World Tree MUSH

    The town of Sol's Bastion is a small but thriving community of roughly five or six thousand folk of various races and cultures. Humans, elves, dwarves, halflings and the like. Though there certainly is a lot of solar themed iconography around the town; with most of the squat buildings and homes decorated with images of the sun in various forms above thier doors.
    The inn is, at least, cozy anf quiet. And that's where Castiel can be found right now-- or that is to say, where Cassandra Netherland can be found.
    See, in travelling the Tree, sometimes it becomes necessary to take on odd jobs to get by, and for the time being, Casti-- Cassandra is spending much of her time as an innkeeper's assistant in order to make the money required to spend the night and feed herself, her sister, and Itana if need be.
    Though there has been some... Tension in the region.
    It's difficult to describe, but to make matters as simple as can be, the local gods are declining. Between that and word of mouth talking of a new god on the rise has put the locals a bit on edge. The town is however still as active as can be and relatively at peace, but that could change at a moment's notice for any possible reason.

The inn is indeed where one can find Itana el-Zayl--

Excuse me. It is where you can find, uh... ... ... Itana el-Zayl, who is bad at making up fake names. She is also bad at being an innkeeper's assistant and uneasy in settlements to begin with. She's settled for sitting at a corner table with a mortar and pestle, where she's been mixing a few ingredients from home. She's carefully pouring a light green mixture into a glass bottle and stopping it up with a cork, then shuttling it over to where she's stocked a couple more potions.

The choice of destination had been up to Castiel; Itana doesn't know this world, but will go where her angelic companions go, for fear of them facing a perilous situation alone. Talk of a new god had reached her ears, even if Itana hadn't been able to read newsletters and bulletins to that effect. For now, there's little she can do except listen to the conversations around the inn.

And brew her potions, of course. That too.

    Though it may be for different reasons, an acquaintance of Castiel's is also in town. Hyouka often ranges far and wide in her search for adventure throughout the Tree, and she's always been drawn in particular to... well, frankly, worlds where the paperwork is likely to be light. A fantasy world with adventuring jobs on offer is right up the magitech cyborg's alley, and she's made some decent coin on her recent work in Sol's Bastion. It's given her a chance to learn more about the world, for that matter, and learning about other worlds is always fascinating.

    That is, in fact, what the faux elf is doing right this moment, seated at a restaurant and working on an interesting new meal while she talks to the server.

    Lumina Netherland, twin sister of Cassandra, is also working at the inn, though her more bristly demeanor means she's in the back, cleaning dishes, and ferrying things back and forth. She's taken the secondary role to her sister, the Tree's Smallest Avenger defering to the more level headed of the pair. She peeks out into the inn proper between jobs, casting a call to the innkeeps wife in the kitchen she's taking a break and heading over to sit with Itana for a few minutes.

    Meanwhile, Dante's been doing what he does best; Kill demons. Or at least, creatures that people compare to them. He trots into town carrying an enormous orc's head in a leather bag. Like Hyouka, he's been doing what comes naturally, which in this case involves thwacking things with his sword or shooting them.

    WHen he spies Hyouka in the restaurant after delivering the bounty as proof, he orders up himself a strawberry malt and a sandwich while making himself comfortable with the cyborg not-elf. "Sup." He greets Hyouka with the fistbump of two people who have come to respect one another as warriors. Slurrrrp.

    "You'd be better off doing it like this!" A wandering young girl is here, and there's something very 'off' about her. Those who know higher technology can see the glassy eyes, the too-smooth skin, and the not-quite-real hair in enough detail that she's clearly artificial, but in the light of the inn it's harder for a quick glance to tell. She doesn't seem to be hiding her robotic nature... and she does seem friendly!

    As for what she is saying, it's because she saw Castiel helping out, and the way the angel-in-disguise(da-na-na-na-nah) holds the broom is JUST NOT RIGHT! Immediately the blonde went over to show a proper brooming grip!

