World Tree MUSH

Tourbillion, the Clockwork City. Many would claim it was the heart of Victoria's ongoing Industrial Revolution and the urban landscape certainly shows it, even if they haven't been able to entirely replace the use of steam and coal with their clockpunk advocations. Yet.

But what kept the industrial city running like literal clockwork? It was a network of lines and Babbage computing devices, precision tuning and clattering calculations, that all eventually lead to the grand clocktower rising at the center of the city. One giant timepiece to keep all the other interlocking systems running, ensuring there is never a break too long, a shift too short, or that machinery shuts down for no reason.

But today, time froze. No, that's not clever word play, as a side of the top of the clocktower has been literally coated in a thick layer of ice from the airship hovering upon rotors and aether thrusters near it. It hasn't entirely stopped the tower itself, but it certainly paused the visible clock face. The Polar Vortex in itself is unique to only one pirate captain, enough of a reputation on it's own to send up alarms across the city and likely to places beyond.

Someone needs to find out what exactly it is the infamous Captain Rimehart is up to!

Raven had been... surprised by such a strange world. It was so methodical. So... Nice. Everything seemed to follow a balance. Obey rules. So she was actually having a nice ,relaxing walk. Looking at all the different sights and...

Then yelling. She looked up and... O... kay. An airship. She hovered up and up into the air, gloating as her cloak billowed around her. She floated up to the ship, hovering over it... Her cloak billowing in the wind as her eyes glowed from under the hood. "... Do... you mind. You should not steal things that do not belong to you. And I am certain this would constitute as theft."

... Should she try to stop her? I mean, a part of her felt she should. Buuuut... It was.... Not really her problem. And shje was alone. And this person had a ship. And it was a differed country... It wasn't really her problem, was it?

You know, Tekno had thought this would be easy. The papers he had recovered from the pirate queen, since she actually honored her word when he beat her in that race...Sort of...Anyway regardless, they'd led him here. Well outside of his usual territory, but he was following the clues. Which meant following the money, it would seem.

The rocket wearing vigilante was in an office building downtown. Two guards lay unconcious near the door as he tossed the place. He wasn't a very SUBTLE detective, but he could get the job done. That's of course when all the commotion outside starts. He moves to the window, peering out of it, "Damnit. What is she up to now?" He asks, to nobody but himself. He has to stop her...Or at least try. Hopefully that weird beast thing wasn't around this time..

As he started to head for the door, something caught his eye. A button under the desk he had missed. He hit it, and a painting opened, with a safe behind it, "No time to crack it.." He muses, as he looks back out the window at the Polar Vortex...And gets an idea.

A few moments later, the window to the office shatters outwards as Tekno jets into the sky, a chain dragging the wall safe behind him as he soars towards Renya's ship.

The city is paying Temulin, which means she's got no qualms whatsoever about dealing with this aerial assault. She's been patrolling the skies upon the back of her giant bird of prey, and it's hard not to notice the event when it happens, and thus the dark knight heads over. On the way over, she notices Raven and gives the sorceress a thumbs up.

Then up to the airship, Temulin chooses to fly low above the decks. Her bird pulling its wings together and entering a rolling dive. At the same time, the dark knight's blade is wreathed in her magic, and swung right when the bird's flight leaves her upside down, trying to disrupt the crew in the hope that this will help deal with the ice.

Raven floating into the air on its own gets a few gawks and gasp of surprise from the streets she left behind, but most of the attention is still on the airship looming over the tower and the havok it's caused with the central clocktower. As the cloaked girl rises a platform would come into view with several anthromorphs in various forms of pirate attire standing in it. Behind them is a arcway, on the other side a pair of raccoons visible though they don't seem to be paying attention to much outside. One of them has a wrench to the machinery, while the other is shooting a pair of axe-guns off to the side. There's also a flash of white movement... but then the largest of the pirates outside, a bear and a goat, move closer to abstruct the view.

