Between the map and the ghost-compass, Alptraum has a pretty good idea that the Thistlewood estate is his likely target. He sees villages huddled up against the mountains, with farmlands fanning out beneath them, but these are put behind him before he gets the rocky bay where the fortified manor resides.
Once it comes into view over a ridge, Alptraum spots the moored airship, and also where the estate gets its name: the forest of dark, thorny thistlebark trees that all but crowds up against the manse. There doesn't appear to be any roads or other ground access.
"Greeaaaat," Alptraum complains, "That's going to be a lovely place to enter. I can't go through that. So, ot's either above, or below. I bet there's old escape tunnels under it, the question is where they would come out at."
The mountain sides are jumbled with boulders and talus, which could certainly provide cover for secret entrances. There's also a small lake on the other side of the rocky peninsula that protects the southern edge of the estate. There doesn't appear to be a cursed forest surrounding that though.
Alptraum tries to feel the area, though it's probably pointless, and see if areas feel particularly vacant, like tunnel sin the mountains. The lack of something might indcate passages. Of course this close to that forest, it may be completely pointless!
While the forest is just a black expanse, the lake has life. It isn't very mobile, though, and seems clustered where the lakes butts up against the peninsula.
The rest of the stone vista is populated by sparse vegetation, which Alptraum doesn't need any special senses to detect; they're visible and look a bit twisted.
"There's something wrong with this place," Alptraum mutters to himself in Sylvanian. "Bet there's a corrupt shrine somewhere and it's warping things. Would explain the forest, and that vegetation. Checking there first for clues, no way am I dealing with the lake unless I have to." He's not going to fly, either, long way around, low, on foot.
It isn't easy to notice the watch-spirits perched on the manor itself once Alptraum passes closer. The thistlebark masked them from a distance. So the Eye of Barada is being used, which is a bit of a giveaway.
"Great sentries. Lovely," Not getting very close without being spotted somehow at this rate," Alptraum banks back and goes in to land somewhere a ways out still. Maybe the trick is getting caught on your own terms? Still, dangerous being up in the air if he gets any closer.
He can see that the area around the airship landing is the largest space clear of the thistlebark (because having trees with giant, razor-sharp thorns next to an airship might be dangerous). The forest is also thinner near the 'mouth' of the mountainous cul-de-sac.
"If I can get towards the ship, I should find people. The question is, who wouldn't they shoot on sight?" Alptraum muses as he lands and ponders the best way to find his way in.
From the ground, the thistlebark woods hide everything, even the sentry spirits. Even though they're generated by an artifact, they may be blind to things inside the forest itself.
Alptraum sighs and runs his hands through his hair. "Right, so what seems like a likely ship ditch? Rat? Vartan? Rhian? Rat's tempting since they're common crap crew people dump, I guess, but, hmm," he muses as he paces for a bit.
If this is a crew that works with mages, Vartans might be problematical due to their anti-magic attitude (and supposed resistance). They'd want sorts they could control, one way or another. Given that they were using resurrected pirates and the like before.
"So, yeah, rat. Sexy-ish, crude, rat. Everything else has problems that make it less appealing," Alptraum talks to himself as he paces. He's also stripping since he will have to shift, and re-dress more appropriately. Not that guy clothes don't work more or less, just how they're fit changes a lot. and the rat forms he knows all need breast halters, they're top-heavy. So eventually he's quite naked and sitting cross-legged on the ground. Then its eyes closed and disappearing into shadow to find the body (and mind) of Nikky, for the most part. This both needs a bit more patchy fur, a bit more bedraggled, and probably a few visible scars.
Just so long as it doesn't impact Nikky's vanity, such as it is. Though she might want an eyepatch. Or to just be naked. Who would shoot a naked Skreek girl after all?
It's hard to figure out how 'ugly' to go, as Nikky's own body absolutely refuses some of the shifts he tries while Engulfed; talk about a form that has it's own mind of a sort! In the end, it's mostly normal Mikky, except for a couple spots of patchy fur, and a left eye that's milky-silver instead of the usual blue-green Nikky had. That's going to be bandana'ed over as per classic pirate fashion! And it would look the part of checked, anyway. So, after what seems like an age of arguing with oneself, the shadow falls away from the newly born 'rat'. "Oy, dagh, taken bad, thinkin' I be ugly on a whim like dat. Jerk needs to figure out I always sexy," the rat comments oddly to herself, and stretches.
That leaves the matter of using Alptraum's clothes. His shirt might serve as a very short dress.
It's also where the newly minted lady decides what to wear and what not. And mostly, it's not. A hanky becomes the bandana, the shirt he wore goes on, but is tied and re-tied up to both help cradle her significant chest and keep her taught belly free. Boxer-style underwear becomes her shorts. and that;s ... about it. Everything else is tied up into a bundle and hidden up in a tree out of the way. And as for the mother's hair, she spends some time braiding it into a woven ring she slips on one of her pinkies.
Now it's just a matter of getting through the Thistlewood in more or less the right direction. The airship should be making at least some noise though.
Plus knowing the direction the sun moves, and how plants end to grow, helps keep someone oriented. All useful skills fro, Sylvania that come into play here. Walking through a spooky forest? That's practically a trip down childhood lane. Granted he never dreamed of being an over-sexed rat girl back then ... only helping prove the old adage, 'you can't go home again'.
If Hexen had run into Nikky, would he have survived? The forest is very.. unnatural feeling. There isn't any underbrush, but there are the skeletons of animals here and there. And not scattered, so they were stripped by insects most likely. A good warning to avoid the spines, but at Nikky's height they don't seem to be an issue.
Still, Nikky keeps an eye out since she has some rather forward aspects she would rather not get poked. And onward she goes, paying attention to where and how she walks, and occasionally giggling how she 'bounces'. Yeah, the rat might have missed being 'out and about' for a while. She's not in a huge hurry, looking rushed would seem suspicious too, so it's more of a meandering work towards the direction she remembers the ship being, while moving carefully.
The deeper she goes, the more she hears.. chittering noises. Chibix, to be precise, roosting on the black branches. They don't seem alarmed at her presence though, further supporting that the forest doesn't have any predators. There might also be a bit of movement ahead of her.
And of course Nikky even waves at them. "Oy! Heya cutestuff!" she tells one of the chibix as she walks along. As movement seems to be more ahead, she slows a bit.
There's a flare of light, and then a small red glow. Skreek's have good noses, so Nikky can tell that someone up ahead just lit a hand-rolled cigarette. Something cheap from the smell of it.
"Oy, ''bout damn time I find some civilization out 'ere," Nikky actually yells towards that flared light and starts marching towards it. "Knew I saw a ship in de distance couple days back and hadda have a crew. I wanna git outa dis stupid place!" Suble, this one.
There's a cough up ahead, followed by, "Hey.. who.. uh.. who goes there!" the smoker demands.
"A dagh-cursed, stranded, annoyed skreek, dat who. Mah damn crew decided to dump me out in these wastes jus' because I picked upone de booze storage and had a bender. Ungrateful things! They had me, dey didn't need booze," Nikky grouses. "You kin call me Nikky. Ships hand, or was. Also ship's tail."
The Khatta looks dumbfounded. He's not wearing a particular uniform, but his coat is definitely the sort worn by airship crew. It takes him a moment to reach for his long knife. "Stay right there!" he demands. "No wait.. come this way into the light," he immediately corrects, and backs up a bit more (while checking over his shoulder that he isn't backing into a tree).
"Yeh yeh, grr, yer a guard, I guess. I no armed," Nikky grouses as she does move closer and into the light. She even holds her arms straight out from her sides. "I know de drill."
"You do?" the feline asks, as he brandishes his blade in one had and the rather forgotten cigarette in the other. After another moment he asks, "So what's next then?"
"Usually ya make sure de prisoner has no weapons and ya take em en to de boss to decide what to do' wit dem," Nikky sighs as if it's some sort of well-played out bit. "Course I just want a job so I kin git of of dis dump."
"Ah, right!" the man says. "So.. do you have any hidden weapons?"
Nikky arches her one exposed eyebrow. "Seriously?" she asks.
"Hmmm," the Khatta ponders. "Oh! Jump up and down!" he orders.
This makes Nikky snort a bit. So, she does jump up and down. Parts of her anatomy move at different rates, and there are times it almost seems like it ought to be making a 'BooooOOOiiing!' sound.
"That should do it," the guard says, satisfied that nothing dangerous fell out. "This is a private airship," he then says. "So.. there may not be a position available."
"Fine, den can you just dump me at de next port or sumthin? I can do something to pay me way, surely," Mikky requests, bared tail flicking lazily.
"Well.. you'd better come with me then," the cat says, and gestures with his knife towards the edge of the woods, then snuffs the end of his cigarette with his tongue and puts it into his coat pocket.
"Y' coulda shared dat. Haven' had a smoke in days," Nikky complains and throws up her hands. "Fine, fine, I go dis way. be yer prisoner or whatever, I dun care. It better den scratchin' me own ass out 'ere at night."
"Why'd you want someone else to do that?" the guard asks, leading from behind as it were. There aren't any lights on the airship, so it's just suddenly there along with a side of the manor. The ship is black, of course, made for night flying, and has the usual pointy bits of Babelite design. It's moored at four points, and there's a rope ladder hung over the side. Someone calls from the deck, in a squeaky Eeee voice, "Y'done pissin' finally Boots?"
"Yeah, yeah, I found a rat," the Khatta claims.
"Ey! I'm a skreek, callin' me a rat makes me sound so unsavory," Nikky retorts back at the guard. "And to put it more correctly I found 'im!"
"Sound a bit sour to me," the Eeee says. "She sick? Check she's not a monster or undead?"
"Nothin' fell off when she jumped up and down," Boots claims.
"Oy, come down 'ere am I maye you dead fer callin' me sour!" Nikky calls up at the ship and even shakes her fist.
"Did you search her, Boots?" the deck Eeee asks, and starts pulling up the ladder.
"Oh.. search her how?" Boots calls up. "I gotta hold the knife!"
"Fell on yer head a lot at a kid, huh?" Nikky asks of 'Boots' and rolls her eyes. "I even suggested he should search me for weapons iffin he didn' believe me."
The Eeee grumbles something, then calls down, "Make her strip idiot. She can't hide stuff then! Check her mouth too, and her claws."
"But she's a girl, Daff," the Khatta points out.
"An? Y'gonna explode if ya saw a nekkid girl?" Nikky asks.
"I dunno," Boots says uncertainly. "But.. uh.. strip! Everything! And the bandana too!" the cat sort of orders. He waggles his knife at least.
And so Nikky does strip, completely. Shirt and 'shorts end up in a pile, as does the bandana. Then she's /staring at Boots with one good eye and one milky-white one.
"Spread out your limbs, please, and open your mouth," Boots says next, approaching with the knife clenched hard in his hand.
Nikky does spread her arms and legs, lifts her tail, and opens her mouth (along with sticking out her tongue).
Boots gets as close as he dares, then squats down to look into Nikky's mouth. Then carefully reaches out with his non-knife hand and tentatively lifts up each of Nikky's breasts, to see that there's nothing under them. Then he gets up and walks around to see that she's not got razors in her tail or anything. "I think she's unarmed," he calls to Daff.
"I haf two arms! I just don' have any weapons!" Nikky retorts.
"Oh.. should I tie her hands then, Daff?" Boots calls up.
"Do you want to carry her up the ladder then?" the Eeee calls down. This gives Boots pause. "No?" he says.
"Kin I put mah clothing back on?" Nikky asks.
The ladder descends. "Eh.. it's not very good clothing," Daff comments. "Boots, bring the clothes up first. Then she can come up."
"Oh, dat how it is, eh? No girls on de crew, issit?" Nikky retorts and sighs.
Boots grumbles and collects the clothes, which he wads up into a bundle. "I just don't trust Boots to search your clothes," Daff calls down. "And I don't think you'll run off nekkid before we do."
Boots climbs up, and the ladder comes up behind him. A minute later, it descends again. "Alright, ye can come up," the Eeee calls down.
"Eh, I could run off, but I rather git outa dis dump," Nikky grumbles, then she's scrambling up the ladder.
Once at the deck, her clothes are offered back, although not without some leering from Daff, who is only wearing some trousers himself. "Now, where you from girly? Seen some stuff, eh? Well, what you could with one good eye, eh?"