    All in all, the town is peaceful for the time being. Especially with hunters like Dante keeping the outskirts safe. He'll probably pull in a big haul for the bounty on that head when he goes to turn it in. So while Dante and Hyouka are catching up, the inside of the inn is... Well...
    Castiel blinks when she's suddenly assisted by the small robotic girl in her efforts to sweep the floor.
    "A-ah... Thank you." She says as she shifts her grip on the broom. Though she is a little bewildered by the daughter of Light's robotic nature at first, the girl's genuine friendliness is pretty infectious.
    "I'm Cassandra~." It's her fake name and she's going to stick with it until she has to blow her cover for any reason.
    That's when things take a bit of a turn...
    It's not Roll's fault, though, no. It would be because of the immense shadow that casts over the city and blots out the sun.
    Castiel frowns and moves to peek her head out the nearby window.
    "... Itana... Sister... You may want to come take a look at this."
    It's not long before the blonde is rushing outside.
    Looming over the city is a large figure, descending from the sun itself. Made of a series of rotating and spinning wheels of countless eyes and a multitude of wings.
    And it starts screeching...
    In Celestial.
    "Um." Castiel squeaks.
    Oh that certainly can't be good.

Itana looks up as Illumiel settles in. Her eyes meet the little adventurer's for a moment. The faintest hint of a smile reaches the corners of her mouth before she ties off one of the potions, collecting them all into her hip pouch. "I have not had time to mix new ones in awhile. I was running low."

Castiel, soon enough, is calling out to them. The archer looks up with a pensive frown, rising. She nods to Illumiel before heading for the door.

What waits for her outside is... not what she expected. Itana winces at the sheer brilliance of it, plummeting out of the sun in an imagination-defying whorl of eyes and feathers. Pulling her hood up, she reaches for her bow and readies an arrow, holding her fire for the simple reasons that a) she's half-blinded by the dazzling light, and b) she can't tell how far /away/ the thing is.

"I do not know what that is," she huffs, squinting and trying not to look directly into the descending entity's halo. "But that is at least seventy too many eyes."

    "Oh? Well if it isn't Dante." Hyouka's face lights up in a friendly smile, and she reaches out a fist to return the bump. "We just keep running into each other out here, don't we? I suppose we've both got a similar eye for the interesting jobs." She's content to settle back into her meal and chatter... at least until a shadow blots out the sun. That puts a bit of a frown on the woman's face. "What in the world..."

    Hyouka glances Dante's way, then slides up out of her seat and moves to step outside. She's got boots on the street at about the exact same moment the thing starts screeching, and she goes from shock to a pained grimace in seconds. "What in the hell is that?" she mutters. "...we're probably going to have to deal with that, aren't we?" The cyborg is already sauntering towards the middle of town.

    "A Virtue... at least, that's what it looks like." remarks Lumina, eyes narrowing a bit as she walks up and sees the, thing, hovering overhead. "Sister, do you feel anything from it? For I am not." she asks, as she steps over closer to Cassandra, interlocking fingers with her twin to help anchor the other angel.

    Roll isn't... quite as advanced as true human replacement robots like her future 'cousin' X or the like. She smiles happily that her advice is taken, but before she can really wander back into just watching the hooman behaviors, everyone is running outside!

    Of course, Roll doesn't have the programming to really connect what she's seeing. 'Ancient bible descriptions of angels' didn't make the cut in her databanks. She tries to figure out the nearest possibility.

    "Are those... wheels... of eyes... eye wheels..." She looks around. "Is this an Apple promotion?"

    "You know it. Turns out I killed Ozorg the Defiler. Dunno what he did to get that name, dunno if I want to find out." Dante shrugs and gives Hyouka a cheeky smile while he offers some of his chips to share. "Doesn't matter, he's dead now." There's a bump of fists and the two chatter, at least until the sun goes dark.

    The demon slayer narrows his eyes and cocks an eyebrow. "Well. That ain't supposed to happen." He says, before following Hyouka outside as he grips Rebellion.

    '...we're going to have to deal with that, aren't we?'

    "Mmhm." Dante's response comes with the air of resignation to the job. At least today won't be boring!

