World Tree MUSH

    In a relatively sedate Blossom, a new discovery has gotten some attention of late. An ancient temple has been (re)discovered, said to house the Apocalypse Golem. What is that? Well, the local region states that they were once ruled over, rather oppressively, but a humanocentric upper class that attempted to stamp out the demihumans in this magical world. Elves, wolfen, dwarves, halflings... you name it, they were hunted like animals. The kingdom created a massive war golem unlike any seen before to aid them in this...

    Until one man, the Serenity Messiah, took control of the golem and turned it against its creators. Legend has it that this rediscovered ruin has the golem sealed within it, where one day it will awaken to see if the followers have lead good lives. The world is heavily religious, preaching acceptance and the like, and has integrated fairly well even with the human worlds. Most of the nearby worlds are of mixed race, like this one, so it has gone very smoothly.

    Until now, where a fierce argument has started regarding whether or not the ruin should even be explored. A small request for help was sent out, of a murky nature, but upon arrival the entire dig is in chaos. It's easy to determine that people are LOOKING for outsiders to go in now... because not too long ago a small group of offworlders forced their way in anyway.

    If there is one way to get Aloy's attention, it is 'rediscovered ruins.' That's a big neon sign for her! Even if these are 'magical' ruins, something she's still a little wary about believing. Not that it exists, after what she's seen, but that every instance of magic is actually magic. This War Golem rumor could just be a robot, right?

    Speaking of robots, Aloy is obviously not a native. When travelling, she actually has a mount... and in this case, that mount is a Broadhead, a giant steer-like mechanical beast that placidly clops along to carry her to the edge of the dig. Dismounting, she tries to find someone who looks to be nominally in charge, while readying her gear. "Sounds like you need someone to go in after them. And bring them back out without harming anything, I assume. Anything we should know before heading in?"

  Following the trail of rumour and speculation wasn't that different. Sometimes new notes would weave their way in, like theological arguments on whether outsiders should explore the ruin, or whether they even had a place being anywhere near something so important.

  So a black robed figure has made its way down the path, on foot, following behind the Broadhead and its rider. They look vaguely familiar, and once Zelda gets close enough, she can confirm by the strange bow that Aloy carries that she's met the hunter before.

  She's as safe a travelling companion as any.

  Various gear clanks and jingles under the robe. An expert ear could pick out the different things -- a quiver of arrows, a sword in its scabbard; the creak of a strung bow. Her features are hidden by the hood and the violet scarf tied around the lower half of her face, but Zelda's eyes are open and intent on her surroundings. This is unfamiliar territory, and unfamiliar is presumed dangerous unless proven otherwise.

  If Aloy should turn around after dismounting, Zelda will raise a hand in silent greeting, travel-worn black gloves hiding her hands.

  She does take a moment to stare at the Broadhead, though. Even with all her features covered like that it's not hard to see that she's regarding the thing in awe and wonder. Now /that's/ something you don't see every day.

    Raylene is far from an expert at riding, but she knows how to keep herself from falling off a horse. This is admittedly the first time she's ridden one herself, but she has inherited memories of doing so! That counts, right? Fortunately, the horse she has is pretty docile, so no disaster happens yet... even if it keeps jerking and acting a little skittish now and then, thanks to the lingering, incorporeal presence of the Horror nearby.

    Of course exploring a ruin is a great idea for her. The young girl has come along dressed much more pracitally than before, at the party. A skirt and a sensible top, at least, though she's not armored or anything. A dagger is at her side, but from the way she's wearing it she can't be depended upon for holding her own.

    Dropping down from her horse, Raylene peers at the mess in the camp. "Oh dear. Amateurs are going to be wrecking the place. Or graverobbing, most likely. What sort of people were they?" She asks that after Aloy... and then she gets to see a familiar face or two, giving a small and polite nod to Zelda and any others she knows.

    "Admittedly, I've never seen an actual apocalypse happen. Usually I help to stop them," she muses. "But I've never been directly in the front lines of one. That's new."

    "Kweh?"
    Okay let it be said, the mechanical beast confused the chocobo still. After spending some time pawing curiously at a dead Scrapper, and now being made to keep up with a broadhead, the fluffy yellow bird still doesn't know what to make of them. Nevertheless, it keeps pace easily enough, and comes to a halt when Aloy stops to dismount.
    Rydia hops off the bird's makeshift saddle and smooths out her robes. "So these are the ruins?" She asks, having gotten a little bit of a primer along the way. "From what you said about what's inside there, it sounds like something people should just leave alone." She murmurs.
    It's Rydia who turns around after dismounting though, Zelda's greeting is met with a long, childish stare, before she tugs on Aloy's leathers. "I think that one wants your attention."