"The Cap'n do as she pleases!" The bruin doesn't carry any visible weapons, but when you already have claws like daggers who needs to?
The goat on the other hand squints at Raven with his good unpatched eye. "How ye do-o-o-oing that lass?" he bleats through his moustache as he actually creaps closer. That she's floating doesn't seem to bother him, how is a curiousity.
"Don't get distracted ya old goat!" growls the bruin, getting a stink eye of his own in return.

"Oh what are ye bloody gloots gettin' on about out there?!" comes an annoyed shout from the archway as Renya saunters out of it, only to stop as the scene. Her tail flicks a few times, followed by a facepalm. "What kinda lousy guards are ye, chattin' when ye should be--"
"But she's floating! Without wings or nuttin!" the goat grates, waving his hands in Raven's direction.

Temulin makes her bizarre flyby maneuver over the Polar Vortex's main deck. Giant flying things aren't a strange sight to sky pirates, it's when it flips over to reveal the woman weilding the eerie blade that gets a few heads turned. Then scattering for cover as the blade scrapes across the top of the deck. Oooh, captain isn't going to like that very much! When she gets back at least. Looks like the crew up here is just the mooks keeping the airship stable while all the important mates are down on the tower.

Raven nodded. "Indeed. I am using magic, I haven't been invited into the tower, so I felt it wouldn't be very polite to assume," she said as she floated there. "If you would prefer, I would be happy to come over. But I would like to discuss your... theft? Assault? Destruction? Of the clock tower. It seems to be important to these people. So would you be willing to just... Not?" she asked. Shedid give Temulin a small wave and then... The girl cut into the ship. Huh. Should she help?

She shrugged and walked onto the tower, glancing to Renya and... Bowing her head politely. "Hello. Is... this your assault? I'd really refer if we could discuss this. Without violence?" she offered with a small smile. "If we cannot well... I believe Temulin will very much destroy your ship."

The rocket propelled safe tears through the air, flying towards the clock tower aand the flying ship. Tenko angles upwards, however, taking himself and the safe above the ship. He's got two ideas in mind. One involves that beast from last time, and the other involves just dropping this thing from a really high altitude and seeing what happens.

Temulin would appreciate what Raven was doing a lot more if it didn't come from Raven's weakne--pacifism, but she's smart enough to realize that the real target isn't this ship. It's the people on the tower, and thus she redirects her mount, using the dive she was already on to fall beneath the platform Renya and crew are standing on, then arcing upwards to let her jump from the beast's back in a ballistic trajectory that should get her landing right on top of the platform. Blade wrapped in magic again as she strikes at the goat with her landing.

The mention of 'magic' gets almost everyone on the platform except Renya to creep back from Raven a bit. It's less fear and more... just not quite sure what to make of that. Typically witches are a lot older and a LOT uglier than Raven appears to be, which to some extent actually makes it weirder. Or maybe weirder that someone is actually trying to talk.

Which the girl does, pleading at Renya to stop her hijinks. Even as the vixen looks up for a moment, watching as the crazy on the giant bird hacks at her ship, and catching a glimps of a familiar rocket trail approaching from the distance. That for whatever reason makes her smirk a little. She likes seeing the bits of trail she leaves coming to bear.

A loud cranking and the clatter of metal against other materials rings from behind her, followed by a "GOT IT!" and a sizable gear rolling out of the doorway. It's not until it teeters to a stop though that it becomes apparent why it was being removed, as etchings in the sides amongst the teeth can be seen glowing faintly. It's followed out by a pair of raccoons, one female and the other male. The latter grabbing the former and pulling her back again as the bird swoops down. "Incoming!"

"Wha-AAAAAH!" The abrupt blade slams into the goat, in turn slamming him backwards against the outside of the tower as he's easily tossed by the blow being the creaky old goat that he is. That seems to get kicked around a lot by various interveining do-gooders.

Renya on the other hand just takes a step gracefully out of the way, rather unphased. She watchs for a moment with a hint of bemusement, then tosses her head back with a laugh rather rautious. "Oh, ye landlubbers be amusing! I ain't here to steal it.. well yes, I kinda am, but it's not for me."

