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vander's rescue
Who: Vander, his lovely and brave rescuers, and a whole lotta trouble
What: Vander was kidnapped by Aetós, so the people come to save him! OOC information and plotting can be found here.
Where: “The Zoo” in the Below
When: Sometime in between the TDM and March 17th OOC
Warnings: Violence, references to human experimentation/torture
It’s a long, winding way down into the Below, and you’re being led there by what seems like a girl, though at this point you’re also confident that she’s anything but. She’s fought with Shard-Bearers and held her own but was also captured by them to be questioned. And, in that, she eventually gave a piece of information in return. Her master, Aetós, had kidnapped Vander. If you don’t kill her, she can take you to where he’s being hidden. You can save him before her master makes him wrong.
So, a rescue effort was mounted. With many Shard-Bearers across factions here either to save Vander or simple for the allure of learning more about this mysterious figure, it at least gives you confidence that it can be handled. It’s disorienting down here so far below Springstar, but eventually, she comes to what looks like a sealed-up tunnel. She holds her hands against two particular bricks, and after a moment, they glow with teal light before all the bricks seem to shimmer. Like they all suddenly break, they become floating little motes of light, and a doorway lays before you.
It's a long corridor, but it doesn’t take long before you smell it before you see anything. There’s a largely animal smell here like a zoo, but it’s tinged more heavily with the smells of blood and rot. It’s enough to make a weak stomach heave a bit or at least get the hairs on the back of your neck to stand on end. But still, the girl continues on until you can see the hallway spill out to a large room.
Laying on a dissecting table is some kind of strange animal, but standing over it is a similarly strange masked figure. Some of you know, it’s Aetós.
“Right on time, Adelfoúla,” is all they say as they stand and hold up a silver hand. A complex orb of light appears, and they crush it. In front of you, Adelfoúla only gives a dispassionate ah— that’s followed by the sound of shattering porcelain, and she simply crumbles at the waist. You can rush forward, try to meet Aetós, but calmly, they just say—
“This will be good data. Hopefully you’ll find Vander before he gets eaten.”
And with a tick like the movement of a watch’s hand, they’re simply… Gone. Those sensitive to such things will feel it, the pulse of intense, strong magic, but before you can fully process, you can hear it: the creaking of cage doors opening down the myriad of hallways that line this one large room, the rumble of growls and claws against stone. Vander is somewhere in this maze of a facility, and you have to find him. Or maybe you just have to find what Aetós left behind.
OOC Notes : This log is a catch-all for all efforts related to the Save Vander plot! Including Vander's no fun, very bad time itself! If you'd like to participate in this plot, please see the OOC post. While the text above describes the initial arrival, this log can also be used for pre/post plot Communion, planning beforehand, etc. along with the expected threads in the facility!
What: Vander was kidnapped by Aetós, so the people come to save him! OOC information and plotting can be found here.
Where: “The Zoo” in the Below
When: Sometime in between the TDM and March 17th OOC
Warnings: Violence, references to human experimentation/torture
It’s a long, winding way down into the Below, and you’re being led there by what seems like a girl, though at this point you’re also confident that she’s anything but. She’s fought with Shard-Bearers and held her own but was also captured by them to be questioned. And, in that, she eventually gave a piece of information in return. Her master, Aetós, had kidnapped Vander. If you don’t kill her, she can take you to where he’s being hidden. You can save him before her master makes him wrong.
So, a rescue effort was mounted. With many Shard-Bearers across factions here either to save Vander or simple for the allure of learning more about this mysterious figure, it at least gives you confidence that it can be handled. It’s disorienting down here so far below Springstar, but eventually, she comes to what looks like a sealed-up tunnel. She holds her hands against two particular bricks, and after a moment, they glow with teal light before all the bricks seem to shimmer. Like they all suddenly break, they become floating little motes of light, and a doorway lays before you.
It's a long corridor, but it doesn’t take long before you smell it before you see anything. There’s a largely animal smell here like a zoo, but it’s tinged more heavily with the smells of blood and rot. It’s enough to make a weak stomach heave a bit or at least get the hairs on the back of your neck to stand on end. But still, the girl continues on until you can see the hallway spill out to a large room.
Laying on a dissecting table is some kind of strange animal, but standing over it is a similarly strange masked figure. Some of you know, it’s Aetós.
“Right on time, Adelfoúla,” is all they say as they stand and hold up a silver hand. A complex orb of light appears, and they crush it. In front of you, Adelfoúla only gives a dispassionate ah— that’s followed by the sound of shattering porcelain, and she simply crumbles at the waist. You can rush forward, try to meet Aetós, but calmly, they just say—
“This will be good data. Hopefully you’ll find Vander before he gets eaten.”