Eh, I jump ship t' ship dependin' on de pay and such. Well, last choice didn't work out so well. They dumped me a ways outa Babel cuz de got mad I picked open de Captain's liquor chest. As if a little lost booze wuz such a big deal," Nikky grumbles as she takes back her clothing. The first thing she does it put the Bandana back on over her eye, then it's to putting her shirt and shorts back on. "Dey'll regret it after a few weeks in de air and no tail t' keep de boys under control."
"So, you want a ride back to civilization, is that it?" Daff asks. So far, he's the only other crewman she's seen other than Boots.
"Hey, you get it! Dis one looked like I told him a complicated math problem when I asked fer a ride," Nikky comments and thumbs towards Boots. "I saw a ship head dis vey and followed, hopin I could find where it docked. And well, tada, so I did."
"Good eyes then," Daff says. "How old are you?" he asks next, eyes narrowed a little.
"Good nose," Nikky comments and taps her nose. "Yer Ptera driven, no? Can smell der stink and de procession doesn't sine through ya, you know. As for age? Twenty-ish? Mebbe? I lost track cuz it no matter."
"Well, this is a conundrum," Daff says. "Captain is at the big house, so you wait here with Boots, while I go report this."
"Wut? Wut hard about dis? Ifiin de answer iw no I kin just start hikin again and watching for other ships t'follow," Nikky comments, shrugs.
"Not so simple, the bosses will need to know," Daff says, and turns to Boots. "If she gives you trouble tie her up." And then he's over the side and flapping towards the mansion.
"OoooooOOOooo, tie me up, eh?" Nikky comments to Boots and leers at him. "Promise?"
"What? I didn't suggest it!" Boots claims. "Are you hungry?"
"Bit. Eatin; chibix raw gits kinna old," Nikky claims. "Crunchy, but old."
"I'm hungry too, but we don't get fed until the captain comes back," Boots says. "So what's a ship's tail do? Do you clean up after the Pteras then?"
"Eh, we sleep with the men so they fight less, and hump each other less, cuz dat be weird," Nikky explains, shrugs, and waves, "And lead on to de food!"
"Sounds.. odd," Boots says, and heads to the gangway. "Maybe there's something left in the galley."
"Wut? You don't like sex? Oh, khatta, right. Yer one of dose guys what got snipped, eh?" Nikky asks as she pokes him in the back while following him to the gangway.
"I.. don't know.." Boots says. Below deck.. stinks. Boots is leading past cages that smell of fear and urine. "Not important to my job, I guess."
"Meh, you transport livestock? Reeks in 'ere," Nikky comments and covers her nose. "Geh."
"Huh, yeah, I.. suppose," Boots says, opening a door to another room. It smells.. even worse, somehow. There are a lot of hooks hanging from the ceiling, some with bits of flesh still on them. "Not a lot of pickings," Boots notes, and peels off a bit stuck to one of the hooks before offering it to Nikky.
Nikky accepts and sniffs at it. "Wut is it?" she asks while sniffing.
Boots just shrugs. "Livestock, I guess?" It's raw, whatever it is.
Nikky holds it between her fingers as she uses shadow between her fingertips to see if she can ... identify it.
It's familiar, but it still takes a moment to identify it. Skeek.
Nikky .... tries to not look ill. She sniffs it again, then shrugs a bit and looks like she stuffs it in her mouth. Really, she palms it, then tries to use the shadow to 'convert' it in her palm to something smaller that she can discard after wiping over her muzzle and flicking her hand out and back behind her.
"The chef wasn't with us this time," Boots apologizes. "She gets it to taste better, usually. Most salty, anyway."
"Ah, yeh, ship's cooks are under-appreciated," Nikky commiserates as she tries to put it out of her head they eat people. "Seems like 'yall might be too under-staffed to even take on a stragller like me, tho, if dis is de case. S'all good, I knew it wus a long shot to try."
"Where are you Boots?" Daff calls from the deck.
"Oh, we better go back up," Boots says.
"No complaints from me, it stink down 'ere," Nikky says quickly and heads back the way they came! She at least knows that route.
Daff is waiting on the deck. "You took her down below? What were you thinking?" he chides Boots. Then he shakes his head, "Sorry, I know I shouldn't use that word around you." He points to Nikky, and says, "They want to see you inside."
"He wus jus offering some food," Nikky comments and holds up her hand. "Yer ship stinks, you need better livestock handlers, dats fer sure. but eh. Seen worse and smelled worse. Givvim a break." She pauses then tilts her head. "Inside vere?"
"The mansion," Daff says. "An invitation from the lord and captain, Shodan bar Zachiel. No time to clean you up though."
"Dunno dat name," Nikky says and shrugs. "So ... I jus' go up and say 'hi'.?" She points in the direction of the mansion.
"You come with me," Daff says, and points to the ladder.
"Righty-o," Nikky chirps and heads for the ladder down. "An seriously, git some mint; it help with de smell down below. Mebbe some charcoal too."
A few minutes later, the Eeee and Skreek are standing before a door inside the outer wall. One of the spectral watchers is just above, looking into the sky. When it opens, there are armed Eeee inside. They have the same look about them as the 'cannon fodder' Eeee used to attack the Yodhrephath. "Don't mind them," Daff says, and nudges Nikky forward.
"Cheerful lot," Nikky remarks as she does glance towards 'em. "Seems about as happy as undertaerk's underpants." She looks back at the nudge, shrugs, then heads inward, her tail swaying slowly. She's all smiles and ratty, but her nerves are anything but, she's watching everything, and listening, even sniffing.
Things smell better, at least, as the follow the corridor, passing several closed doors (but Nikky can smell fear behind a few of them, and also a proper kitchen behind one. Eventually they go through a narrow door and leads into a little alcove in a larger room. It must be the main hall of the manor, as it has several chandeliers and very wide hearth at one end, along with a circular table with high-backed chairs. The people in the room aren't at the table though. A well dressed Eeee is leaning against one edge of the hearth mantle, and matches the central painting hung above it. He has a glass of brandy in one hand, his gray hair tied back with an ornate clasp. Standing and facing him are four other Eeee that seem very tense, two men and two women who are younger than their host.
"We aren't just going to hand them over," the eldest looking of the quartet claims. "We don't care what you promised to some foreigners."
"Boy, do I feel under-dressed," Nikky comments under her breath to Daff behind her. She's still grinning like an idiot, though, hands behind her back, as she looks about. While her attention might seem random, she's trying to determine who is related to who here, and why.
The four keeping together have the haughtiness of mages, certainly. The lord of the manor, however, seems perfectly at ease. "You knew there were conditions for my aid, Apollyon," he says. "Your mission has failed, as my benefactors expected it would. Even if you made it out of here, there's nowhere you could take those items where the Society wouldn't find you. You have no one to back you anymore."
"Ooooo! Society! Fancy!" Nikky squeals and then clamps her hands over her muzzle! Such an undignified outburst by such an undignified rat. Her ears even splay out to the sides.
"We have what we need to make good our escape, Shodan," the one called Apollyon claims. "And we will be taking our tools with us. Your foreigners don't frighten us. They are too far away to interfere in our lands."
"Not your lands, friends," Shodan says, and takes a sip of his brandy. "Not anymore." He then glances aside to Daff, and asks, "So this is the wayward Skreek?"
"Y'ever notice how the wealthy and kids all argue about de same t'ings, and take der toys an go 'ome?" Nikky whispers as an aside to Daff, and even elbows him, probably regarding the conversation they overheard. She lifts one bared hand and waves to Shodan. "Hi!" she squeaks in greeting.
The three other mages turn and look in confusion at the interruption.
"Yes, this is.." Daff says, then turns to Nikky and says, "Introduce yourself."
"Nikky!" The skreek says as she steps forward and waves more enthusiastically. "Followed yer ship stink for days, let me tell ya. Hard place to find. Almost didn't even notice de ship, but, whew, it leaves a trail. Yer ptera sick?" she asks as she takes a few steps forward. "Anywoo. I wus just hopin I could mebbe catch a ride back to a city sometime iffin it's possible. Can't offer much, just a crude ship hand an mostly a ship's whore, but y'know. Lost me last ride cause they gots all snooty about their booze and didn't like me borrowin' some."
"What?" the nearer female mage asks incredulously.
"Hmmm, well, really?" Shodan asks. "You don't strike me as being a Curator, but they do have some odd agents. So, if you want to amend your tale any, now is the time."
"Whore, you know, playing hide de pickle wit yer guy?" Nikky comments to the snooty mage, and even gestures with her finger poking through a hole made with her hand. "Y'don't smell like yer fresh between the thighs," she adds, really laying it on to see if she can get a rise out of the female mage. Her head rolls and she shifts her look back to Shodan and puts her paw to her chest. "Is a lord accusin' me of not bein' honest? D'you really see me as part of some sort of society?" she has to ask, grinning wide with her shiny teeth and the cackle that soon follows. "Some sort of glorified librarian to collect trinkets, is that it? Were ya expectin' one?"
"No, but it would have driven the point home to my colleagues," Shodan says. "Daff, throw her in with the others for now."
The Eeee grabs the back of Nikky's shirt. "Well, no need to confuse the poor mages further," Daff tells Nikky. The female mage is still glaring at her though.
Nikky purses her lips at the female mage, then pokes her tongue out and wiggles it. "Oy, mind de shirt, it's all I gots on me back yannow," she squeaks at Daff as she's now tugged. "See, dis right here is de difference between people wit money and us folk," she says to Daff, "We're expected to pull de stick gingerly outa dere backside, sniff it, and tell em it don't stink. Right up dere with dere other delusions about how most of de world really is. Dagh shame, dat."
"They own the world, so it's whatever they want it to be," Daff claims. "And when it isn't is when they get dangerous." He takes to her one of the fear smelling doors. They're bolted from the outside, it seems. He opens it and try to push Nikky into the dark room beyond. "Not that they aren't dangerous the rest of the time too."
"Oh, dere is much scarier things in de world den dem, Daff," Nikky says as she's shoved into the darkened room beyond. "Perhaps one day ... you'll see." In the gloom and darkness, her white fur bits can be seen, as can the shiny ivories of her teeth.
Once the door finishes closing, Nikky is alone in the dark room. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it provides a distraction free moment to spread out her senses. With most of the thistlebark outside of the castle (but there's still some inside, feeling like dead zones) it's easier to pick up auras. The other rooms along this hall also hold single occupants, and the conscious ones are scared. The unconscious ones are also scared, just not to the same degree. There are men scattered close to the outer walls, always in pairs, presumably keeping a lookout. There's a real sense that each one is distrustful of their partner, suggesting a mix of local guards and airship sailors (who are cannibals).
The quartet of mages in the main hall have tried to mask their presence, but since Nikky already knows about them they're easier to see. But they aren't the only ones; at least two more are in a different chamber, also with mixed pair of guards and.. odd presences. Not quite living auras, which could be ghosts or possibly artifacts. Caleda's own spirit presence is very faint, and not in the same room as Nikky, but still in one along the hallway.
"Oy, what a group of loonies here. Blargh, I will need deal with them all in due time, somehow," Nikky comments as she starts pacing the room, tail flicking. She also sheds her clothing and ties it into a bundle because. Well, Nikky feels more comfortable naked anyway; she's odd that way. She also pauses at one point to try and shift her vision to more the 'barsunala' kind, so spirit based and less light based. And as for people, she tries to determine if any rooms adjacent to hers might have occupants.
It feels like hers was the last unoccupied room, so the other five cells (they're all pretty small) are definitely occupied. There isn't any thistlbark in the walls, which are just brick, but there is some in the doors, but only in patches. Almost like the thistlewood is more recent than original doors, so they've only done repairs using it. Barsunala vision does reveal something interesting though: the ghost of a door handle on this side of the door.
Nikky reaches out and tries to grab (or feel) that ghost of a door handle.
Just like in Azrael's test tunnel, the spirit latch works like a real one, and be used to unlatch the door from the inside. How it got there is anyone's guess.
""Blakat as more claim on her than Inala does after Inala got her sacred rats from her.
"Ey, I have a way out," Nikky mutters to herself. She doesn't use it yet, though. She more focuses on trying to sense if there are any guards near ... and she goes to one of the adjacent walls and knocks on it to see if anyone responds.