Raven would probably be the first to feel it, a distinct otherworldliness that stands out against the mostly industrial surroundings. Others might hear the sound of something scraping and grinding off to the other side of the platform opposite the gathering. A gnarled hand grabs onto the edge, pulling a gastly visage up over it

And then falling back off as Renya pulls a glock sized flintlock out of her coat and turns to shoot it without even looking. But several more of the creatures are climbing over the edge now. Everyone here knows what the undead is, right? Of course, undead pirates are totally a thing. But these aren't just undead in via dark magic, they seem to be animated by the clusters of gears and brass fittings jutting randomly out of their bodies, at joints, or replacing other appendages like you'd see a hook hand or pegleg.

The smaller gun is put away so Renya can draw her main weapon, the calisaber's blade extending. The male raccoon moves to herside, hitting the clockwork reloaders on his axe-bladed muskatoons, while his sister slings a shield made from an old furnace grate off her back.

"I'm keeping it from -those-!"

Granted that doesn't really change that Renya is, technically, still kind of stealing the clearly not normal gear.

Raven blinked a few times. "Then who are you trying to steal it for? Could a different time peace be... Oh..." she mumbled, stepping towards the gear. "Arcane arts, I take it? A defensive barrier, or perhaps a--"

And then skeletons! She blinked a few more times and stopped. She held out her right hand as dark magic gathered into it, forming a small cloud.

"I see, would you be willing to explain what exactly it is? Or... Well. I would love some time to decipher it." Arrows of darkness shot out, slicing through a few of the skeletons and tearing them apart, sending gears scattering. "Azarath... Metrion... ZINTHOS!" She'd then hold her left hand out and darkness would shoot out... Surrounding the gear in a barrier of dark magic. It would stop the skeletons from getting into it for now... But also stop others unless they broke it. Oh dear...

        A few hours earlier, the enforcer of the Polar Vortex was given clear instructions: 'Wait and see if these undead monsters show up, and if they do, focus on -them-. If Rocket boy shows up? ... Behave for a little while and leave him alone. The freaks are more important.' 

    Sure, Vex wasn't pleased to have to allow outsiders in -their- sky, but for Renya Rimeheart, the chimera would do anything. Shockingly, the creature wasn't circling high above, instead she had been roosted inside a dark building a few blocks away, not truly caring for the use of it during the week. She had forced her way in, and now that these undead critters were starting to swarm, she was quickly showing her way out. 

    With little to be heard, except a very loud blast of thrust from her aether-burning wings, Vex shoots by with an arm out, snatching at least one of the zombies from the building, smashing it into its kin to knock all of them off the structure before just dropping the last one. Afterward, she vanishes off into the maze of buildings, weaving through the buildings as she starts to come around for a second pass. 

    Tekno is given a long, angry glare when he's spotted, but she doesn't seem concerned with the rocket-vigilante. . . For now.

The old saying goes, no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Well that saying holds true, because spotting the clockwork pirates...No not those ones, the other ones. The skeletal ones. Tekno shifts, cutting off his engines aand letting his momentum bring the safe up to him.

Grabbing hold of it, he turns and angles back down, towards one of the biggest clockwork zombies, and fires his jets again. Like a meteor screaming out of the sky, the armor clad vigilante rockets down, releasing the safe and the chain on a bombing run of sorts.

Thankfully with enough force to break open the safe, though the only thing inside is a strange looking golden rod. Tekno grabs it and shoves it into his courier pouch, he'll deal with whatever it is later. Now that he's on the ground, he has to focus on the issue at hand. His arms come up, and the gaunlets open to fire a spray of projectiles. Like a shotgun blast, but each pellet bursting into a cold mist that'll freeze a target in it's tracks.

"While I appreciate that you are trying to keep it from them." Temulin answers Renya calmly, though if looks could kill Renya would already be dead, "But the fact of the matter is that the city is paying me to ensure that nobody takes it. That includes your crew." She points her blade towards the pirate, "If you fail to cease and desist your attempts to seize it, I must needs intervene."

Thus, the sky nomad stays on the platform near Renya and immediate crew, but at least gives the pirate a chance to abide by this demand, and while she's at it, she strikes at the limbs of those undead climbing over the ledge, more interested in sending them tumbling down than ensuring they're dead for the time being.