    It's not precisely like anyone had invited Magilou to come and see the ruins, or anything like that. And yet, the self-proclaimed 'witch' was here, and if Aloy were wary about every bit of supposed magic being magic, she'd probably realize that Magilou has not yet done anything, well, magical.

    She's also far too sulky as she shows up, her pointy ears and long blonde hair likely to get her mistaken for an elf if someone is checking for local races. This is entirely due to the horse that she's ridden in order to get out here to the middle of nowhere, and once they seem to be there she'll climb off the thing, wobbling on her feet dramatically. "Oh, I hope there aren't any monsters there. My legs hurt so much, I might have to stay out of the fight!"

    A weird place = fun.
Ruins = fun.

    A rare SSR guest unit has joined the party!
    Remember to buy a guaranteed gacha ticket if you like her!

    That is to say, there is a Vania here, having probably stalked Raylene (if she wasn't brought along wholesale). She pipes up after her, too. "I don't think amateurs like being called that! The word is adventurer!" Is it now? That's probably not entirely wrong, REALLY.

    "Anyway, leaving awesome ruins alone is just awful! They might have cool treasure in them, or things that'll get worse if you don't get to the bottom of them!" That much is generally more accurate.

    Well these certainly qualify as outsiders, don't they? Some give the group a wide berth, others watch curiously. Wariness is about thanks to the earlier incident, and the wooden barriers that were set up are in shambles.

    The woman in charge adjusts her glasses. A surprisingly stocky elf - perhaps halfblooded - eyes Aloy and then the others. "Yes, we do need just that. We don't yet know what is in there, but we were hoping not so much traps and just large doors. I'd be careful but... if it's trapped the two going in didn't seem too subtle."

    She now takes a long look at Zelda, then the others, before answering Raylene's question. "Two of them... women... one with a sword that glowed with a silver-blue flame, and cut through anything. Another with skin black as jet, and with large black-feathered wings. You can see what she did to my younger brother." She gestures to a man tiredly sitting nearby drinking water, who looks about 80 years old. "We couldn't stop them."

    Aloy nods her head several times... and then stops cold, her eyes widening when she hears the description of the two going in. "I don't know who the first one is, but I'm pretty sure I've run into the second before. I owe her." Though not as much as Rydia, whom Aloy looks at with a quick glance to see if she overheard. She's not going to stop the girl from coming along either way, she just wants her to know what's incoming.

    Readying her bow, she calls out, "We'd better head in as soon as possible." She does smile a little at Zelda's fascination with the mechanical beast that... for no particular reason snorts and paws a hoof at the ground. "He's pretty tame if you aren't attacking me. I've overridden the corrupted control codes that was making him hostile. This is how his kind are supposed to act."

    Sighing, she starts for the entrance. "Keep on your toes. Last time we fought the winged woman, she tore apart an entire house like it was nothing. Vania... you can keep an eye out for treasure, but make sure you talk with the rest of us first. We don't want to trigger any traps and lose our princess."

    "I'll be super duper careful!" Vania answers Aloy, which is probably the best she's getting. Her little headwings flap with excitement a few times.

    "Come on bloodkin, race you to the entrance!!"

    Seven adorable bats of various sizes appear around Vania, seemingly out of thin air, and she starts running towards THE RUINS with not a worry to be seen. The seven bats launch after her like this is a weird game of Bloodkin Cart 64. At least there's no weird powerups appearing on the track.

    There's something to be said about heeding warnings and descriptions, and surely that would be wise advice, but it's too late.

  Beneath her hood, Zelda stares at the mechanical beast with something approaching fascination. It's not very dignified, but she's always been curious. Especially towards things that are probably not safe. Maybe it's a legacy of her bloodline. Hyrule's female monarchs seem to be trouble magnets.

  None of that explanation makes any sense to Zelda, but that's okay, because it gives her a few more seconds to silently study the beastie. This thing makes her favourite riding horse feel terribly inadequate. But that's okay, because that horse probably got eaten by a troupe of twilight beasts anyway.

  Zelda shakes herself out of her study and turns, listening in silence. A winged woman, with the power to tear apart a house? That sounds dangerous. Specifically, that sounds like the kind of thing better suited to the Hero of Courage, who is markedly not here, so...