The wall is brick, but there's no way to tell how thick it is, as the other occupant seems to be huddled in a back corner. There's a slight twitch in their aura though, so they might have heard something.
"Ey, you in dere?" Nikky tries to call through the wall to the prisoner.
Nikky has to press one of her large ears directly against the wall to listen for a reply. There might be a barely perceptible whimper heard.
Nikky grumbles and goes back to the door. She focuses and tries to see if any guards are nearby or not. She's not going to get much trying to talk through walls.
Daff is back at the near end of the hall, where it opens into the alcove into the main hall of the manor, and his bosses the Royal Mages. There don't seem to be any guards actually inside the place, other than the ones watching over the other mages that Nikky hasn't seen yet somewhere on the other side of the main hall.
Nikky goes back to the door and peers at it. She'd like to talk to one of the other prisoners, but ... how to get to one. She taps on her chin, pondering this. Then she reaches out and touches the door, and tries to coat the hinges in shadow (and avoid the thistlebark!) before she attempts to turn the knob.
The shadow suppresses any squeaks the old wooden hinges make, along with any sound of the outer bolt sliding back. At least, there isn't any response from Daff, who is probably focused on the argument between the mages and their host.
Nikky eases the door open and peers out to see if she can go to the door next to hers and try to slip in there quickly.
The next door down is bolted from the outside, same as hers was. And also like hers, there's no actual lock or anything else to prevent the bolt from simply being slid aside.
Careful to not make any sound, she masks over the hinges again, and the bolt, then eases it back and tries to slip quickly into the room.
There's shuffling and whimpering from the rear corner, and a feeble, ".. stay away.." of warning.
"Oy, I'm on your side," Nikky whispers and crouches down. "Not gonna hurt ya, trying to help rescue all of you people. Who am I talkin' to?"
"Can't.. can't fool me.." the figure says. It sounds like an Eeee child, face pushed into the corner to avoid looking at Nikky. "You're gonna steal my soul."
"Why d'ya think that?" Nikky asks, head tilting. "I was sent by Aunty to help rescue the btother of a young girl, and any others I can find."
"Aunty?" the child asks, and risks a look over their shoulder with an eye that's nearly all pupil in the darkness. "What girl?"
"Cedra," Niky replies. "Met 'er in Babel inna clinic. She had a little doll with her."
"Cedra... survived?" the child asks. "With Aunty?"
"Yah, she survived fine. Made it to Babel with Aunty. they gave me a strand of 'er mother's hair so I could find this place. You may not believe it, but I no really a rat, I'm in disguise an all so I could sneak in," Nikky explains.
"Rat? Is that what you are?" the child asks, loosening up a bit. "You're naked."
"Yah, in disguise. I'm actually the Barsunala, I kin change shape," Nikky whispers and puts a finger over her lips as if it's a secret.
"I don't know what that means," the child says. "I'm Gilam. Are you taking me away from here?"
"Gonna take everyone I kin away. I just have to kill off de mages and dere guards first. Do they come and check on you all any? Bring food? Take you away and do horrible things? Wha happens here?" Nikky asks.
"I don't know," the boy claims. "Just.. nightmares. Awake or asleep. Monster and devils.."
"Nightmares? Describe em?" Nikky asks, tilting her head curiously.
"Thunder and lightning and laughing things dancing around me, reaching out to grab me," Gilam claims. "Blinding and deafening, and then when it's quiet and dark they're up close, breathing on, waiting for me to move or cry out.." he sounds near panic as he describes it, and starts hyperventilating.
"Okay, okay, dat is mind mages messin' with you. Try t' forget it and just breathe. How many of ya are here?" Nikky asks.
"I don't know," Gilam claims. "You must be looking for Dravitz though. He's Cedra's brother." He shrinks in a bit, and asks, "You'll still take me out of here if you don't find him, right?"
"Of course, I gonna git everyone out of here," Nikky promises. "I gonna go see who else is here. Just stay quiet and keep low. Things may get loud and nasty outside of dis cell when I start dealin' wit everyone. I promise I won't harm you."
Gilam nods silently, biting his lip.
"I be back," Nikky promises and moves back to the door. Silencing the hinges, she tries to slip out and move down to the next door to check.
Things are sounded more heated in the main hall, at least on the part of the mages. The next door opens silently, but there's a distinct scent of blood once Nikky gets it opened.
Nikky slips in anyway. "Anyone in 'here?" she whispers into the darkness, and sniffs a bit, trying to see if she can smell anything other than blood.
It smells over other things, as if someone's been violently ill. The lone occupant this time is unconscious and wheezing.
Nikky moves closer to the occupant to try and inspect him. "Hey, I a friend," she whispers as she moves closer to get better feel of this fallen figure.
The figure is twitching in their sleep (likely from nightmares) and they've soiled themselves. The blood is from self-inflicted looking head trauma: deep scratches. Their ears haven't be damaged at least. They aren't exactly responsive to Nikky's voice either.
"Dagh, gonna have to heal some of this up," Nikky mutters. She can't risk it now, though, she needs to deal with the mages first. So, it's sneaking back out and checking the next door as she works down trying to see who all is still alive.
The next one has a girl inside, slightly older than Cedra. She's awake and silent, as she watches Nikky enter.
"Hi, I a friend. Gonna help get you out of here," Nikky promises and waves from near the doorway. "Sent by Cedra and Aunty to find all of you."
This girl's aura is a bit different, as it has 'sparks' of violet in it. "Oh, that's good," the girl says. "Are we leaving right now?"
"No, not yet. Gotta deal wit' de people first. Just stay quiet an safe in 'er, okay?" Nikky asks.
"I was doing that anyway," the girl says. "They killed my family," she notes without much inflection.
"I know, sweety, an' I'm sorry. I'll be back as soon as I can," Nikky promises and slips out. She checks to see if any more doors remain, or if she should withdraw back to her 'room' and prepare.
There are at least three more bolted doors, and one unbolted one.
So, Nikky moves to the next door and like the others carefully tries to open it without making a sound.
The child in this one is also unconscious, but doesn't show signs of self-mutilation.. just nightmare twitching.
This one also seems to be under ten years old (and because they're curled up, figuring out their sex is problematical). It isn't making whimpering noises though.
Nikky nods and backs out. She doesn't want to disturb them too much. So, out and closing the door quietly, then onto the next door.
The next child actually rushes Nikky with a screech and tries to jump on her, claws out!
"Quiet!" Nikky hisses and quickly tries to restrain the child!. "I here t' help you! Calm, calm!"
The child is a flurry of awkwardness, and tries to bite Nikky's nose. "You aren't takin' me!" they claim.
Nikky hugs onto the child to try and keep her from biting! "I'm here t' save you. Not gonna hurt you. I was sent by Aunty and Cedra," she explains as she tries to hold the girl still.
"No! They're dead!" the girl insists, gradually going limp. "All dead."
"Those two are not. Dey in Babel. Dey asked me to come help alla you. I in disguise, no a rat," Nikky promises. "Just calm down. I gonna deal with de capters soon and then take you to a safe place, 'kay?"
"You aren't the first to say that," the girl pouts.
"Who else say dat?" Nikky asks and starts petting the top of the girl's head.
"Last time it was mom," the girl claims. "Even though I know she's dead. It's just tricks, tryin' to break me."
"Do I look like any od de tricks dey tried?" Nikky asks.
"No, but that's the trick, isn't it?" the girl claims. "You're not even wearing clothes, so I know this is just teasing me."
"Wish you'd believe me, but I know you scared and upset. I gonna let you go and slip out. Got a couple more rooms to check, den I plan how to deal wit de mages," Nikky claims
"Yeah.. sure," the girl pouts and retreats back to the corner.
So, out Nikky goes and she moves on to the last bolted door. Quietly, it's opened and then she slips in.
They sure like being in the corner. This one hides behind knees and wings, with just their ears and eyes poking out from above. There's something odd in this one's aura too, but not purple sparks: a color of magic potential, if not so defined as to what kind of magic.
"Dravitz?" Nikky asks, "Cedra and Aunty sent me to find you. She assumes it's him, if his mother was the witch.
"Who wants to know?" the boy replies with narrowed eyes.
"May no look like it, by I be the Barsunala. In disguise, shapeshifted t' git in. Aunty gave me a bit of hair that let me track to dis place," Nikky explains.
"Aunty.." the boy says. "So some survived?" he asks.
"Few, I came to save who was taken 'ere and lead you all to a safer place," Nikky says. "Not sure iffin you believe me or not, but it true."
"You're a witch," the boy says. "That's why you're naked, isn't it?"
"Eeeeh, kinda. I'm ore den all dat, but it be a simple enough explanation. I jus' need y' to stay safe in 'ere while I deal wit de people outside, okay?" Nikky requests.
"Can I touch your boob first?" Dravitz asks.
"Y'kin nurse on it iffin ya want," Nikky even offers.
"I haven't eaten in a few days," the boy admits. "Are you like a Rugh'rat?"
"I'm a rat?" Nikky offers and shrugs. "Y'kin nurse iffin you want, or not. Your choice." She smirks a little.
"I just.. suck?" he asks. "Or do I squeeze like an udder? They're pretty big."
"You can suck, and squeeze gently," Nikky explains, somehow without giggling.
So the boy pokes them first, then squeezes a bit (his grip feels a bit weak, so he likely hasn't been fed). Then he tries to lick and suck, after figuring out that he should try to get the whole thing into his mouth.
Nikky lets him explore a bit, but when he gets tothe sucking point, she tries to guide him to putting his lips just around her, er, teat and suckle on that part alone. That leaves the rest to massage and squeeze, though.
He seems to enjoy the milk more than anything else. He probably hasn't actually hit puberty yet, unless this is going to edge him closer. He actually seems to.. doze off. But still tries to get his fill.
Nikky mostly pets the back of his head while he does drink. It does feel nice, and other than the Yodhgorphat form, it's quite pleasant to have breasts and be nursed on; probably why she misses them when they're gone. "Okay, I do need t' go and deal wit t'ings. So you need to settle quiet and rest until I come fer you again. Well, may be my real form den, the barsunala," she explains.
"Huh?" Dravitz asks, a little groggy. "Alright.."
Nikky eases back, and then slips out of the door. She pauses, then does peer into the one room that wasn't barred, curious.
There was someone in here fairly recently, from the smell. So whoever it was has been taken out.
Nikky frowns. They've got a new victim, that may or may not still be alive. Time to deal with things. So, she heads back to her original room and slips back in. In there she can sit on the floor, and dive into shadow to shift back to Alptraum, only in shadow-chitin armor plating, and he can summon the axe he was loaded by Rephath.
The armor also comes with the distorted left forearm, with what looks like a small cannon on it attached to a pulsating fleshy sac on the upper arm.
Once the shadow does withdraw, Alptraum stands up and stretches out slowly. "Time to deal with these bastards," he mutters. "Kaira, better be awake, it's about to be showtime."
The axe 'extrudes' and the shadow blades appear.. but soon change. Instead of curved axe-blades, one extends out into a scythe-blade, and the other looks like flame. Shadow flame, that is. "Remember to keep the blade in them for as long as possible," the dragon whispers to him.
"Some may be faster than others, they aren't all mages, but ... yes," Alptraum agrees. Then it's back to the door and opening it silently. The first one to deal with quietly, will be Daff. Cannibal, and broken. So, as much as he dislikes it, he will be ending them too. It's just a matter of sneaking up silently to take him down now and not alert the mages or the 'noble'.
Since the 'armor' is technically a part of him, it doesn't make any noise when he moves. He can see Daff's back, as the man leans against the alcove wall as he watches the main hall. Taking him out will probably alert the others in there, if they're looking his way.
So .. it's taking him out in an impressive way, then. If it can't be silent, it needs to be in shock and awe. So, the scythe is turned sideways, and lowered. As he approaches, he brings it up hard and fast in a hooking movement, to impale Daff through the throat and puss him into the room .... and leaving the body on the blade like a worm on a hook.
The expression on Daff's face is one of horror.. because his 'face' is now in the flame end of the scythe. Glowing cracks seems to form and spread outward across the body where the blade sticks through. The main hall is silent for just a moment, before the mages make a run for the far end. Shodan, the lord of the manor, just seems frozen next to the hearth.