The clockwork zombies are practically climbing over each other to get onto the platform, either not realizing or not caring that it makes them easier to take out in clusters. The ones hit by Raven's dark projectiles quite literally explode as whatever her magic is counteracts whatever magitecks are keeping the things moving. Several more are sent toppling off the edge as their limbs are severed from their bodies by the offworlder with the sword. Vex turns one against their own using it like a bludgeon to swat several down.

A much larger abomination climbs up behind the others, this one even sporting exhaust pipes jutting out of it's shoulders. "Captain, watch yer back!" Magnum steps in, unloading several shots into the juggernaught with his guns... Only to stop and stare a moment as a safe slams into the hulk and sends it crashing back off the edge. "What the bloody hell?"
"That's the bloke the Cap'n was talkin' bout luv," Maven returns, using her shield to block several of the smaller zombies trying to swarm in on them.

"Focus on the important thing lass!" Renya just huffs softly at the threat, even as she impales one on Frostbite's blade and then pulls the trigger to unload several shots that cause spikes of ice to burst out of it's back and tear it apart. If she wasn't busy she'd possibly give Tekno a dirty look for also using some kind of freezing weapon. That's her shtick around here!

"It's enchanted. Don't know quite what beyond that." Having more than enough experience in holding a conversation in middle of a fight Renya answers Raven admist her graceful gunblade fighting. "But these clockwork bilgerats are attracted to 'em." So there's more than one? "Gold hoggin' blighter industrials didn't know what they had when they used it as part of the tower." Or maybe did and didn't care.

The black magic shield does kinda settle the matter with Temulin for her... Not that Renya seems to be too upset.

The action was more important than the results in this case.

Raven glanced to Renya, frowning and... "Temulin!" she called out. "She's telling the truth! Whatever it is... it's drawing these creatures," she said before walking forward. The dome of dark magic blocked others out... But not her. Almostl ike it was her magic or something. She'd kneel down and put a hand on the gear and... "Azarath metrion zinthos rakashas enderez vaserik vosolin..." she chanted as she put her hands together and stood over it. Dark energy moved over the gear... Only to evaporate a moment later.

She stepped back and then, slowly, nodded. "Temulin, it may be better for your job to get it out of here and cope with it later. As this thing is dangerous and, even worse, is in the middle of a city crowded with people," she said before the dome partially melted. The half that faced the undead remained, but the other half was open to allow them to take it out.

    It takes a little bit, buildings being in the way, for Vex to find the main way back towards the clocktower. Following the road toward the structure again, Vex's claws hammer into the building as she latches on and starts to go to work knocking more than just a few off from a little below the platform. Seems the others will have to deal with the Big One themselves.

Tekno's not afraid to bust out the more lethal equipment when it comes to zombies and monsters...After freezing all those around him, he jets back off into the air. He needs to take this thing out at the base, they're climbing all over each other to get to the platform.

Swooping around, he flies alongside the group, firing several micro missiles down into the base of the pile, to bring down as many of the clockwork zombies as he can. If he can take the base of the pile down, maybe the ones above will topple down.

"Look, I'm being paid to do a job. I don't just abandon my job, it'd reflect poorly on me. One moment." She presses a pearl on her ear and asks politely, "Temulin Dotharl speaking. Tactical situation seems to have changed. We must needs evacuate the gear, pray confirm approval of mission parameter adjustment as soon as possible." She states out loud, making sure others can hear her too. She then turns towards the big one, sending a bolt of dark magic flying towards it. "Raven, keep protecting it for now and prepare to move it, but don't actually move it until I have confirmation."

Maven just happens to glance back as Raven is fussing over the scribed gear and calling her allie to carry it off. "Cap'n, they're gonna make off with the gear."
"Let em. Things bloody cursed anyways." Renya retorts, and then pauses and squints at something. Followed by taking a few steps back. "Someone grab the ol' scapegoat and get back to the ship." Time to clear out the unneeded extra crewmen. "Cover them." Renya nods towards Raven and Temulin, and while they look a little confused Maven and Magnum back up to do so. "Guess she wanted the goodies to do the heavy liftin' all along." "Yeah, she's like that. Not like they'd listen to her ask politely." Which pretty much sums up the entire plan. If she was paying attention Renya wouldn't even object to Temulin getting permission to move the runed gear. The city will just have to find a not-cursed one.

