World Tree MUSH

    "Orders recieved, General." states Stelle, arms folding over her chest.

    "This is no order, honoured guests. I am merely stating what needs to be done, should you wish to help us." replies Jing Yuan with a gentle smile.

    March tilts her head, "You've never seen us as outsiders, really, have you General?"

    Jing Yuan chuckles again. "We can discuss these and other matters more later... for now," he turns to look at the Foxian, "Miss Tingyun, I would like for your to continue your duties as a guide for our Outworld friends."

    Tingyun seems a little perplexed, but bows in acquiescense. "O-Of course General... I am duty-bound." she replies.

    As the group gear up to depart, there are several people to speak to, should they wish. Jing Yuan remains in his hologram. Qingque is off to one side going through her Celestial Jade tiles, likely planning her next game. Tingyun is staring longingly at the Ambrosial Arbor that can just barely be seen from this vantage, and Fu Xuan waits patiently for everyone to gather up.

    Jessica will of course check her ammunition levels and the various weaponry she has. It's too bad Rebecca was frozen on the ice planet or something and will never be seen again.

    That doesn't take long, though, and after a bit, she wanders over to tug Tingyun back down from tumbling over the edge again. "Why are you so interested in that, anyway? It's very big but..." This is a bit weird, to her.

    "Oh so we're going on ahead then?" Clara says. That seems to be the plan if the group is going to take on the spearhead of the operation.
    "... Soooooo... How are we going to seal this one?"
    Svarog is silent for a moment.
    "Statistically speaking," he begins, "There will likely be a large and aggressive lifeform that will need to be defeated."
    "You can't just say something is statistically bound to happen just because it happened that one time, Mister Svarog!"
    "I can hypothesize."

    Bi De is ALWAYS ready! Or, well, as ready as he can be here. A few minutes of rest is pretty nice, actually. The bird struts about to get his breathing right, centers his Qi, and then while waiting just perches nearby the Jade Tiles to see what is going on there. He isn't a mystic, but at least he's seen stuff like this before.

    Svarog's statement makes him twitch. "I suppose it is true that every previous time that has happened..."

    Stelle, Welt and March head over to Fu Xuan straight away, they chat with the Master Diviner while the others do their things.

    Tingyun eeps as she's grabbed and pulled back. "O-Oh! This, uh... you're a short-life species, you wouldn't understand if I told you." she answers a bit sheepishly.

    Qingque glances at the rooster, then starts explaining the suits for each tile, how each 'hand' works, and the different ways to win a match... the rules seem very similar to Majong, though that's also probably not something he's familiar with either.

    Fu Xuan sighs, "A step forward bridges no distance hence... Ugh, the Hexagram was right." she grouses, "The Ambrosial Arbor was felled thousands of years ago... now it returns to life. The future of the Xianzhou is difficult to divine."

    Stelle sidles up. "Sorry... Kafka escaped."

    "I had long anticipated it... Pursuing Kafka is a waste of time and effort -- The Matrix of Prescience informed me of her innocence. Our priority is the Ambrosial Arbor."

    "So... about the Artisanship Commission..." ventures Welt, adjusting his glasses.

    "He really is a delegator at heart, isn't he... THere isn't much distance between the Artisanship and Alchemy Commissions -- I'm afraid the former is likely also facing imminent catastrophe." Fu Xuan then raises her voice to catch the attention of the others. "The Starskiff is ready -- I will lead the way."

    Bi De observes, nodding. He doesn't know how to play these games, but he's travelled enough to know OF them well enough. He clucks softly while observing, but then when Fu Xuan mentions that about Kafka, he shakes his head.

    "I am not certain 'innocent' is the right word, but..." His tail fans out. "Very well, I suppose we should continue."

    "We're going to have to deal with the catastrophe aren't we?" Clara asks pouting.
    "Most likely, Clara. That is why we are here." Svarog notes.
    "Yeah but it feels like all we're doing is solving one catastrophe after the other." The silver-haired girl huffs as she idly pats Bi De on the head while watching the totally not Mahjong game until Fu Xuan says it's time to go.
    Too bad about Becca getting frozen on the ice planet. She really would have made this lively.
    Probably by a lot of cussing and shooting things up.

    "That isn't normal?" Jessica asks, of what Clara said. "When I was working with Rhodes Island more, we dealt with a lot of catastrophes! They had an entire procedure for it!"

    She pauses, "Then again, I guess that was kind of the job, wasn't it?"

    "Innocent of the crimes we arrested her for... the other crimes she may be guilty of are not relevant." replies Fu Xuan to Bi De. The tiny Diviner turning once everyone's ready, and leads the way through to the waiting Starskiff... it's on the far side of the area, so they have to walk through the local Cloud Knight garrison area. Plenty of men, women and all Xianzhou races in the blue and white armour of the Cloud Knights. Some glance over, but most are preparing for the coming battles.

    Once they're at the dock, Fu Xuan speaks up again. "I still have important matters to attend to. GO carefully, all of you." she says, then starts to turn away.

    March speaks up then. "Master Diviner, hold on a second... can you divine our fortunes for us? Is there anything we need to watch out for?" she asks.

    "No need. My omniscia has seen that your journey will be auspicious -- everything will proceed smoothly."
    "March... I'm sure it'll be nothing we can't handle, c'mon!" assures Stelle, grabbing March by the arm and dragging her onto the skiff.