"Sorry, I didn't bother knocking. You haven't earned the right for me to be polite when I've come for you," Alptraum says as he steps into the room, shadow rolling in his wake. HE raises his left arm and tries to take aim at the fleeing mages. Not quite sure what to do, but he's pretty sure this will fire ... something at them! So he concentrates on squeezing inside his upper arm!
Something egg-shaped shoots out of it, but just before it hits Mage Asherah in the back it unfolds into something like a more horrific version of a Horrib larva. This one has a long stinger-equipped tail and long finger-like legs. It latches onto the Eeee's wing, then quickly stings her as sit quickly crawls across her to clamp onto her face like a fleshy mask. She goes down quickly, only managing to grab onto the pulsating face mask before the paralysis kicks in.
And Alptraum doesn't stop with the one. He takes aim at each of the fleeing mages and tries to launch one of those ... things at each one!
Meanwhile, Daff's body is beginning to burn, only the wisps of flame coming through the 'cracks' detach and fly off as freed spirits. His own captured spirit is clearly feeling it as well as having to watch it.
The mages have made it to door, but the eggs still pop open and scuttle after them when the hit the floor. "Stop them, Ormazd!" Apollyon tells the last one, and pushes him back before closing the door. The stunned junior mage doesn't have time to utter a word before being swarmed.
ALptraum turns the canon-thing on the noble. He doesn't even say a word, he just fires, then walks after the fleeing made. The scythe is yanked hard as he withdraws it from Daff. Since these mages are down, he can just incapacitate the others, then come back to each one!
Daff's body continues to break up as it releases spirits, but the man's own spirit is still there in the shadow flames. Ormazd is down, one larva over his face and the other three scuttling against the closed door.
Alptraum heads right to the door and pushes it open so the creatures can scuttle after their victims! (And hopefully not attack him!)
Apparently nobody tried to barricade the door behind them, so there isn't any resistance. Beyond is a study, with another door opening into a hallway. The scuttlers head that way, since their isn't anyone in the chamber. There is some sort of magical alarm that's been set of though, as the guards patrolling the castle walls start heading inward.
So, Alptraum moves quickly. He needs ot locate and take out the mages before any escape. It's a matter of focusing and trying to track them by aura, while trying to avoid the 'guard' spirits for now! Regular guards get stabbed, or ... bugged.
The only immediate guards are the ones in the chamber the mages just ran into, where the other two mages were working. The airship guard looks nearly berserk as he rushes at Alptraum, while the house guard hangs back and is clearly thinking about just running. Instead, he raises his crossbow and shoots the charging one in the back, which causes him to trip and fall to the floor.. but the man still tries to crawl towards Alptraum with murder in his eyes.
Alptraum brings down the scythe right into the crawling man's back. "I don't think so," he says simply, calmly, and coldly.
The body writhes where pinned, and the man's spirit joins Daff's in the shadow flame. The house guard is backing away with his hands up. "I'm not with these guys," he claims, and nearly shrieks when one of the scuttlers crosses his foot on the way to the room he came out of.
"Can you prove that? Why are you even helping them?" Alptraum asks as he aims the 'canon' at the man. If he truly is innocent, he could always use the shadow to 'eat' the horrib' grabber.
"I just shot that guy," the main claims nervously. "I work here at the manor! We were supposed to take the mages prisoner!"
"For?" Alptraum asks. "Look, I can't risk you alerting others right now. This will not kill you immediately, and if I can find proof you're not lying, no harm will come to you long term," Alptraum says as he sighs, and fires one of he critter things at the man.
"Nonono!" the man gibbers, dropping the crossbow. The larva hits him in the center of his chest before he can try to run though, and he's done an instant later. The first guard's body is beginning to burst with spirits now, which begin to clutter up the hallway before passing through the stone.
Alptraum withdraws the blade, and continues on. He knows he can save the man he 'bugged' if he does turn out to be speaking truthfully, at least. Better than getting shot in the back himself.
The doorway into the next chamber is open, but Alptraum first sees himself through it, as if a mirror is filling it.
"That's ... odd," Alptraum mutters. To test what that is, he ... hmm. Not having too many options, he raises his canon and fires at the mirror!
The projectile passes right through the reflection.
Well, that's .. good? He tries to sense beyond that mirror if he can.
That is where things get scrambled. Everything beyond the illusion(?) is just a haze of colors.
Alptraum .. frowns. Unsure what he can do to check beyond, he heads forward. Before passing through that mirror, through, he shoves the scythe into the mirror first in case there's any spirit to absorb!
This actually extends his senses through as well, via the shadow blade. It gives a Barsunala-vision type of view. Several people are on the floor, having been unable to escape the larvae. One person is still standing though, and a burst of magic from them 'blinds' the blade.
"Gah, I knew it was a trap!" Alptraum growls when his vision goes out beyond the mirror! So,he raises the canon again and fires another larvae through the mirror in the direction that man was!
The illusion falters slightly, then begins to fade to reveal the chamber beyond. The last mage, the one called Apollyon, is holding a 'mirror', although the frame reminds Alptraum more of Dr. Twig's 'optodepthoscope' as it looks alive. He's actually using it to fend off the scuttler, as well as by standing on a table. The fallen mages also have odd things in their hands, and also on the table is a crystal ball of sorts, but white with multiple irises and pupils that seem to be in constant motion.
"Did you really think I wouldn't come for you? That you were out of my reach?" Alptraum asks as he slowly approaches the mage, canon held ready in one hand, and scythe ready to strike in the other. "Your depravities have gone beyond tolerable and it is past time I deal with you with finality. And oh, Gorphat also wants a few words with you, so you don't get to simply go to oblivion."
"Wait!" the man says as he wrestles with the larva. "I'm not one of the leaders!" he claims.
"Not one of the faceless trio? So? Why should I spare you? You have been torturing children," Alptraum asks, though he does hold the scythe for now to see what he says.
"The artifacts.. need to be fed," the man says, as if they were to blame. "We had no choice.. otherwise we would have been fed to them!"
"Or you could have chosen to not use them at all," Alptraum points out. "So, not a great reason for me to hold, now is it?"
"We had to.." the man starts to say, then throws the mirror (with the larva attached) at Alptraum and reaches for something in his robes.
Alptraum has more larvae! So he sidesteps and tries to bat the mirror with the scythe ... then tries to fire another grabby face-thing at the mage!
At this range, it strikes the mage directly in the face, knocking him backwards before he can whatever he was reaching for out of his robe.
Alptraum doens't let his guard down, he approaches the downed mage slowly to make sure he's immobilized. If he is, then it's back to trying to survey the area for other, well, unfriendly sort!
Nothing else is moving, and the auras of the guards are.. reducing. Pairs are becoming singles, implying that the guards are turning on one another. The objects being held by the fallen mages all have auras of there own though. Despite this, a voice asks, "Excuse me?" It sounds like it's coming from a book though, which is setting on a shelf.
Alptraum heads to the shelf and thus, the talking book. "Yes?" Alptraum asks of it as if it were completely normal to talk to a book.
"To whom am I speaking?" the book asks. "Could you open me to page seventy-two, please."
"The Barsunala," Alptraum answers, and does, in fact, turn to page seventy-two. Warily.
There's a woodcut on the page of a Cervani stag. It moves, as the voice says, "Well met, historical figure of dread and hope. Might I enquire as to the fate of Shodan bar Zachiel?"
"Currently being snogged by a monster bug, which will eventually kill him if I do not, and do nothing about the bug. Why?" Alptraum has to ask.
"May I plead on his behalf, or is negotiation off the table at this point?" the woodcut asks.
"You may. I am not completely heartless or cruel. I do not kill without reason or just causes," Alptraum replies. "But bear in mind he has been helping kill children, which is a bit of a mark against him."
"His aid to these mages was for the purpose of divesting them of their artifacts," the stag admits. "I doubt he would have actively participated in their.. activities. However I am willing to trade information for leniency on his behalf."
"The artifacts are coming with me, regardless. That's not negotiable," Alptraum remarks, arching his brow. "I assume you are one of the curators he spoke of. In any event, speak and I will consider your offer."
"Who I am and who I represent are immaterial," the stag notes. "The lose of the artifacts is unfortunate, but that is all. In exchange for leniency, I offer you the true identities of the Faceless Trio."
"It's not immaterial to me. You could be one of them, and are pointing me in the wrong direction," Alptraum points out. "They need not be Eeee anymore, they can use other hosts, after all. But, if you are being truthful then than request would hold merit. If it also came with a promise to help those harmed by the actions he helped cause by offering them a place to stay."
"One of them I believe to already be in custody: Caradoc Pancrazio," the stag says. "The second is Aphayal Sands, currently going by Apollyon after switching bodies. The third is known now as Zerabeth Sang, currently in their Saskanar base. As for Shodan's plans regarding any sacrifices the mages brought along, you will need to ask him directly. I can only ask that he be given that opportunity."
"I can give him that opportunity, and I will do so," Alptraum agrees, and nods a bit. "I would still like to know to whom I am speaking and why you wish him spared, though. I assume he is one of your agents, but confirmation of that would be appreciated. Though, I could extract that information from him too, I suppose. The Shadow of Amena can be used for quite a great deal, including probing into the mind."
"He is indeed one of my agents," the stag admits. "And I value him more than I do any artifacts the Royal Mages have hoarded. If I may ask though, what will be done with these magical tools, many of which are certainly of Exile or First Ones origin?"
"One will be returned to the Yodhbarada as per my agreement with them. Another likely to the Yodhgorphat. The rest, likely the Mage's Guild," Alptraum explains. "I must consider the Babel Goddesses first, of course, as they are my patron in several senses, and I am working with them as well as the populace to bring improvements to the city."
"In each case, is it likely that the artifacts will actually be used?" the voice asks.
"The one with the eyes, yes. The others? Unlikely," Alptraum says.
"That is likely for the best," the stag says. "Some of them are dangerous to use, or not worth the cost for the result."
"That does not surprise me in the least. I can see some of the effects in this manor itself, and I've had to untangle some of the others already that Caradoc has weaved," Alptraum says. "Ideally, they will never be used again."
"Then I suppose our business is concluded," the stag says. "Thank you for allowing Shodan a chance to explain himself."
"Will you be contacting me again?" Alptraum inquires. "And do I have to concern myself with your group meddling in Babel?"
"Our interests are limited in your hemisphere, but we do mean to keep tabs on events of interest," the stag says. "We do not meddle in such things, however. We strive for lasting peace in this world. I doubt we will be in contact again, however, now that this business with the Royal Mages and their artifacts is settled for the moment."
"Mm. And creatures like me pose of no interest to you?" Alptraum inquires.
"We have interest in unique beings, certainly, but they are not tools," the book voice claims. "It behooves anyone to be aware of powerful entities that may alter the course of events, however."
"Or put another way, you will be keeping an eye on me," Alptraum summarizes. "So, a suggestion, if you wish to know things, it's best to ask me directly, not sneak, or spy. For future reference, anyway."
"We don't need to know what you do outside of the public eye," the stag claims. "Although we do like what we've seen so far."
"Mmm. In any event, I will speak with your agent. I already have one of the guards to rescue from a horrible fate, as what he said has at least proved to be true. So, I best be seeing to that. And perhaps I will keep this book in case you wish to speak in the future," Alptraum says.
"Well, this is my means of communication with Shodan, so I would appreciate it if you discussed it with him first," the stag notes.
"As you wish. IT all depends on how that conversation goes, then," Alptraum agrees.
"Thank you again for talking to me and coming to an accommodation," the stag notes.. and then the image goes back to just being a static woodcut.
Alptraum closes the book. "Well, I've got some mages to 'eat', then a guard to save from being eaten, and to have a long talk with this Shodan, it seems," Alptraum says, then frowns a little. "And I lost my breasts again, drat," he adds, though probably mostly as a joke about everything than being serious!
There are several piles of paralyzed people to deal with. All but one of the mages are in the same room, with one left in the main hall. Then there's the guard in the corridor, the manor's host, Shodan also in the main hall.. and the manor guards which have dealt with the mages' airship crew and are coming back into the building. That last group is probably one Alptraum needs to deal with sooner than later.
Sighing, Alptraum heads in the direction of the last group, the guards that are returning into the building and are supposedly Shodan's guards. Either they stand down or they die, there's little space in-between unfortunately.