And with a tick like the movement of a watch’s hand, they’re simply… Gone. Those sensitive to such things will feel it, the pulse of intense, strong magic, but before you can fully process, you can hear it: the creaking of cage doors opening down the myriad of hallways that line this one large room, the rumble of growls and claws against stone. Vander is somewhere in this maze of a facility, and you have to find him. Or maybe you just have to find what Aetós left behind.
OOC Notes : This log is a catch-all for all efforts related to the Save Vander plot! Including Vander's no fun, very bad time itself! If you'd like to participate in this plot, please see the OOC post. While the text above describes the initial arrival, this log can also be used for pre/post plot Communion, planning beforehand, etc. along with the expected threads in the facility!
no subject
Well. To say that Akua has a high opinion of herself is putting it mildly.
She offered him an over-confident smile, sharp under the lights in the lab, and she tipped her head, to look around. ]
Don't fret so much, Vander. [ She says, the picture of Praesi villainy and confidence. It should surprise nobody that she wore black, a chevalier's outfit again for battle, but her lacquered fingers find the restraints easily enough, and it starts to grow cold under her touch. ]
It may take a moment for me to get you free, but I think we can trust Hayame to deal with them. [ A beat, and golden eyes took stock of Amos, who had moved to the remains of...something. ] And Amos. [ A beat. ]
Hopefully, hm?
[ Last time they met, he had attacked her. Perhaps Vander had something he wanted? Perhaps there was a reason why he had come along? She would puzzle at it later. For now, weak, slippery letters appeared over the first restraint, as it became colder and colder. ]
I will keep it from burning your skin, but it will be cold, before it breaks.
no subject
Until there are too many at once for arrows to make work of, and though her quiver is still half full Hayame flicks her wrist to magically transform the six foot long bow into the much more manageable six inch grip that she can thrust back into her pouch and exchange for a six inch-
Oh, no, that one extends, too, into a bladed polearm that Hayame drives into one's chest before using the weight to slam the body into another one lunging for her throat, grunting out as she does-]
Take your time- !
[... She does actually mean it. Mostly. Never mind the sudden curse as one of the creatures tries to scramble past her, and she barely manages to drive her weapon into it's leg and pin it to the ground for her to stomp with her hooves instead, snarling as it's teeth dig into one of her own legs in the process.]
no subject
Amos hadn't expected to come down here needing to rescue a kid. Even as Adelfoúla had led them all down, he hadn't thought too much of it — until she had been murdered, and then he'd been able to put that aside, because Vander was (probably) still alive and therefore the priority. Seeing Adelfoúla again, knowing she was still alive in some fashion...
He does need the prompting to get back on task, because kids are just more important to him. Always will be.
Amos swears under his breath as he finally manages to free the fragment of Adelfoúla's shard; it was the kind of thing he couldn't rush, so the side remarks were unappreciated. And he really wishes he had something to carry it in, but a pocket is going to have to do.
That settled, he straightens back up, withdrawing his gun from his holster once again. ]
I'm coming, I'm coming.
[ Yes, he understands the urgency of the situation, but he was fucking busy with something more important, okay? Scowl on his face as he turns back to the doorway where Hayame is occupied with those creatures, he spots another one skitter out and into the room from under her, and promptly shoots it, killing it with a single blast.
Holy fuck is he happy to have a gun again.
There isn't exactly time to see to Hayame's leg — that'll have to come later — so he does the next best thing he can and joins her, taking his place in the doorway's remaining space. Looking up at the steps he sees just what she's been saving their asses from, creature upon creature piling themselves together along steps, and fires at the masses of bodies, over and over and over. Anywhere where they're grouped together, anywhere where he has the highest likelihood of hitting them, in a dispassionate attempt to thin the herd. ]
no subject
He is so damn tired and his head is pounding, but the adrenaline is helping him keep alert for the moment. Akua’s explanation gets a wordless nod from him and he holds the limb under the restraint she’s working on as still as he can so as not to distract. His attention drifts to Amos for a moment, but it’s hard to see what he’s getting up to at this angle, just that he’s riffling around with something in that small closet off to the side.
But he’s up and joining Hayame in keeping the door secure before long, and by the increasing sounds of bedlam and the abrupt halt of the familiar thrum of a bowstring firing in succession, he’s probably just in time.
The moment Akua manages to get the first of the restraints brittle enough through the intensely sharp cold of her spell, Vander’s now-freed hand immediately flies up to press against his neck where he can still feel an echo of the bite of a needle in his flesh. It feels like his skin is on fire, a sharp contrast to the lingering cold of Akua’s magic on his wrist.]