Renya crouchs for a moment, and then just as Vex and then Tekno make their passes to tear into the lower portions of the zombie climber horde, coattails and scarf fluttering behind her. "~ Define your meaning of war. To me it's what we do when we're bored." Her foot catchs the edge of the platform and with a mighty kick she leaps off, breifly throwing back her arms with weapon still in one hand much like she was taking a high dive. "I feel the heat comin' off the blacktop and it makes me want it more."
"Because I'm hyped up, outta control; if it's a fight I'm ready to go. Wouldn't put my money on the other guy if you know what I know that I know..." Then abruptly she twists and grabs her calisabre with both hands to thrust it into the stacked horde, and for the first time that night there's an actual scream. Renya digs her heals into random zombies around her and heaves back, to pry a much more elaborate looking clockpunk zombie out of the pile even as he's struggling to avoid freezing from her weapon's effect, causing her to start falling again but backwards this time.

That quickly changes though as she fires her grappler back at the tower's side. "It's been a long time coming, and the table's turned around. Cuz one of us is goin'..." As soon as the grapple catchs it yanks her away as Renya pulls her weapon free, leaving only the zombie to continue falling until he hits the pavement below, his clockworks shattering from the cold wrath of Frostbite.

"One of us is goin' down~"

Load bearing boss, the core of the horde, call it what you want. He must of had some exherting force over the horde, as shortly after he's shattered the rest of the swarm starts to tumble away from the tower, falling apart as they go. Like whatever was animated them had just died out.

    The chimera can hear what's going on up above. A lot of talking, the familiar sounds of Renya fighting, but when the Big Guy is knocked out and all the other little scrubs start falling away, Vex actually looks disappointed. "How utterly boring," she mutters, possibly loud enough for people on the platform to hear, before her hindlegs shove her frame off the building and she heads upward, a blast of fiery aether from her wings rocketing her toward the Polar Vortex.

Raven kept the barrier up until the... Zombies began to decompose and collapse. Oh. It was... done then? Or would they rebuild themselves? Would a new one come? Either way, for the time being, it wasn't. Instead, she was able to relax... The barrier disappeared...

And she pulled out a book and pen. She then began to copy the runes. Oh my gosh, seriously? Well, the danger was passed. And she was curious about all this, what it was that had drawn therse in. She wanted to see what they were, see if she could find more... So for now they just had a bundle of blue cloak with two white eyes sticking from under the hood, doodling besides the gear.

With the zombies dealt with, and the chimera not coming after him, Tekno decides now is a good time to book it out of here. After all, he has a presumably important clue that he needs to figure out what it is and what it does if he's ever going to unwravel the mystery of what's going on in his home city. Besides, he wants to get out of here before Vex changes her mind and comes at him.

"Got it." And with that, Temulin pulls out a whistle, which lets out a very distinctive bird-like call, and jumps off the tower. Soon after, she lands near the gear along with the bird she's now riding, and throws out a set of long, sturdy ropes. "Pray help me fasten these." She asks Raven, and begins to form loops and knots around the gear, each end of rope connected to the saddle.

Well, what's done is done. "We probably should get out of here before the local authorities show up to help." "Did what the Captain wanted, though." The Twins stow their weapons and the pirates make a hasty hike up the icy coating of the tower side to get back to their own airship as the Polar Vortex starts to pull away from it. The ice will thaw. Eventually. Not their problem to worry about.

Renya never comes back up to the platform of course. But if someone was to look out into Tourbillion they'd probably catch a glimps of the wily vixen parkouring away to to find a place for her ship to pick her up.

Raven had finished her copy and then... Glanced to Temulin. She just stared at her with mirth filled eyes. Then her eyes widened. "Wait. You're serious? Ah ha. No," she said flatly. "It's your job, after all. I only helped because I was investigating." Oh, right. Goth girl too good to tie ropes.