Since they are likely disposing of bodies, some of them are slow to make it back inside the manor. Alptraum can track them by their auras, which mostly seem relaxed. The ones coming in through the entry Alptraum used seem to be stopping at the cell doors first. They're being quiet though, and tensing the closer they get to the main hall. The ones in the corridor have likely seen Daff's body.
Shodan's 'weaponized horrib' thing is still clinging to his face when Alptraum returns to the main hall, hauling the other guard with him. Otherwise the Eeee is just slumped against the wall near the hearth, and the one over Alptraum's shoulder feels like someone in a deep sleep.
Alptraum sets down his cargo, since he probably has 'more time' than Shodan does, given 'order' of capture. Once the one guard is down, Alptraum heads to Shodan and crouches down. He places his right hand on the weird bug-thing and engulfs it in shadow, and then tries to follow all the parts of it into the man so he can 'absorb it and separate it from the 'prisoner'.
There's a tube going down the man's through, but no sign of a larva. That doesn't mean there might not be a dormant egg though. And of course the stinger on the long tail is still inserted into Shodan's back.
Alptraum slowly 'consumes' the creature, as well as probes deeper into the body, searching for any 'foreign' objects, like an egg somewhere around where the tube ends.
There's something in the man's stomach, that is roughly egg shaped. Or he swallowed a whole fruit earlier.
Alptraum decides to 'absorb' that too, just in case! If it's an egg, it's a lot bigger than the ones he hosted as Nicora, that's for sure.
It's a little tricky to get the egg, just because it's not connected to anything. But he does get it, leaving Shodan with just whatever the lingering effects of the venom might be.
Since Shodan will likely be out for a while, he goes to the guard he drug into the room and begins the same 'procedure' to remove the parasite-thing from him, as well as any 'cargo' it's leaving behind in the victims.
Oddly, after being absorbed the 'sac' on his left arm feels heavier, as if it's been reloaded with those two creatures. The head of a guard peeks out of the alcove. A Jupani, rather than an Eeee. It ducks back inside almost immediately afterwards though.
"I know you're there," Alptraum says as if unconcerned about it. "If you are not allies with the mages, then I pose no threat to you. Not unless you harm the poor people still imprisoned here."
Two heads pop out this time, the Jupani and an Eeee. "Are Shodan and Bertrum still alive?" the Jupani asks.
"For the moment, yes," Alptraum replies. "Whether they remain so depends on them and the answers they give on why they were helping those people and allowing children to be sacrificed."
"I'm asking because we aren't supposed to stick around if Shodan is dead," the Jupani says. "We got rid of the other cannibals. Are the mages still alive?"
"For the moment, but they won't be for long," Alptraum answers. "They signed their own death warrants a long time ago, I'm just serving them."
"Serving them?" the Jupani asks, making a face. "As in, for dinner?" he asks for clarification.
Shodan twitches, and his eyes flutter open, but he still seems paralyzed for the most part.
"No, executing them. Eating people is wrong," Alptraum comments as he finishes extracting the creature and its egg from Bertrum. "Like this," Alptraum adds as he summons back Rephath's weapon and slams the blade into the back of the one mage still down in this room. both to slow-kill, and to capture their 'spirit' for later.
The mage's visage joins Daff's in the shadow-flame end of the weapon.
"That's.." the Jupani starts to say, then stops. The cracks are starting to form on the mage's body, as wisps of 'steam' begin to escape from them. But the wisps disconnect and fly around before vanishing through the walls and ceiling.
"Creepy? Terrifying? Horrible? It's supposed to be," Alptraum says as he looks right at the Jupani. "It's no less terrifying than what they have done. If you are innocent, there is nothing to fear. I hope you are, it would be a shame to kill a handsome jupani." That last bit? Yeah, likely to mess with the guard a bit.
"We're just here to protect Mr. Shodan and his interests," the Jupani claims. "We did sort of murder the pirates though. Well, they probably weren't technically pirates, but we can claim they were."
"They were cannibals, which is worse, frankly," Alptraum comments. "And as long as his interests and mine do not conflict, then I have no issue with you. If any of your other guards are being held by my creatures, bring them here and I will remove them safely."
"Most of us are outside, getting rid of the.. pirates," the Jupani says. "Just six of us inside at the moment, not counting Bertrum there."
The mage's body begins to smolder and break up in chunks of charcoal as the last of the spirits are channeled through it. The face in the shadow-flame looks especially anguished.
"My only interests are in the mages here, and speaking with Shodan on what his specific interests were, and if he can justify his actions enough that I will spare him. And of course making sure the children that are prisoners are taken to a safe place from here," Alptraum answers.
"We checked on them," the Jupani says. "No monsters with them. No other mages outside or on the airship."
There's a wheezy grunt from Shodan, but no motion yet.
"If you have any real, safe, food you could give the children, it would be appreciated," Alptraum requests. "Now, speaking of Shodan, what is his interest in the mages, and how much were you helping them?"
"First we've seen them," the guard says. "My understanding is that Shodan had set them up to be lured here."
"Soup," Shodan wheezes. "Start them on soup, Chezny. They may be sick or drugged."
"And the children? What is his responsibility for the condition they are in?" Alptraum asks. "I did notice the construction of this fortress is to help stop magic and the like. Didn't work all that well, though, I'm here." That last bit comes with a bit of a toothy smirk.
"I though they were just ugly trees.. oh, yes, Mr. Shodan, we'll get right on it," the guard says, and vanishes, although the Eeee guard is still there for now.
Alptraum heads back over and crouches down near Shodan. "Well, you're awake, and for the moment, alive and relatively unharmed. How long either of those remains depends on how honest you are with me. What is your association to these mages? The remaining 'Royal Mages' that have been slaughtering and trying to overthrow Babel, again?" he asks.
"We've been watching for them," Shodan wheezes. "They have some items that belonged to my employers, who have been waiting for a very long time to get them back. Contact was made through another agent, and.. they were told or given something to convince them they would be welcome if they needed to escape. I'm an appraiser, to make sure the items were genuine once the mages were dealt with. We hadn't planned on killing them if they could be convinced to part with their trove. But.. that was always an option."
"Some of their items belong to Babel, not your employers. Those will be returned to Babel. Other items I don't care about, just a few specific relics that belong to Babel and will be returned there," Alptraum says. "I've already spoken to your employer, through your book here," he adds and holds up the book he brought along from the room where he took out the mage. "The Cervani, in case you need further clarification."
"Oh.. I do hope he hasn't decided to terminate our association," Shodan wheezes. He probably tries to chuckle, but it just comes out as a fit of coughing. "I'm a bit foggy on what happened here."
"I happened. I'm the BArsunala, from Babel. I tracked the mages here following the screams of their dead victims," Alptraum explains. "You were incapacitated, instead of outright killed. The Cervani asked that I spare you. I told him it depended on what your association to the mages exactly was. So, what was it?"
"Ah, I thought I.." Shodan wheezes. "My group was to keep them here until.. further instructions, after incapacitating them. Stranding them. Make sure they couldn't use their tools. Wasn't expecting them to bring kids along. I'd heard stories about them, but didn't think.."
"And secure my employers' property of course, whatever they ended up deciding to do with the mages," he adds.
"How long have they been here?" Alptraum asks. "Their ship shows signs of eating people on it. Did you partake? And one of the children's cells is recently been emptied. Where is the occupant?" Alptraum asks.
"A day, long enough to unload their ship," Shodan wheezes. "A bit surprised by that. I think they planned to make a stand here, if necessary. Or they meant to perform a ritual. One of the kids is missing? Get Chezny.. to track."
"One is missing, yes. And of course they chose this place as a place to defend. It's warded well against conventional magical anything. Unfortunately, I'm not conventional in any aspect ... so it didn't stop me. Worked in my favor, at least," Alptraum says and even shrugs. "And for now, well, I thin you've earned a reprieve from the punishment intended for the mages and their associates. You don't seem to be lying, and your actions have not increased their harm. All of which means unless something changes, you and your men are spared. Even thanked, for the help. You should recover fine from the paralysis."
Alptraum then looks up and calls out. "Chezny! Shodan mentioned your name; there is a child missing. Can you find out where the mages took them?" he asks.
The Jupani heads into the main hall, still wearing a kitchen apron. He's a lot bigger up close. "Wait.. missing?" he says. "Mages.. there were the four in charge, the two others.. an two.. additional ones.." he mutters. "Where are the others at? I only see one in here."
"They are currently incapacitated. I intend to go deal with them shortly," Alptraum says and he stands up. "So while Shodan here recovers, I should go deal with them. And yes, one of the rooms was empty, and recently. I believe one of the children."
"Let me see the mages," Chezny says. "The kids all smell the same due to their.. conditions. I need to get the mages' scents."
"Well, come along then," Alptraum requests as he retrieves his borrowed blade-weapon-thing from the one mage he impaled on it, then he heads back in the direction he pursued the mages.
Chezny checks dead one in the corridor, then the ones in the room. "One of them is missing," the Jupani notes, and heads out of the room, turning to go further down the corridor.
Alptraum sticks the blade of his weapon into the dead mage in case there is anything to 'recover' from it. If not, he'll follow after the Jupani.
The fallen one is already cooling, so it doesn't feel like there's anything to be done with that body. Chezny waits at a turn in the corridor for Alptraum to catch up. "Is that thing on your arm.. normal?" the Jupani asks. Presumably he means the egg sac.
"No, it is a necessary weapon for this mission," Alptraum answers as he catches up. "It disturbs me too, for what it is worth."
"I used a musket once," the Jupani says. "Smelled horrible." They keep going down the corridor, eventually stops at an apparent dead end. The wolf pokes at the bricks until one sinks inward with a click. Then he pushes on the wall until it swings inward.
"It's worse when it's inside your arm," Alptraum comments. His brow also arches a bit at the secret door, and he extends his senses again to try and see if anyone alive is ahead.
Here things are more heavily warded, and thistle bark is apparently embedded in the walls. The air is also thick with incense, which causes Chezny to growl. "Lost the trail, but pretty sure where to go," he says, when they reach a set of descending steps.
"This area is warded heavily. It must be the keep. It means we can't track by magic, but it also means he can't use much either," Alptraum explains as he moves with the Jupani. "Tread with care, though. Conventional traps will work fine."
Chezny nods, and removes his apron, which he twists up and uses as short whip, flicking it forward as they descend. "This is probably a crypt. I know Babelites are big on keeping the remains of their family close. Are those normally trapped?"
"It's not uncommon. Grave robbers are to be dissuaded," Alptraum points out.
"Can you use your scythe handle to tap ahead then?" Chezny asks.
"Of course," Alptraum agrees, and does just that to feel out ahead.
At least the stairs aren't narrow, and don't curve sharply. There are only a few tapers lit along the way, the source of the incense odor. So far there haven't been any traps. Eventually the stairs straighten out as they enter the crypt. There's light coming from deeper in, obscured by a forest of support columns.
Alptraum tries to sense out the room since it is more open and less to devour his senses here. "Tick tock, tick tock," Alptraum actually calls out, and punctuates it with the tapping of his weapon on the floor. "Remember these sounds, they are the last moments of your cursed life."
The light ahead turns green, and someone curses, followed by a rattling sound.
Chezny gestures to Alptraum that he's going to try and go around, and drifts towards the wall.
Alptraum nods to Chezny. As for himself, he continues forward, keeping all the attention on him as he walks slowly towards the light, footsteps and weapon taps quite audible. He could also see if he does have any 'ammo' left, but ... only if necessary.
It feels like the two 'recovered' bullets are still there, at least. The green light is coming from two ornate braziers near the center of the crypt, where two sarcophaguses sit. One has an cloth draped over it, and a small body 'swaddled' up in something atop. The other has an array of almost surgical looking tools on it, along with some that are just bizarre looking. Someone slips behind a column as Alptraum steps closer.
"You do know who I am, do you not? I'm the Barsunala. I am an inevitability. I come for all Eeee, eventually. Some far sooner than others; those that violate the sanctity of life and death and those that abuse their powers. I can offer if you surrender I can make things relatively painless. If you don't, it will most assuredly be not. It doesn't matter which to me, since as I said, it is inevitable," Alptraum says, possibly as a distraction. "I can see you. I can feel you. I can hear you. There is no escape from me."
"The gods hoard their powers, and strike down any who dare appropriate them, eh?" the hidden figure remarks. "Jealous, selfish creatures. You're just their hunting grok." The voice is distorted, as if close and far at the same time.