Don’t suppose you all ran into the one responsible for all of this on your way here?
[He half hopes his rescuers got the drop on them. The other half still hopes he can get the chance to wring Aetós’ neck himself.]
no subject
Her lips thin, because Amos and Hayame are fighting as hard as they can, against those monsters, and her magic is Very nearly gone.
Something is dampening her magic down here. Worse than even before. The sounds of their fight sounds more and more frantic, and they need to hurry, but she wants to know what is happening just as much as she wants to get Vander out of here.
With a grunt of frustration, she moved to the other, and slapped her hand on it, as if the touch will help. (It doesn't.) ]
Thus far, it has only been monsters.
[ The ice crept along the surface of the metal, but it's even slower on this side. She turned her head, to narrow her eyes at the runes. ]
This is taking too long, give me a moment. One of you must take out the other restraint, there's something here.
[ She stands, before she strode across the room -- heading right for the center of what could only be his work -- she stares, for long enough that she memorizes it, before she pressed her hands to it, and started to tear the magic down, piece by piece. ]
no subject
When Akua calls for aid from within the room... Hayame looks between the few remaining monsters and what she can see over her shoulder of the bindings, thinking just a moment before-]
I'll leave the rest to you.
[And that gun. Hayame awkwardly backs up a few paces rear-first into the room before she can get her larger frame free of the doorway to turn around, but once she does she reveals streaks of strange colored blood on her skin and hide, her polearm dripping before she flicks the monster viscera off it and moves to Vander's side, eyeing Akua. She must be doing something magic, so...]
Vander. Pull your arm free the moment you are able.
[Jinba were strong enough to carry multiple men on their back, and even a mare could crush a man's skull in her hand... but the angle of his restraint was difficult for her to get leverage on. With a grunt, she puts away her polearm and curls her foreleg until she can awkwardly get it on top of the table holding the prisoner, bearing her weight down... and providing contrast to the grip she has on the strap with her hands. Gritting her teeth, she stops supporting her weight on her other foreleg to put it all on the table, pulling up on the brace until it's anchoring begins to give, squealing and creaking until-
Finally, it snaps and comes undone, freeing room for Vander to wrest his arm out.]
no subject
He nods when Hayame hands things off to him, taking up the apparent mantle to finish freeing Vander, before another creature catches his eye by skittering along the wall. The first shot misses; the second blows out the middle of the body, creating two halves that lifelessly fall to the steps. Another pokes its head out from the top of the entranceway, and that one's easier to get on first try.
Shit, this would have been exhausting with traditional weapons like Hayame's. As it stands he just has to keep his arms steady and hands level, and that's no problem for him. A part of him really did miss this.
Without taking his eyes off the doorway, he calls back out to the rest of them, ] Think they're starting to clear out. Don't know if it's because they finally figured out trying to come down here was a stupid idea or if we've just gotten rid of most of them, but path should be clear when we go up, at least.
[ Though given a spare moment, he sweeps his eyes over their way out for any signs of movement. ]
Might have to watch our steps, though. This place is fucking littered with these things.
[ Litter that he and Hayame technically created... Parts of the walk upstairs might be squishy, is all.
A beat, because now that he's had the chance to catch a breather, he can feel something off with his fellow Exalt. Isn't sure what it is, just that something's wrong. ]
Vander, you gonna be good to make your way out of here, or is one of us going to have to carry you?
[ It's actually a serious question, a faint worry coming off of him before he snuffs it out, turning his attention — and all of his emotions — to a creature that had leapt halfway down the stairs in a sudden burst of speed before he blows a hole in its head. Jesus. The sooner they're gone the better. ]
no subject
And luckily, they’ve got other methods at their disposal, and an expert at brute strength to come resume the job of breaking him free. Hayame’s instructions prompt a silent nod—one both grateful and understanding. He half-sits up as best as he can, ready to pull his arm back the moment the table he’s on begins to creak with the strain. And in the next moment he’s another step closer to freedom, pulling his arm close and gingerly rubbing at his wrist where the restraint had bit into him when he had strained against it prior to their arrival.
There’s only one to go, a broad strap over both lower legs and weaker for it; it is already somewhat askew from his earlier struggles. He sits up fully now, reaching out with shaky hands to try to help work himself free.
That shakiness gives him a moment of pause when Amos shoots that question at him.]
I… think I can manage. At least enough to get out of this place.