    With Dante and Hyouka exiting the conveniently nearby restaurant that puts them in eyeshot of Castiel- who quickly waves the pair over.
    "Peace, Itana." The small blonde says, gently setting her hand on the nomad's arm to get her to lower her bow.
    "That is..."
    Illumiel beats her to it and something about what her twin says makes the Guardian Angel frown as she laces fingers with Illumiel.
    "That... *seems* to be an angel." She says. "Though..."
    Any further misgivings she may have about the fact that the thing is friend shaped but does not feel friendly are turned into a much deeper frown.
    "It is not an Apple promotion." She says, suddenly very grave and very serious as the halo'd being above continues shrieking at the city in ear piercing tones.
    Castiel can, at least, translate.
    "They say their name is Sabrael... And that this city is corrupt and rotten to the core. Any who can understand them may take their loved ones and cherished ones and flee the city as... They will raze it to the ground if the source of the corruption is not resolved by midnight."
    Castiel is looking very pale right about now. And while the populace of the city are looking VERY on edge about the screeching Virtue over their heads, no one seems to be running as they can't seem to understand it.
    It's right about now that Castiel is shooting a pleading look to the others as the Virtue on high shines a bright beacon of light towards the apparent 'source' of the corruption, the nearby town temple.

Itana throws Illumiel a look of momentary surprise. "You mean it is another angel?"

Castiel is kind enough to call her off. Pursing her lips, the archer lowers the weapon, sliding the arrow back into place. Soon enough, the tiny angel confirms the speculation, and she frowns intently as she looks up to the rotating thing again. She shields her eyes with one hand, trying to give her hood a little help.

As her own personal angel translates, Itana narrows her eyes even more. "Castiel... I do not claim to know angels well. Only two. But I could not see either of you making a demand like that in good conscience. Whatever is behind it...." She trails off, eyes following the source of the light.

Itana lays one hand on Castiel's shoulder, then the other on Illumiel's, giving them a squeeze. "...We can ask about it," she assures, tense, but quiet. "There is a story here. Whatever it is, we should hear from the accused."

    At this point Dante is expecting the entire town to be turned to salt. He scoffs in exasperation, "Hey look, they're biblically accurate for a change!" He says with a laugh. "You know, funny thing about these things, my mom was from a coven of witches who fought things like these!" A glance is shot towards Castiel and Illumiel.

    "No offense to you two. But anyway, Umbra witches would make pacts with demons, which usually involved slaughtering whatever angelic freakshow the heavenly gates could spit at them for centuries. My mom...she got good with that." Dante says with way too much fondness given the subject matter.

    He wonders what Auntie Cereza is up to for a moment.

    "Anyhoo~ before we either let the town get turned to enough salt to make the average McDonald's capable of lasting for a hundred years or we go slaying angels. Let's go figure out what this corruption business is about, eh?"

    Oh dear. "Well corruption can spread to make all the data corrupt, but I think that's a little premature!" She huffs, hands on her hips. Then she blinks and her eyes focus again. "Also, we have to save these people!"

    Whoops. That pesky First Law kicked in suddenly, didn't it?

    "And if we don't find it, I guess we can do what my brother would do... and shoot the thing until it gives up!" She pauses, then gets a worried look. "But there's more than one eye to shoot on this big thing, does that mean it's really weak or only one of them is the one to shoot?"

    On hearing the demands of the very biblical being above, Hyouka Kiyama's eyes narrow slightly. "Raze it to the ground. And kill everyone here. Including any children, who would be completely innocent of any wrongdoings.

    The cyborg's fingers curl into fists... and then, without a word, the snap-clunk-clatter-clang of her massive smashfists fills the air. None of her usual 'activation phrase'; the immense gauntlets just assemble themselves in place around her forearms, and begin to crackle with faint, occasional arcs of purple electricity. "I think we're going to go 'resolve the source of the corruption', yes," Hyouka says, her tone serious - borderline angry. "And if that doesn't satisfy it, I'm going to punch an angel until it goes away, or I do." DARGN is, surprisingly enough, silent for once.

    Illumiel casts off her mortal guise, little wings sprouting from her blonde hair, and a silver breastplate forming on her chest. She releases Castiel's hand, and strides toward the temple illumiated(heh) by the 'Virtue' above. "Let us investigate, then." she says, looking to Itana. "Stay behind me. You are not weak, but your skills suit a longer distance than mine."