    "If you do not believe me, fine. Fate is fickle. It may be best to believe in yourselves than looking to the sky for answers." remarks Fu Xuan before finally leaving.

    Once everyone is aboard, Tingyun takes the controls and guides the Skiff toward the Artisanship Commission... it looms in the distance with large constructs... and a lot of smoke.

    "That's an awful lot of smoke for an auspicious and easy journey," Jessica whines. She moves over to join the others, tail swaying uncertainly, and peer out at the incoming constructs.

    "Does anyone else find this kind of worrying?"

    Clara points a finger at all the smoke.
    "... That... That looks like... Um."
    Svarog finishes her statement for her: "Yes. That is a catastrophe in progress."
    "How is this is going to be auspicious, again?" Clara asks.

    Bi De clucks with a little grumpy noise - not from the headpat, he was fine with that. No, he's agreeing here. "Perhaps the auspiciousness is in how thankful they will be when we arrive. Too often many presume greatness when one is merely dealing with a bad situation."

    He hops up onto the rail, peering forward. "Perhaps it is nothing, but we should be prepared."

    Tingyun brings the skiff in to the docking platform, extending the clamp to keep it in place then the ramp to allow people off.

    There's a large group of people all gathered outside what looks like the main workshop gates. "... The Artisanship Commission delve should have suspended operations as soon as the Corrision began... why haven't these people left on starskiffs already?" asks the Foxian, ears wilting a bit.

    "The Artisanship commission is full of workshops, buildings, state-of-the-art mechanisms and craftsmen designing brand-new concepts... Periodically stirring up trouble is part of the tradition here... entire buildings vanishing into thin air, puppet riots -- engineer stuff."

    "Maybe we should ask around... they seem afraid to go in, but unable to leave either." suggests Stelle, moving to approach one of the Natives closest to the group.

    Clara blinks.
    "Puppet riots?"
    No wait what?
    Clara follows Stelle though to approach one of the locals.
    "Excuse us... Why are you still here?"
    She asks point blank.

    If people aren't screaming and panicking, Jessica isn't going to pull out a gun. She's going to follow the example of Clara and Stelle, looking puzzled with ears splaying to the side. "Is there some kind of problem? It doesn't look like people are all that worried, but... " She gestures at the crowd, backing up Clara's question.

    The first person is a young Native. He's muttering to himself and looking quite distraught. "Master Gonshu... nnngh I won't be able to graduate at this rate..."

    When Clara speaks up, he nearly leaps out of his skin. "WAAHHH!!" taking a moment, he turns and looks. "A-Are you guys with the Cloud Knights? Are you here to save us?" he asks... then takes a proper look... especially at Clara's lack of shoes on cold bare metal. "Your clothes..." he sighs, and rubs the bridge of his nose. "I knew I was getting ahead of myself, --- you're just tourists." He straightens and tries to look a bit more official. "Sorry this crisis came during your trip... I'm sorry it came at all..."

    "General Jing Yuan sent us, actually. We're here to help, so what seems to be amiss?" interjects Welt.

    "... If that's the case, even if it sounds like a joke... if you want to live a bit longer, don't go into the Commission... vines and roots have sprouted all through the Commission, when the giant tree started to grow suddenly. The entire Commission is being consumed... but the worst part is Master Gongshu is still inside! He's the most experienced craftsman in the Commission's smelting works... he's in charge of our research project, and when everything started going to hell, he dragged me, Ziming and Yunche to safety then turned around and ran back inside!"

    "It sounds as if he was indeed a good teacher," Bi De muses. "Protecting his students, he must have thought highly of you." The chicken walks forward, considering the building. "Well, if none else can do this, then perhaps we should. Though moonlight is not the best against plants, I think."

    He glances back. "Shall we enter, then?"

    Clara looks down at her feet. They are bare but she doesn't seem to mind the cold.
    "We're not tourists we're here to solve the problem. ... We were told it was going to be auspicious."
    "That's right, the General sent us." A pause.
    "If there's someone still inside... We should act fast."

    This seems like a good time for Jessica to start unpacking her weapons. "Mmhmm! We're trouble shooters!" She gestures to her pistol, though at least she is maintaining gun safety and keeping it pointed down, since there are a lot of people about. "So I guess the tree is the trouble!"

    She flicks her tail toward Clara, "Let's go shoot it."

    "If... If that's truly the case, take my Jade Seal... you'll need it to open the gate. Oh, my name is Awei, and... if you find my Master, please bring him back safely... if anything were to happen to him... none of us will be able to graduate this year."

    March, Welt and Stelle share a 'WTF?' look, before March takes the seal, and walks off toward the gate.

    There's a few conversations going on as the group passes... many have noted the outsiders, but none approach, or try to stop them.

    March holds the seal up to the gate, which grinds open ominously. Inside, great green-gray roots, vines and whole branches, all bathed in that ghostly green-yellow spirit fire are erupting from various places, disrupting bridges, cracking and fracturing entire platforms, and some even encase whole machines in cage-like grasps.

    "Looks like we've got some gardening work to do..." remarks Tingyun dryly.

    "Maybe I should have called Lappie instead..." Jessica mumbles, looking at her pistol as they step through. "Bullets don't work as well on trees. Unless there's an axe bullet I don't know about."

    Her tail starts swaying as she girds herself up for another adventure... no doubt pondering how she could get axe-bullets.

    Scratching his talons on the ground, Bi De then turns and bows to Awei. "We will do our utmost to bring your teacher back with us. Worry not, we have experience solving... unusual problems."