"I don't care about powers, or what you stole. I care about the people you harmed. The children, the deaths, the villages raided. That is what brought me to you, not your silly stolen trinkets," Alptraum replies as he continues on. He also starts extending shadow cloak wisps out everywhere he can. "The ONLY reason I came for you? The reason I found you? The cries of a dead mother pleading for me to save her child. The despair in the heart of a young girl I had to comfort that escaped from you. I am not here over power, or artifacts. I am here because of the souls of your victims demanded it."
Several figures step out from behind columns. They're all identical, hooded forms, and rush at him all at once.
And Alptraum's reaction? Shadow-tendril/spikes shoot out from his body towards all the rushing figures! He knows some must be illusions of some sort, if not all of them.
The strikes burst the figures into smoke. Since there's no Sphere of Smoke that he knows of, they were probably conjured from an artifact. It does let him get a brief sense of where the artifact is though, which is probably where the hiding mage is.
"And you're probably wondering what I just did, and how," Alptraum comments as he continues his slow pace forward, the haft of his weapon clicking on the floor again. "You aren't the only one who's stolen 'artifacts'."
The mage is still irritatingly hard to pinpoint. Alptraum knows where Chezny is, still moving along the wall to try get around to the back of the crypt. Either the mage is dead, or has something masking his presence. The wrapped figure on the coffin is still alive, but comatose.
"You're a divine monster, aren't you?" the distorted voice asks.
Alptraum shifts to just trying to feel emotional auras, to see if that does any better at locating the mage. "I'm also quite real. I'm not made of faith, but of actual flesh and blood. I was born, I have lived. I cannot be dispelled, I cannot be dismissed. I am real in every sense," Alptraum answers. "I have walked in places that could rot your blood. I have seen the horrors of the past as if they had just happened. I watched the birth of many of the forbidden zones of this world, and I have gone to the depths of the Well of Souls, the prison from the last great necromancer war. I am beyond anything you have ever read about; I am unique."
"Flesh and blood are not anything to be proud of," the unseen mage says. "Just a prison in later years. Eventually you can feel it dying and rotting around you."
"Ah, but not mine. I happen to be able to control my flesh now. I do not age, and I can be anything I choose. I am also still very much alive; I am not an undead," Alptraum remarks. "Looks like I got everything you probably covet, and I didn't come by it by killing children, I came by it by helping others and caring for those the world abandoned. I bet that makes your blood boil."
"Killing them would be a waste," the mage counters. "And we aren't in this to be happy. We have our own Lore that guides us. Our own deities. We've made gods before. We probably made you, ages ago."
"Possibly. But you don't control me, and I now define myself. I set my own rules, and my own limits," Alptraum says and shrugs. "And right now, I'm hunting you. You do know you're not going to escape by this point. So, either you're going to attack me again, or you're going to try and bargain with me. So, which will it be?"
A new figure steps out from behind a column. It doesn't have a presence that Alptraum can detect, and also wearing a hood (with cut outs for his Eeee ears). His face is hidden, and Alptraum gets the impression of movement there.
"Interesting figure. A dead zone to my various senses. See, that's the problem when you try to hide yourself like that, you also make a hole, which is just as much as a tell," Alptraum comments again. "So, which one are you?"
"Does it matter?" the mage asks. "Am I the person you see here?" The distorted voice is coming from the figure, but it doesn't sound natural. Too echoing for an Eeee.
"No, you are not. If I had to guess, that is some sort of simulacrum," Alptraum says, "Or at least that form is. It isn't the first I've encountered in this world or in the others I've been to."
"We aren't so foolish as to risk ourselves like Pancrazio or Apollyon," the figure says. It pulls back the hood, revealing a flat metallic disk, almost like a mirror, where its face should be. There are odd, writhing shapes that frame the disk and seem to hold it to the head.
Alptraum just smiles. "Oh good. I did feel this was all a bit easy, disappointing for all the stories about you. At least you're making this somewhat interesting," he says as he continues to approach this odd figure. "Pancrazio was neutralized, but I'm sure you know that by now. Nice little trick, using one of Amenlichli's black hearts. Pity I know exactly how to deal with them, though," he says, smile turning into a grin.
"He chose to not remain Faceless," the figure notes. "So the Faceless Trio is now just the Faceless One. Now, since you can't actually hurt me, is there anything you wish to discuss before I leave?"
"I'm mildly curious what Amenlichli promised you for help, but really ... poor choice. The demon of Aztepa always cheats. "And it's interesting you think I can't hurt you," he adds, and smiles. "Now that we've spoken, and I know you voices and all the names of the faceless trio, I can always reach out and touch you, wherever you are. Do you have anything you wish to discuss, hmm?"
"Touching is not so easy," the figure claims and walks towards the stone coffins. "I assume the mages here are all dead?" it asks.
"Not yet. I'm not just killing them, you see. I'm reaping their souls and spirits so their punishment will extend long past the point their bodies expire," Alptraum notes and resumes his approach of this figure. "I can capture and hold anyone indefinitely in a sort of purgatory that's part of me. Worlds within worlds and all that."
"Convenient," the figure says, and turns to the swaddled figure. "The children were to be their new bodies. I prepared the ritual, but I was confident they would not get this far. I'm the one who 'arranged' for them to come here. They risked much and failed, so why should I bring them back to me? I assumed Shodan would betray them first, and that would be that."
"Thinning the group, is it? Such loyalty you have. It truly warms my hearth," Alptraum remarks rather dryly. "Looks like you won't get any of the children, either." If Alptraum does get close enough, he's going to try and shadow-ensnare that construct, if for nothing else than if contact will let him trace its link to the real thing, as it were.
Chezny is coming up behind the figure now.. even though he's only armed with the twisted up apron. He isn't closing in immediately though. "It took a long to gather all of these tools," the figure claims. "Oh well, there are always others." The figure has stopped walking, and seems intent the arrayed tools. "This was a very expensive failure. But old men have their egos."
"I suppose you'd know. And that tells me you're likely an old woman," Alptraum comments, amused at the mage's particular wording. "You should realize by this point the world is not as it once was. Your time is long gone, and I will hunt all of you down eventually. Sooner or later, you will be mine as well."
"Hmm, you really shouldn't bother," the figure notes. "I'm not going to try for remembered glory or anything so foolish. The advantage of being faceless is that you're hard to find, if you stay quiet. I've no loyalty to Amenlichtli or any others. I won't let Her find me either." The empty face turns back to Alptraum, and notes. "Have fun with dealing with the others as you see fit. They deserve whatever justice you choose for them."
"Oh, now that Amenlichli and you have treated, she will always be able to find you. She is far older and smarter than you, or any of the Royal Mages were. You helped her once, you belong to her now. Eventually, she will come to claim. It's her way," Alptraum says and shrugs. "You'd be better off surrendering to me, than being taken by her."
"I only have to keep hidden until you manage to destroy her," the figure says, raising a hand to tap at its chest. "I have faith in you. But I also had faith in the General, so I will be watching. Amenlichtli is surprisingly limited in how and where she can act on her own, you know."
"I'm aware, and my theft of one of her greatest weapons has not helped her at all. And who's to say I won't hunt you first? You're much more of an immediate threat than she is, after all. Why, you might even be worth using the timestone blade on," Alptraum opines.
"I'm just one mage who was smart enough not to go back to Babel," the figure notes. "Now, I suppose there isn't any reason for me to remain here. You have former colleagues of mine to torture, after all, which is certain to be more entertaining."
"Eh, I find no enjoyment in such acts, only satisfaction that they received some punishment for their crimes," Alptraum points out. "And no, I suppose there really isn't any reason for this to continue," he agrees, then launches dozens of spike-shadow-tendrils at the robed thing.
The figure makes no attempt to dodge, but when the shadow makes contact, there is flame and searing pain! The shadow is burning from the contact. The robes of the figure are also burning.
Chezny acts then.. to try and beat out the flames with the apron.
Alptraum immediately withdraws the shadow! Dagh, that hurts and he's straining to not show it, and tries to hidee that fact by changing tactics. Now somewhat pissed, he tries to use the scythe instead, since it's a bit 'different' from pure shadow! Though he has a feeling it won't do much.
The scythe also burns, but since it's hardened shadow it doesn't hurt Alptraum. The spirits caught in the flame certainly seem to feel it though. It doesn't have much effect on the figure though, which is unmoving, despite the burning cloth. "Get away from it!" Chezny barks.
Alptraum draws the scythe back then too, and shakes it a bit to try and get it to 'go out'. And yes, he does move a bit away.
The Jupani lifts a leg and kicks at the figure, which just falls over to the ground. "Why did it burn you?" He asks, and keeps prodding at the thing with his boot.
"Mmm, probably something it's made out of dislikes what I'm made of," Alptraum says and shrugs. "I could make further guesses, but it's not important. What matters is the child." And with that, he goes to the bound up child to make sure they are okay (and not possessed in any way).
The child is in a deep sleep, and the wrap as well as the fabric draped over the sarcophagus feels of strange magic. The Jupani barks in alarm suddenly, "It's still alive!"
Alptraum is currently dealing with the wrapped child, and trying to unwrap them from the coffin as well as its actual bindings. "Just break it," he requests gruffly. "I'm more concerned about the child."
There are stomping sounds while Alptraum works. The more the child is unwrapped, the more his condition seems to improve from 'comatose' to 'sleeping'.
Alptraum continues to try and strip away all of the bindings. "Thank you for dealing with that thing," he comments a bit absently.
The stomping is still going on, with both wet and crunchy sounds accompanying it. Once the last of the wrapping is off, the child starts to wake up.
Alptraum finally looks over to the creature that Chezny is stomping on. "That sounds extremely cruncy," he comments.
The disk has moved off of the 'face', revealing most of a skull. The weird 'arms' of it are flailing around as Chezny tries to break it by stomping. "This thing is tough!" he notes. "Metal tough!"
As the child begins to wake up, Alptraum feels him tense up.
"Relax," he says to the child as his attention quickly returns to it. "You're safe now. The mages are being dealt with and soon you and the others will be taken to a safer place." Attention briefly back to Chezny, he says, "Not surprised. It's likely made of cold iron. It's effective against magic of many types."
"Then why is it moving?" the Jupani asks.
The child is staring wide-eyed at Alptraum. Possibly at the throbbing sac on his arm, or the scythe with silently screaming figures in black flames at one end.
"Specially designed automaton. Just ... pull its limbs off," Alptraum suggests. To the child he says, "Sorry. I know I look terrifying, I came to hunt those that destroyed your village, and that required being a bit of a monster. I will not harm you, though. I know you probably have no reason to believe me, but I hope you will."
"I'm hungry," the boy says after a moment of silence.
"There should be some food upstairs. The plantation I will be taking all of you to should have enough food and space to live reasonably well, and Aunty and tthe young girl in her charge will be sent there as well," Alptraum says.
"I can't go home?" the boy asks, still sounding a bit confused.
The stomping subsides. "I have it tangled up in the apron," Chezny says. "Save to leave all this stuff for now?"
Well, can you carry the child? I'm going to check for any artifacts here that I should take," Alptraum admits.
Chezny scoops up the child, and says to him, "I hope you like soup," before carrying him towards the stairs. The artifacts are varied, but one of them does indeed look like a large bone needle. Either the wrap or the tapestry like drape on the lid of the sarcophagus could be 'the shroud' or 'the altar of twilight', respectively.
Alptraum now spends a bit of time searching the area for anything that feels like it's 'magical artifact' level of something. Once he identifies both the needle and shroud, those he folds up together, carefully, to take with him.
There's the wrapped up mirror thing, still struggling inside the apron, and the formerly animated corpse it was controlling, which itself doesn't feel very magical. The array of items on the other sarcophagus all give off disturbing auras, that seem less magical and more alien. The surgical-looking tools might follow a Babelite aesthetic though. They could be from the Tower of Babel.
Alptraum tries to recover the mirror without touching any of the squirming body-thing. Ugh.
Holding it by the apron seems safe. There isn't anything heavy to really try to smash it with, and no telling how dangerous it still might be.
So, apron it is! The surgical tools ... those hm. If he can bundle them up, they might be useful at the camp at Mt. Gorphat.
There is a case that they seem to fit into. And a bit more searching turns up.. a mirrored cube about the size of a gaming die. Maybe it was related to the illusions, since it's near to where the body fell.