    Right about now Castiel is looking INCREDIBLY pale. Paler than she was just moments ago as she casts a harried look over her shoulder to Itana when the nomad gives her that squeeze.
    "I would much prefer we not fight them." She says in regards to the Virtue railing at the town. That is directed to Hyouka and Dante.
    "There is something so very wrong about this, but I do not know what." She sighs, offering Itana a very sad look.
    She's going to have to explain Sodom and Gomorra at some point isn't she?
    Hopefully not right this second though as Illumiel sheds her guise and starts going right for the temple. "A-ah- sister wait...!"
    For her part, Castiel remains in her human guise as the party begins to move towards the temple.
    To Roll's question, the poor girl just looks BAFFLED.
    See, Castiel is a protector, not a fighter. She wouldn't know anything about attacking weak points for massive damage, or exploiting weapon weaknesses like Metal Man being super weak to... His own weapon.
    The temple itself is resplendent with sun iconography though and the doors are open and wide, as there is a service going on right this moment.
    It seems to be an ordinary temple to some kind of sun god, and the high priest calls for the sacrifices to be brought forth just as the group arrives.
    The sacrifices are brought forth. Several doves, a lamb, an oxen. ... And a young, bound, man are brought into line as the priest sharpens his blades.
    Right about when he spots Illumiel.
    "Behold! How they come to stop our worship with their so called messengers and angels!" The priest decries, earning a LOT of turned heads.

Itana nods back to Illumiel simply. "You know more about heaven than I do anyway," she concedes. Truly, Itana is not the theologian of the bunch.

With no disguise to shed, Itana just looks between the pair of angels, then back at Dante. One hand moves to the arch of her hip. "I have a feeling that it would not be easy to fight a thing that came out of the sun. But I also do not ascribe holiness to things that come from above and threaten doom upon the innocent."

Soon enough, the group has ascended to the temple. With brows knit, Itana shakes her hood back and lets her hair fall free. The splendor of the place offends her in a way she finds hard to put her finger on.

Maybe it's the young man being brought to the altar. Itana opens her mouth slightly and moves her hand --

Stops herself. Remembers who she's with. Looks at Castiel with a bite to her lower lip.

"We are investigating, not stopping anything right now," she says instead, moving to rest a hand on Illumiel's shoulder as though to stop her. "We are visitors in this place. We beheld an apparition from the sun and came seeking answers."

    It's rare to see Hyouka this tense, this angry. But anyone who's known her long enough has probably figured out by now what set it off - especially after her words regarding the angel's plans.

    Walking into the temple and seeing a young-ish human sacrifice brought out - adult, yes, but only barely so - doesn't do anything to improve her mood. As they're pointed out, the pseudo-elf's eyes are hardening, and the crackles of lightning around her gauntlets are getting more frequent, brighter, with the DraCor Engine's rising output.

    She glances sidelong towards Itana, then looks back at the priest, and shakes her head. "She doesn't speak for me. Before we go any further, that boy gets untied and let out of here, alive and unharmed. That is non-negotiable. I will carry him out of here myself if I have to, and I don't think any of you want to see what happens if you try to stop me."

    As if to illustrate the point, she lifts up one massive FISTEAU unit, and the lines of purple mana brighten.

    Dante is fully aware of Sodom and Gomorra. He eyes Roll with some degree of curiosity and confusion. Why's she so familiar to him? Maybe it was just a game he played, or a manga he read while extremely drunk one night.

    NOT THAT KIND OF MANGA, you degenerate!

    The temple makes Dante think these people got in trouble for worshipping the wrong god, and the priest addressing them gets a steely gaze from Dante. "Dunno about you guys, but when human sacrifice gets brought out that generally earns a no from me, padre." He says, before drawing Ivory from her holster and cocking the hammer back. "So let the twink go and nobody gets a bullet between the eyes.

    Ignore the fact that Dante and the youth are around the same age, probably.

>> SUMMARY[Dante] >> Release the twink and nobody gets hurt.

    Oh dear, this is not good for Roll at all! The moment she sees the animals, she's worried. The moment she sees the young man, it's tripping all sorts of circuits that tell her to do something! Unfortunately, the others with said man are also human, leaving her briefly staring and unable to actually answer any of the weird looks or questions directed her way until she kicks herself out of her freeze.