She then turned towards Renya and... Flew after them, fliding along the air to them. She moved besides the captain and... "I would very much like to talk with you. I'm curious how you knew about this dark magic, that it was here. If you have some time?"

The response Raven gets is very simple, "Oh I'm terribly sorry princess, I thought you were a simply a coward, not lazy on top of that." Her tone is full of ice, "Is there anything you are good for?" Now that is unfair, and Temulin knows it; but in the moment she is furious at Raven's lack of aid. "This is a two-man job, now stop acting like a princess and finish what you started."

Renya Rimehart moves across the skylines like she knew precisely where she was going. One would almost think she'd spent a lot of time vaulting ducts and grinding pipe rails across Tourbillion...

That's neither here nor there though. Eventually a few well timed wall-jumps gets her up atop one of the higher buildings to wait for her crew to send a pick-up.

To her credit she doesn't jump when Raven abruptly appears nearby, doing a job of following her that no normal person could ever acomplish. Then again, normal people have to do annoying things like actually run and climb. "You really wanna know, lass?" She gives a general wave back in the direction of the looming clocktower. "That ain't exactly normal shite, after all." She.. doesn't really know who she's talking to, forgive her for being a bit doubtful.

Raven stopped. And froze. Did she just call her PRINCESS?! She turned back to Temulin, her eyes glowing red. "FINE! Perhaps if it's a two man job you should have a woman do it. Azeroth metrion ZINTHOS!

With those words, darkness wrapped around the ropes, binding them to the gear... Well, that was ea--

And then she lifted the gear up and tossed it ON Temulin,, or where she was. Her eyes reverted to normal. "I hope that helps, 'cupcake'," she said before glancing to Renya. "I see. And how did you know that gear was there, or what effects it had? You must have had some inside knowledge, correct? Or were you hired?"

Temulin, for her part, is not pleased with that response. Oh she catches the gear, and this isn't pleasant for her, but she sets it aside for a moment and darkness flows from her as she glares at Raven with eyes to match hers, gets on her bird, takes off a gauntlet, and flies straight towards Raven. "That was a mistake." And then she does the one thing she knows damn well she shouldn't do, reach out to grasp Raven's shoulder and try to let that unbridled anger and fury be felt.

Renya Rimehart barks out a laugh. "I like ye style lass. Maybe ye'll heed hearin' better than the uptight, stuffed collar hypocrits--" she stops from going into a more thorough reply, her ears actually laying back a bit. Less at the loudness and more at the intent within those raised voices. "--Buuut I think ye be havin' matters shortly."

Renya knows went to make a hasty retreat and not get into the middle of matters that aren't going to doing her or her well being any good. But not before slipping one of the encoded gold dubloons she uses as a calling card into Raven's hand. Gives her a wink, and takes a few steps back to remove her hat and bow. Before promptly stepping over the edge of the roof and disappearing again.

That's her equivilent to 'talk later'.

Raven took the coin and nodded, it disappeared into her cloak...

 She didn't realize what Temulin was going to do. If she had, she would have stopped her. She turned around a second before and... "WAIT!" but it was too late. The touch.

And all that anger. That hate. It just... Flowed into her. She screamed and stumbled back and then...Darkness flowed around her, and there was no other word for it. She screamed as her powers cannibalized her. As she was dragged into them, the darkness enveloping her and dragging her in. Within seconds... she was gone. And there was nothing but a pool of blackness....

And then it rose up. It looked like raven... Except her robe was red. And all four of her eyes were glowing red. But worst of all? Was that feeling of raw power. Normally Raven seemed to restrain it and while it felt dark, it never felt evil.

But this? This felt evil... And the laughter that came from her was cold and merciless, that of a demon. She smiled at Temulin... "Thank you. I *really* needed that to tip the odds." There was the caw of the raven and then... She was gone.

Oh. Oh dear...

And around then, Temulin regains her senses and she looks at what she has wrought. "Thal's balls." She curses. Welp. She's going to have to talk to people about this later, but for now, she has a job to finish. Thus, she finishes tying the ropes towards the saddle and flies off, in quiet and with a worried look on her face.