And that goes into the case too! If nothing else, the Mage's Guild can identify what it is, probably. Once things are gathered, he should head back up. Also, he has the other parasite-restrained mages to kill. And now he knows he can absorb the parasite back before he does, which is ... useful!
Some of the items gibber a bit once the case is closed, so it isn't clear which ones are doing it (or it's possibly the case itself). The shroud needs to be handled carefully, since it has numbing effects, but the other garish bit of cloth doesn't, so one can be wrapped within the other. Then it's back up the stairs with the apron-entangled metal thing held out a bit awkwardly.
And up he goes. It's ungainly, but up he does go. Hopefully Shodan doesn't decide to try and betray him too, but he can always drop everything and defend himself. And before he goes back to the hall, he's going to deal with the remaining parasite-laden mages. Just to make sure they're captured and dead.
Since he has to pass that room anyway, it's easy. The bodies still seem paralyzed, but some of them are convulsing. There are more artifacts in the room as well, including what's probably Barada's Eye or the Angel Eye. Also plenty of cases and crates. Nobody's been in to move things or arrange the fallen mages any better.
Alptraum deals with the mages first. He sets down the items he collected, then moves to methodically shadow-remove each parasite that's engulfing their heads and if possible, 'storing' it back away for use again. Then it's summoning back the scythe and killing the de-parasite'ed mage and capturing their spirit into the purgatory.
This takes some time, in order to draw things out so the bodies are destroyed slowly, with the spirits aware of it all. It does make for a room cluttered with escaping spirits though (possibly due to the thistlebark in the wall paneling) until they can be shooed out through the door. Among the artifacts are several ancient looking books as well, although Alptraum doesn't recognize the symbols they're written in.
Once all the mages have been ... captured, it's into sorting items into at least one crate he could conceivably carry. The eye, the mirror, the bone needle, and the shroud all have to fit. The rest, well, he fits if he can. Worst case, he can carry a few crates as a fnerf if he must! It'll just be a much slower trip to go by paw.
They all fit if he doesn't need to seal the top, anyway. Someone comes by to check on him while he's trying to pack everything. "Oh, you're in here," the Eeee guard says, stating the obvious. "Chezny was getting worried. Do you need someone to carry that? And.. uh.. they charcoal is safe to just throw out, isn't it? Not save to burn?"
"You can throw out the remains of the mages I have dealt with, yes. I'm just sorting the artifacts I need to recover for Babel and figuring out how I will transport them," Alptraum admits, and shrugs. "I'll be back in the hall soon, I hope."
The smell of burning flesh is muted somewhat within the hall, in part due to the incense that's been lit. The burning is from disposing of the bodies of the cannibal crew (a sure means of denying them entry into even the Sea of Souls). Shodan is moving again, while the guard is just beginning to stir. And by moving, Shodan is pacing with Chezny standing nearby. The only other guard is the one that went to check on Alptraum.
"Nervous?" Alptraum has to ask the pacing man. He's currently double-checking the box of things he's taking back, and wrapping each in cloth salvaged from some of the mage corpses. He's left the book out of the collection, for Shodan. All he's taking are the specified artifacts, the shroud, needle, the weird eye-thing, and medical tools.
"Ah! I didn't see you," Shodan says. "But.. you understand Babelite religious practices, don't you?"
"Across many sects, yes. Why do you ask?" Alptraum inquires.
Shodan rubs his forehead, his hand still a bit shaky. "We know what to do with the.. pirates. It's the remains on their ship though.. what do we do about bodies we can't identify? They're likely innocent, but do they need to be returned to their families? How do we even identify which parts go to which other parts?"
"All difficult questions," Alptraum admits as he sets the box down. Now it's his turn to pace a bit and ponder. "Outside of magic, I don't think you could identify what parts go to what bodies. Or how to identify them. You'd need to see if you could invoke their spirit echoes and, well, ask names. Which ... I could probably do. The spirits and names, anyway, possibly not the parts; I'm not sure if a spirit could identify its own parts. If you at least had names, you could build a small mausoleum or at least a decent grave, then carve a proper marker naming those that fell victims to the pirates with a request that their souls are guided home," he says. "Actually sending the remains to living relatives would be difficult to impossible. Some may even have none; they erased whole villages."
"Chezny.. can you get the children into one of the bedrooms?" Shodan asks the Jupani. "I don't want them around when we deal with this. We need to get the remains out of that ship and then scrub it down." He then turns to Alptraum and gestures to the crate. "I don't suppose any of that is actually useful for this?"
"Not to my knowledge, no. And please, do not let the children see any of this; they've been through enough. I want them to forget about this as much as possible. I already have a place they can go," Alptraum says.
"We weren't expecting these sorts of complications," Shodan sighs. "Maybe they'll fall asleep given beds and full bellies now." He eyes the crate, and then the book. "Mind if I consult my book?"
"Go ahead," Alptraum agrees and gestures to the book. "Just know if you attempt betrayal, it'll be worse than what happened to the mages."
"I'm only being paid for betraying the mages," Shodan promises, and sits on a nearby chair before leafing through the book. "What sort of stuff did they have?" he asks as he searches for something.
"Well, the scrying device they stole from the Temple of Barada; the thing with all the weird eyes. The needle is tied to Gorphat's temple, and the shroud as I recall is tied to Sunala. Those are the main three I was specifically asked to recover. There's also the medical tools, but those I suspect are not magical on their own. Or if they are, they do not match any I know of."
"I think those are the ones then," Shodan says, and turns the book to show Alptraum the open page, which shows a weird looking tool. Possibly for someone with very bizarre arrangement of fingers.
Alptraum arches a brow. "Does it describe what it is for?" he asks.
"Surgical tool of some sort," Shodan replies, and flips the page to show others. A few of them Alptraum recognizes from the stash. And then there's the cloth that he thinks might be the Altar of Twilight. "I think they're all medical things."
"So, it doesn't give much detail on them, then? I would like to copy out the passages for anything that matches in this collection to take back as well," Alptraum admits. "More for myself than anything else. I only know of these specific devices by the names they were known as by the Temples."
"It's all written in Bosch," Shodan says. "Which I am not fluent in. Some of the men might be though, we can ask Chezny when he gets back." He sets the book on the nearby table. "Can you.. do your thing with the remains on the ship.. on the ship? Or should they all be brought down into the crypt?"
"I could do it on the ship, though the crypt would be less ... disturbing," Alptraum admits. "The hold on that ship is not for the faint of heart."
"I'm beginning to wish we had kept some of them alive just to deal with that, but we didn't know," Shodan says. "If they were feeding their pteras with it.. ugh, I'll ask for volunteers, unless you're able to handle it yourself? I don't imagine the priest class deals with this sort of.. mess."
"I've dealt with worse, but I would prefer not to," Alptraum admits. "If no one volunteers, I'll deal with it. Just ... don't tell anyone that or no one will volunteer."
"We've got sheets to use," Shodan says. "I'll go check on things outside, need to keep moving or things tingle." So he gets up and heads out a bit shakily, only to have to leans against the wall when Chezny comes through carrying one of the kids, and another man follows holding the hands of those that can walk. Gilam waves to Alptraum as they troop through to another doorway.
Alptraum waves back. "I promised I would help free you. After matters are dealt with here, I'll take you to a new home," he says, "And then send Aunty and her charge to meet with all of you."
The boy nods and even smiles a bit, before they group has moved on through the doorway. "They'll be upstairs," Shodan says before returning to the alcove and heading outside.
Alptraum closes up his box of 'stuff', and soon after he's following Shodan.
They pass the kitchen, where some less-soldiery types seem to be either cleaning or preparing the next meal. Then outside, a Kattah meets them. He eyes Alptraum a moment, then reports to Shodan, "They're all accounted for. We've captured the one that was watching the airship."
Alptraum looks directly at the Kattah. "What?" he asks directly.
"Umm," the feline blinks at Alptraum. "We killed the ones we were paired with, as planned," he reports. "There was another one on the airship. I suppose the ptera-wrangler. Didn't put up a fight, so we just captured him alive."
"I'm not one of the mages," Alptraum explains, "I killed them. Good for catching the guard, though. HE might know who the people in the hold were. Some people like that sort of information; it gives them perverse pleasure."
"Oh.. uh.. that's good to know," the cat says, and glances to Shodan.
"He's a fortuitous surprise," Shodan says. "I'm not sure about the Skreek woman though. I assume she's in the kitchen now."
"Well, we're holding the prisoner on the deck of the airship," the guard reports. "Tied him up, made sure he didn't have any flame sources. Jock and Tanner are going through the ship, since they have the weakest sense of smell."
"I'll go see to that guard, then," Alptraum offers. "Unless you'd rather I not."
"I don't have instructions for what to do with an actual prisoner," Shodan says. "I'm going to get the sheets. If you need anything, ask the guards on the airship."
"All right," Alptraum agrees. He turns to the other guard, adding, "I'll head to him, then. I should not be long." And ... off he goes!
It's not far to the ship, and much easier to get to with wings. The two guards on deck don't turn. They're facing the Khatta tied to the mast: Boots. The boy has that confused look he had with Nikky. He looks at Alptraum blankly.
"Hello," Alptraum says to the Khatta. He approaches the bound feline and puts one finger right in the middle of the bound cat's forehead. The why becomes quickly apparent as he engulfs the cat's head in shadow! The why, to see if the cat has been worked on; if he's just another victim made to serve.
There are bits that feel like the work of the Needle. Especially around the eyes and ears, so one (or more) of the mages was probably using him to spy on the crew. Good thing Alptraum came in disguise to begin with. There isn't anything that hints at more overt control though: the boy is just a bit slow. It takes a moment for the guards to realize they don't recognize Alptraum. "You aren't Shodan," one of them points out.
"No, I'm the Barsunala," Alptraum replies, simply. "And the one that killed all the mages. He withdraws the shadow and sighs. On some level, this poor cat is just another victim. "So," he begins, "What can you tell me about the stores down below. Who were they? The ones you killed and ate?"
"Just dirt farmers and stuff," Boots says, smiling. "No marbling. Might as well be jerky, y'know? Not like the forest villagers, according to my da. He's from the other side of the world."
"You do understand what you did was a crime, yes?" Alptraum asks. "Your best chance at some leniency if you you know their names and can in that small way help them find rest."
"Whose names?" Boots asks. "The crew you mean?"
"The people you ate," Alptraum clarifies.
Boots rocks his head from side to side. "Names.." he mutters. "I don't know, they were dead when they were brought aboard. You don't eat live people. That would be weird. No, they were killed in the raids. I guess maybe the live ones might have known them?"
"There's not enough left for them to identify. So, tell me, what would you do to a criminal that helped commit almost unfathomable crimes and shows no remorse?" Alptraum asks, arching his right brow slightly as he does so.
"Oh, there are the heads and pelts," Boots notes. "The boss-mages always make sure they're preserved, down in the drying cabinet. Crime is.. what again?"
"Against the law, or against sanctity of the world," Alptraum says, and sighs. "Where are the heads and the like, then?"
Boots tries to take a step before remembering he's tied to the mast. "Oh, forward hold," he then says. "Below deck."
"Well, that should make identification a bit simpler, at least. Though I am not subjecting the children to seeing that," Alptraum says. "So, this leaves the question of what to do with you. You feel there is nothing wrong with killing and eating people?"
"Oh.. killing them, probably, but not if you're told to do it by the bosses," Boots says. "But dead people aren't people anymore, just.. y'know.. meat."
"I disagree on that," Alptraum says. He looks to the other guards on-deck. "Are there any wagons here at the estate?" he asks.
"There should be a wheelbarrow at least," one of the guards says. "For the garden."
"Why do you need a wagon?" the other one asks.
"For the children to ride in," Alptraum answers. "I have decided this one's fate."
"I'll go," the first guard says, and flies off, adding, "Wait for the Vartans to come back up before going below!"
"The children are inside the big house," Boots notes. "Are you bringing them back?"
Alptraum looks back at the khattah. "Since you have decided to act like an animal, an animal you will be. Instead of simply killing you, you will serve the remainder of your years as a Rhugrhat," Alptraum explains.
"What's that?" Boots asks.
"You'll find out. Guards, cut him from the mast please," Alptraum asks, "I need him free to do what I intend to do."