    With the same polite, friendly smile, the blonde waves an arm. "Excuse me!" She calls out. "I'm afraid I'm not able to allow a human to come to terminal harm! I really shouldn't allow humans to come to harm at all, but in the case of subdual I AM allowed to knock all of you out... I'd just really prefer not to! Could you please let the young man go? This is really causing problems with my priorities!"

    Always try negotiation first.

    "You thin---" Illumiel starts, when Itana's hand lands on her shoulder. She's halfway into taking a step and drawing one of the many assorted 'weapons' hanging from her belt. There's a fire poker, a couple of lengths of pipe, fit for the hand. A crowbar, and that Actual Sword from the guard of the town she was found it... but the nomad cools her rising ire, even though she eyes the tied up human sacrifice and is just as irate about it as Hyouka and Dante... maybe even more-so. "The Virtue called this a corrupt place. I am beginning to agree with it."

    Investigating, Itana says... As Hyouka and Dante *very pointedly* make their demands known.
    At least Roll is polite...
    But the consensus of the party is that the young man must be freed.
    The high priest flusters, bristling in the face of Hyouka's massive fists and Dante flat out pulling a gun to a sacrifical knife fight.
    "You walk into Helio's temple and expect your demands to just be made like that!" He bellows. "This is the day of our yearly sacrifice and you disrupt things! That 'messenger' outside has been screeching loud enough to wake the dead and..."
    Well even Roll is saying she'll subdue him if the boy isn't let go.
    Rubbing his temples- the sides of his head not the building, for clarity's sake- he huffs.
    With a motion to another clergy member, the youth's bindings are cut and wow does he run FAST towards Dante and Hyouka for cover.
    "Helio will not forget this." The priest says scowling. Your sins will be your undoing."
    This is about when Castiel pokes her head in around the doorway as the light shining down from the angel outside begins to fade.
    It's still screeching though.
    "I think they are satisfied... For now." Castiel mumbles.

Itana throws Hyouka a sidelong glance. "I *was* trying to get us through this without a fight," she murmurs, shoulders sagging slightly.

Threats prove to be the best diplomacy. Itana presses her lips together and looks off to one side, then back. "You sacrifice a human yearly?" she questions, eyebrows curving sharply.

Castiel, at least, can translate the angelic shrieking into something coherent. Itana doubles back towards the little guardian angel with a low sigh, moving to rest a hand on her shoulder again. She looks out as the light begins to wane, expression difficult to read in a moment of considering silence.

"This all seems so odd," she murmurs.

    "Helio can bring complaints straight to me," Hyouka replies with an irritable tone and a deep scowl. "There's a huge angel outside threatening to wipe this town off the map for corruption." The crackling finally subsides around her gauntlets when the young man moves to take cover behind herself and Dante. So she plants her massive fists... well, in some semblance of 'on her hips', anyway, and continues. "I'd like to know what the hell it is you're doing that could lead to that thing out there-" This said as the angelic light from outside begins to fade, "-threatening to kill everyone in this town, children included."

    She side-glances at Itana, then replies with a soft, "If we couldn't get that young man out of here without a fight, I'm entirely fine with fighting. I don't mind beating the tar out of people who are okay with human sacrifice, especially someone who's just barely old enough to drink."

    "Helio can remember this." Dante stows Ivory and flips the priest the bird. Such an uncouth half-devil. But then again he's walking blasphemy to most religions, he's used to it. Weirdly he doesn't feel much of a sizzle from this church.

    Says something about the faith of these guys.

    He gives the youth a glance, as if to reassure him without a word.

    "I dunno, these guys don't seem like they'd be much of a fight. Gimme a devil to beat on."

    Illumiel's voice falls silent. Her eyes burn with righteous fury, but Hyouka's got the more eloquent way of wording it, so she just stands there, headwings fluttering angrily.

>> SUMMARY[Illumiel] >> Goose go honk.

    Roll blinks with soft clicks. She isn't... quite sure what is going on, fully, but her logic circuits are making connections based on what the priest said and that the angel is rushing off when the priest is giving up.

    "... hey, I think the priest was the corruption!" Oops, did she say that out loud?