his face, shattering his jaw as a battlemage drives his his head into the ground with his armored foot, pacifying the helpless dog.
* _3508_ makes a mental note about Nzar and Roz..
<__> >The crowd cheers for the Visser as he continues, arms outstretched. "These blood traitors have betrayed the power of Canid stone and steel, currying favor with fellbeasts. They reject our superiority, our right to the Surface. They would make their bed with the servitors, scraping their knees to animals, and look what it has cost us! The surface burns with balefire, as the dragons burn their way inland! Innocent families and hard-working
<__> dogs banished back to this place, smited agonizingly, no fate any dog should be asked to repeat!
<_3508_> "..."
<__> "They in their misguided intentions have brought the dragons down upon us for their own benefit. And what is that benefit, you ask? You know the answer! To secure those lands, that trade, for themselves! For clan Miir!"
<__> >The crowd grows enraged at the mention of the rival clan, hurling insults in their regional languages and actually managing to force the bubble inwards slightly.
<__> "No, it wasn't us, we swear! Miir is loyal to the Cenotaph! It was Roz, he was the one who made the deal! We know what he found in Iji, we know what he wants to unleash! You have to believe us!"
* _3508_ 's ears twitch. The Iji Mines..
<__> >Another of the dogs has spoken up, his eyes crazed with fear. He too is beaten down.
<__> "Listen to him, he sullies noble Roz!" "Traitor!" "Roz is just, Roz is righteous!" Cover them in pitch!"
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* Parp is now known as Cambi
<_3508_> "..."
<__> >the Visser quickly regains control, his popularity a nearly tangible force. "Listen to this blood traitor, this horse fucker, as he lies and deceives! Would you believe my noble brother to abandon his cause? To stand against his queens? What would you have me do, Vispa?!"
<__> >A chant builds in the crowd. "Cut! Cut! Cut! Cut!" The onlookers are bloodthirsty for it. At its sound, the remaining upright dogs wail in terror.
<__> "No, it's true! We know what Roz found! We know what he's building! He's not who you think he is, you have to believe us!"
<_3508_> The golem watched the pleading dog..
<__> >The chant grows to a fever pitch, and the visser adjusts his extravagant robes.
<__> "Line them up."
* Cambi is now known as SleepyCambi
<__> >At this, the crowd roars in approval. The helpless merchants struggle futilely as they are roughly shoved together, the first two barely conscious as they bleed from their swollen faces. The ponies are compliant, humming quietly to themselves.
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* _3508_ was...curious.  The pleading dog was so adamant of going against this Roz...maybe he was buying time, but checking hte mines would prove useful for answers..
<__> "For the crime of collusion with drakes, for the crime of betraying the Cenotaph and the Queens, for the crime of killing their fellow canids, the punishment is severance and death!"
<__> >Raising his right hand to the sky and making a fist, Roz's arm erupts in red fire, his robes unburned. The crowd roars, and one prisoner tries to run. With a flourish, a spider web of red lightning slashes through the traitors, striking them dead where they kneel. They collapse, disintegrating, red particles scattering from their remains.
<_3508_> > Isn't that Nzar doing this?
<__> >Why, yes, it is.
* _3508_ simply watched the red particles..
<__> >The crowd cheers as the soldiers get to work removing the bodies.
<__> >Perception
<_3508_> !roll 2d6
<GameServ> _3508_ rolled 2d6: 4 4  <Total: 8>
<__> >Something rolls across the square from the pile of corpses. It goes unnoticed by the battlemages, and rolls right into the hoof of a young servitor pony. He quickly stows it under his tattered vest.
* _3508_ perks his ears.
* _3508_ walks over to the servitor, staring down at it as he got closer..
<__> >The crowd begins to disperse after Nzar's closing statements. The little green horse is careful to go unnoticed, following the bulk of the crowd back to the park.
* _3508_ doesn't let the equine out of his site..
<__> As the sated crowd thins, he heads for the statue. It's a statue of a Knight, his lance held over a shoulder.
* _3508_ hardly notices - for this equine is much too supicious to let out of his sight right now.
<__> >He pushes a panel into the pedestal, and a little indentation opens. He quickly stows what he retrived inside and closes it, quickly hurrying back to his master's abode.
<_3508_> "..."
<__> >The vision grows hazy.
* _3508_ copies the Equine's example, and presses a finger on the panel..
<__> >The vision fades.
<_3508_> > Does he still press the panel or is it just not there?
<__> 3508 is standing in front of the statue. Absurdly, he hasn't been spotted, and the streets are quiet again.
<__> The pedestal is still intact. A portion of its side gives slightly.
<__> >With minimal effort, the golem has access to the alcove.
* _3508_ wordlessly continues foward..
<__> >wait what
<_3508_> > The alcove's open..thought that was infront of him.
<_3508_> >..unless Alcove ment that indent
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<__> >Same thing, and it's not big enough for him to walk into
* _3508_ takes a look inside.
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<__> >There is something shiny, and strange.
* Indigo eats it
* _3508_ , as daintily as he can, picks it up
<__> >It doesn't matter. It feels... indestructible, somehow. It's beautiful- a topaz-like gem of gold cut into a hollow orb, somehow, a six-pointed star of crystal within.
<__> ???? acquired
* _3508_ tries to scan it to get an idea of what it could be made of..
<__> >Later, because I work in the morning.