"Umm.. how free?" the guard asks. "What about a rope around his neck at least?"
"A rope around his neck is fine," Alptraum agrees. "He'll need a leash when I'm done anyway."
So the guard unties Boots wrists, but then just as quickly pushes him down to the deck and keeps a knee in his back while tying a 'leash' knot around his neck. "Ow," the cat complains. "Why is everyone being mean to me!"
Alptraum shakes his head and sighs. "This will probably be disturbing," he says to the guards as he crouches down next to the now splayed feline. He places his hand upon the cat's back and within seconds the cat is completely encased in shadow. The why is easy enough; he's going to turn the feline into a beast of burden, a rhugrhat. The cat does not have much intelligence above an animal, and saw no issues with what he did. So, it's only fitting he becomes a true beast. And, it will take some time since Alptraum intends for this to be permanent; a fate deserved.
Draco never really went over this with him, but making a change permanent seems easier when it's an animal form - and there's no reason to preserve any mind. It certainly feels that way at least.
There's not much of a mind to preserve anyway. He seemed completely confused as to why what was done was wrong. The actions were ... of low intelligence to begin with. It doesn't seem to Alptraum he's actually doing much other than making the trappings match their mentality anyway. He's too distracted by controlling the change to really notice how bad the other guards might be freaking out.
The end result is a bit.. runty though. Not a fully grown Rhugrhat. The one guard jumped away as soon as the shadow had begun to spread, and now he's put the mast between him and the process.. but still watches. "How did you do that?" he asks. "Does Shodan know you can do that?"
"I can do it because of what I am," Alptraum answers rather vaguely, "And no, Shodan doesn't know I can do that." He stands and stretches a bit, feeling a bit thin from that; it's an effort to affect that much change. "It did not feel right condemning him to death for his actions. He seemed truly confused as to why he was captured or what he did wrong. So, he was already sort of like a beast in his mind. I just made his body match, so to speak. And now he can help tow things and other more productive acts than what he did here."
Boots bleats.
"Lord Vandringar will want.." the guard starts to say, only to be cut off by two Vartans emerging from below deck. "Nothing alive down there," the first one claims, loudly. "We should let airship drift and blow up far away," the one behind him offers. That one's neck feathers are fluffed out as well.
"I'm not for sale. And if you try to take me, you'll end up a female one of these so you two can keep each other company," Alptraum warns the guard. To the arriving vartans, he says, "This prisoner will now be used to do useful things around the estate, and if there is a wagon, will help transport the children to safety."
"Who are you? Where's Birk?" the first Vartan asks.
"I am the Barsunala," Alptraum explains, again. "I do not know who 'Birk' is."
"Birk went to get the garden wagon," the Eeee guard says.
A different guard arrives before Birk though, carrying a basket overflowing with sheets and blankets. "Shodan said you needed these," he says when he lands, not sure who to address.. and ends up looking at the Rhugrhat.
"That was the prisoner," Alptraum explains to the yet another guard. "Those are to cover up the remains below and carry them into the crypt in the house. I would appreciate it if one or more of you would handle that. We also need to collect their heads and the like from what was called a drying cabinet."
"The haunted wardrobe?" the lead Vartan asks, and then his feathers poof out.
"Haunted? Why do you say that?" Alptraum asks.
"One look, I know it haunted," the big man says. "All.. hung up and such.."
"Are you saying you will not collect the items within it, then?" Alptraum asks. "A big, strong, vartan like you, afraid of a cabinet?"
"Cabinet, no, skin-suits, yes," the Vartan says. "I move cabinet, sure. Closed."
"That is fine. Moving the whole cabinet is good enough," Alptraum agrees.
The other Vartan is grabbing sheets and blankets. "Cover stuff up, yeah, yeah."
"Please. And move those remains to the crypt in the house," Alptraum requests.
"Crypt? Underground?" the bigger one asks.
"In the house, the lowest floor, yes," Alptraum says.
"I found the barrow!" Birk (presumably) calls up from the ground. Boots bleats again. "C'mon Jock," the smaller Vartan says, hauling the linens back down below deck.
"Lets get going before Boots humps somebody's leg," Alptraum mutters as he moves to disembark from the ship. It's on to the crypt."
Despite the narrowness of the passage and the curving stairs, Jock and Tanner managed to get the 'haunted wardrobe' down without dropping it. The wheelbarrow definitely didn't get so far, and came in a different way altogether that could be cleared of people. But eventually all of the remains ended up in the crypt, the 'bodies' laid out across the floor by size, although still wrapped up.
Alptraum also grabbed some paper and writing supplies while passing through upstairs. He sets a sheet before each body to record who they were, if possible. Then it's going to the cabinet. He sighs out, still himself, and then opens the cabinet.
There are a have dozen adult Eeee heads and skins. Held up with coat hangers. The skins are surprisingly intact, along with the skulls and the rest of the head. Their tongues are gone, and the eyes, but everything else is probably still in there.
"Well ... that's ... disturbing," Alptraum mutters and shivers. He takes out the first hanger, head and all and goes to where the bodies are laid out. He places it upon the floor, not aligned with any particular body, just more in the center. Then he steps back and draws several deep breaths.
Jock and Tanner loiter back near the stairs, in case anything else needs to be moved. They look anxious though.
"You probably don't want to remain. Magic will be used," Alptruam warns, then slows his breathing, drawing to a more relaxed state. It's focus in, and finding the feeling of the Barsunala and drawing that bate to the fore. The vision, then abilities to move spirits, to call them forward. As those eyes open, he speaks, voice hollow and distant, "Lives wronged, soul rent. It is time to take your final journey, to leave behind the pains of this life. Allow us to know you, to see you, and to bring your remains to rest. Come to me so that I may learn who you were in life, and which of these remains was your abode during your time." His focus is on the skin and head, trying to sense any sort of lingering spirit, and if there is one, to use both the shadow and himself to push energy back into it, to bring them forward to ... talk.
The skin ripples, as if in a breeze.. but then seems to fill out. There's a squawk, and the Vartans hurry out. The head rises up, but lists to one side. It reminds Alptraum a bit of the time in a Sylvanian swamp when undead soldiers marched past, some just bits of flesh held up by spirits. There's no sound or animation from the dead face though. Not at first, anyway. What Alptraum 'hears' is more in his head than actual sound: "Lost."
"I know. Your story ended before its time. I am sorry, and I know it is not fair. I cannot undo what was done, I can only help you find peace. Do you remember who you were in life? Your name?" Alptraum asks.
"Mem.. pha.." the corpse claims. "Lost."
"I am sorry, but, our name was Mempha Lost?" Alptraum has to ask. Fairly certain that is utterly wrong, but. "And ... can you feel which of the remains here was your body in life?"
The figure starts to drift over the wrapped remains. Then lets out a mournful wail where it stops. "I'm lost," it claims. "Where do I go?"
Alptraum approaches it slowly and extends his hand. "Take my hand, and I will help you to the sea," he offers.
Nothing moves, but Alptraum does feel something in his hand (which probably better than a ragged bit of skin). It's cold. But once contact is made, he can see the person. A possibly middle-aged Eeee woman.
"Hello," Alptraum says to her. "I am sorry you have met me before the proper time. But, if you will allow me, I will help you move on. Who were you in life?"
"Mempha Fleure," the woman says. "Wife and mother.." She seems to get more pale as she remembers.
"Who were your children? Some yet live, and I may be able to pass on your final wishes," Alptraum offers. He feels he ought to be freaked out by this ... but right now he has to look like he knows what he's doing or the people here will wreck him.
"Tomy, my daughter," Mempha says, but not hopefully.
"What would you like passed on to her?" Alptraum asks, softly. "When did you see her last?"
Mempha is quiet for a time. "Fallen, in the doorway," she finally says.
Alptraum nods at this. "I know that it may seem hopeless. If she survived, I will try to find her and pass on you love her, and wish for her to live on," he offers. "Is there anything else you would wish to say if you could?"
"There is nobody left," she claims. "They killed us all. We had nothing to steal. They only wanted our deaths."
"Then I hope you find peace in the sea that you could not find in life," Alptraum offers and squeezes her hand a little, if he even can. He tries to bring forward in his mind the image of the sea of souls, and a ship at the shore waiting for them. Perhaps it is real, or real enough, perhaps not, but the shadow about him mimics this and he walks her spirit to the ship and eases her into it. "Night has fallen, beautiful child. I commend your soul to peace and the rest it deserves."
She bows her head, and then her real head settles down onto the bundle below it as her spirit fades away.
Alptraum sighs and walks back to the corpse she stopped over. He kneels down, takes out a writing stick from his belt, and writes on the paper, "Mempha Fleure, loving mother of Tomy." Then he's back up and moving to the 'skin'. This too he takes to that corpse and lays it upon the wrapped body. His head bows in a moment of silence, then he's moving back to the cabinet. "It doesn't get any better," he says and looks back towards the doorway in, fully expecting the vartans to have fled.
The Vartans are gone, but Chezny is there, backlit by the light of the stairway. "How're you holding up?" he asks. "Kids are asleep. Shodan is resting. Bertrum seems to be recovered. Need any soup, tea or Mateh?"
"One down, eleven to go. So, much to still do, and deal with. By the end I'll need a hard drink. That one watched her daughter die. What do you say to that? I can try to offer peace, but it always feels hollow. The worst are those that watched their world end," Alptraum answers and rubs over his face. "And I don't mean the world. I mean their world. The little corner of the whole that is their life, the people they knew. All these groups, all vying for power, and position, willing to just roll over people that just want to live in their small place, peacefully. It's one of the few things that never change. Ten thousand ears in the past, or ten thousand in the future, the same will continue."
"It'd be easier if everyone just didn't bother with civilization and all it's extra baggage," Chezny suggests. "Food, shelter, make sure your kids grow up. Your world is smaller, but less fragile."
"And more difficult to live. We can pine for such things, but they were no easier. Civilization comes with its benefits too," Alptraum says and shrugs as he takes the second skin and head out, and takes it back to where the first had laid, and he places it down there. "If you don't want to watch, I understand. This is my duty to bear, not yours," he says without looking back. Then he steps back and breathes slowly. And like the first, he draws on the Barsunala itself as he tries to formally draw forth the next lost spirit.
It is a long night. Some of the spirits are angry until learning that the mages and their soldiers are dead. None of them are aware of what happened to them after death.. and indeed none of them even care where they are at the moment. It's possible that they can only 'see' the Barsunala. Mainly, they felt unable to move on without help. One of the men, however, mentioned Gilam. "Tell him I am proud of him and love him, and that he should not think of my death, only the lessons I've provided."
"I will, I promise. I can give him a new place to live, grow, and be safe. And from there, who knows what heights he may one day find. Part of you will always be with him, and as long as he remembers you, you are never truly gone," Alptraum offers, "If I could undo what was done, I would. But, all I can do is help bring peace and closure. It has been an honor to have met you, and even more to help protect your legacy, your children."
"Thank you, Barsunala," the spirit says. "When the time comes, please see that he has a gentle death."
"I will do what I can, goodbye," Alptraum says. And once that spirit is gone like the thers before he goes and inscribes their name upon the paper at the corpse' feet along with any family they mentioned and if they may be still living. The skins too are placed with the corpse. He goes back to the cabinet again to see if any skins remain or if he has finally helped all pass on.
There aren't any more skins, and the remaining bundles are mainly legs. Without skin, it would be difficult to match them up. But the skins are matched to the torsos at least.
Alptraum rubs his forehead. "That is as close as I can get I think. And ... I'm tired," he mutters as the weight of everything seems to hit all at once. People are often amazed with what he can do, but they rarely get to see the other side of it, the things he also has to do. Like ... this.
"I can get you into a room, unless you need to stay down here," Chezny offers. "There are empty spaces in the walls here, so we shouldn't need to move the bodies out. Not sure if there's any special ceremony needed or not. If there's a chisel we can try to engrave the names."
"Nothing special needs to be done before they are entombed. I've done what was most needed," Alptraum says and yawns. "And a room by myself would be preferred, I do not need to stay down here."
"Come on up then," the Jupani says, and cracks his own back. "Going to pass out soon myself. I'll put you next to the kids' room if that's alright?"
"That's fine, and it might make them feel better. Or more scared. I don't know. I know to many I'm just ... creepy," Alptraum admits as he heads for the stairs up.