[Probably. He still feels utterly like shit, but it’ll be hard to really gauge it until he can get on his feet.]
no subject
It gives her a picture of whom Aetós is. Clearly intelligent, with a precise grasp of magic -- his magic is similar enough to hers that she can almost -- almost imagine that she could work a theorem or two out from the work. She wants to. Oh, she wished she could spend hours down here, combing through this. Her magic being a bit of a sacrifice to spend the time looking it over, combing through the work and truly peeling back the layers of his work.
There are mathematics involved, a theory. Her lips peel back as she took the pieces of the magic apart, bit by bit. The restraint and hold on her magic felt closer to a dam against the pressure of her gift, holding back a part of her, with the flood of her rising tide crashing against high stone walls that she pulled apart piece by piece.
When it crumbled fully, it was not gentle, and nor was it slow.
Hayame, Amos -- and if he doesn't have enough going on already -- and Vander can feel it when it falls. The power of their abilities comes back in a wave.
The runes are still there, and Akua hopes she will have more time to decipher them, and spend her time picking them apart. This Aetós had stolen one of theirs, but there was nothing that said that his work needed to go to waste. ]
Good. We will want to leave soon, I think. I assume some of these creatures have abilities as well?
no subject
Something happens because Akua said it did... but Hayame barely notices. For all she has Harmonized with Meridian, she has stubbornly refused their spells, and she had no magical properties to begin with. There is only the faintest sense... but the words the sorceress speaks makes it clear. They should go.
So to Vander, she clips quickly through the offer,]
If you cannot move quickly, I will carry you.
[- She doesn't say "ride", because she doesn't mean it. How does she plan to carry him, then, when he is as large as he is?
She has withers to sling him over, doesn't she?]
no subject
I dunno if any of them have abilities. They all seem pretty mindless. [ A pause as he takes a second to aim, fire, kill another creature that's caught his eye, the shot punctuating his point. ] But we should probably be getting out of here ASAP.
[ Not just because of the threat of danger, but because Vander still sounds a little out of it. Feels out of it. And because Amos doesn't want to spend a whole lot more time down here, anyway. ]
Don't anyone go thinking they can be a hero. [ Vander, the name implied but left unsaid. Just take the help if you need it, buddy. ] If we're ready to go, I can take point up the steps. Might want to switch to bringing up the rear when we're back in open hallways, though. In case anything tries to come at us from behind.
[ Since he's just has a bit more maneuverability than Hayame; with that polearm of hers she'd do well taking the lead once they're back on level ground.
That and, if she does end up carrying Vander... Well. He'd be safer closer to the front, anyway.
Amos risks a glance back into the room behind him, tilting his head towards the stairs. They ready to get out of here or what? ]
no subject
Hayame gets another silent nod of thanks now that he’s fully free. As for the offer… He slips from the table that had held him, carefully, a steadying hand pressed against it as tries to gauge his strength now that he’s standing. He doesn’t know about “quickly,” but he should be able to move.]
I should be alright on my own.
[For now. And as if to prove it, he moves over to the side of the room where the cart of Aetós’ supplies sits, grabbing the worn out stuffed rabbit that is sitting out of place atop it. He takes a moment to look it over. There’s a swell of emotions at the sight of it again, but there’s no time to contend with it. He sighs and tucks it away into a pocket, then turns back to the group with a determined set to his jaw.]
Let’s get out of here.
[And despite the aching in every inch of his body, he pushes himself forward to meet Amos at the stairs, taking in the grisly sight of the monsters he and Hayame had busied themselves with.]
no subject
Though she does not let her steps slow too much. Not at the moment, but instead, she turned, somewhat wistful in expression.
Look, she likes you Vander, but sometimes a sorceress who builds superweapons really just wants to spend time down here investigating it. She can't help it, she's a simple woman at heart. ]
Very well. Now that we have the full range of our abilities as well... [ She said, with a brush at her dress, before she looked to the door. ] I think if any get close, I should be able to dispose of them quickly enough. You're right, they seem mindless.
Then again, the mindless beasts so often do surprise.
Shall we?
no subject
Enchanted weapons were... useful, as much as she hated to admit it. When your weapons were as correspondingly large as you were.
When Akua pulls away, Hayame is ready to nod sternly, agreeing with a,]
Let's be free of this foul place.
[She returns to the doorway, to the staircase. For a brief moment she lingers, calculating, surveying the work she'd left Amos to finish. Once she is done, she gives him a nod likewise.]
We will move as you suggested.
[Whatever might have happened between them the last time they'd met, this was a mission, and his logic was sound. He has point until they reach the more even halls, and then they would exchange positions. There may be more monsters between them and the exit, more traps for Akua to dismantle...
But as long as they reach the surface again with Vander rescued, it will count as a success.]