  Twisting, Zelda shrugs the bow that had been hanging over her shoulder off and plucks an arrow from her quiver, somehow managing to do all this despite having the heavy robe hanging over her. It doesn't seem to restrict her freedom of movement; she's able to bring her bow and loosely nock an arrow into place. It is a very normal-looking bow, and a very normal-looking arrow.

  "I see. I am uninterested in treasure, but perhaps--" She pauses a moment as Aloy says 'lose our princess,' and the verbal stumble is probably enough to notice. Zelda clears her throat nervously and continues. "Best we study the details, then, as we move forward. A place so steeped in history and mysteries as this... I doubt it would be unguarded." Her hooded head tilts towards the others, taking stock; Rydia and Raylene are given polite bobs of that hooded head in greeting. Hi again. Magilou and Vania also earn a bob of her head, too.

  The overseer is given a long look. Given her attire, it might seem a little ominous, but her voice is calm and thoughtful. "If there are any monsters, it would be better for me to stay back." She inclines her head towards the bow. Yup.

  Oh look Vania's already charging in.

  Zelda glances back to Aloy, and gestures toward Vania with the end of her bow. She sounds a little worried. "Is that... um... wise...?"

  The unspoken undertone is 'we're gonna die horribly, aren't we?'

    Though Raylene doesn't know anything about Vivian, she does know about ruins and ancient magics. "I have some skill with magical traps, so if we proceed cautiously we should be fine. Unfortunately it sounds like we must make some hast, but perhaps we can find some sort of swift yet not reckless pace to-"

    Aaaand there goes Vania. Oh well. Siiiigh. "... I should have seen that coming. Very well, we should follow." With a long glance at the rest, she makes for the ruins, trying to look all over for any mystical power.

    Odd how she has no trouble with going right in though.

    Rydia heard. The description hits a little close to home for the green-haired girl, who goes very silent for a long moment, expression hardening in a way no child's should, when she meets gaze with Aloy, and sees venerably aged man. The description of the first woman... She does not know.
    All it takes is Aloy readying her bow to make Rydia reach to tug her own bow off her back. It's not as complex a bow as the machine rider's but it's suitable for hunting, or combat in a pinch. "Mn."
    It looks like they're not going in alone, though, and Raylene, the hooded Hylian, and Vania (before she bolts ahead) are given appraising and curious looks by the girl.
    The chocobo, meanwhile, puffs up, apparently irritable it has been passed over for Zelda's fascination with the broadhead, as the group will most likely leave them behind to begin ruin delving.

    Zelda might be asking the question of Vania, but Magilou will be kind enough to answer it. "Wise? Of course not! How could you expect someone exploring ancient ruins to be wise? What kind of story would that be, anyway? The cautious middle-aged explorers, carefully testing every step of the way, never tumbling into any trouble or tripping any traps or least of all tracking down any treasures!"

    "Anyway, I'll be right behind you, so don't fear at all." That's probably meant to be reassuring! That's why Magilou has a sinister smile, and is stroking at her chin, almost certainly! But she's at least telling the truth about one thing:

    She's going in last.

    The ruins... once had simple traps, but many are just plain too old. Others have been purposely set off by the two headed in, but the ruins are not overly complex anyway. Finding the way to the hallway toward the central chamber is not too difficult, especially with the door torn asunder.

    It is the hallway where matters are getting interesting. Raylene and others with magical sight can see that the carvings were inset with metal and then magically bonded, in a way to make sure that even if the metal eroded or was stolen, the different color of stone would remain... and if THAT eroded, grooves would remain. Someone wanted these carvings to last. Linguists - and Aloy, given her Focus and her natural talent for linguistics - can tell that the initial ones teach a crude manner of reading...

    And the rest tell something of a tale, which seems to say that the Messiah, under pressure, BUILT the War Golem. It didn't turn against its creators because the Messiah took control, but as a purposefully-designed flaw. Once it could no longer find easy demihuman targets, it simply refined its protocols for what it considered pure human. Over and over.

    The end of the story is probably in the main chamber, but it is full of, well, a War Golem. The thing's chest has had the protective covering torn away... protective to keep it out of view, not armored. Several glowing chains of a reddish metal bind the massive, two-story golem, and the black-winged Vivian is carefully working the last latch off the first chain's binding.

    She isn't readily apparent at first. Because she walks out from just to the side of where that hallway makes way to the main chamber, "Take care of this for me. I will attempt to buy you some amount of time." The woman says in a pretty neutral tone, not carrying either aggression or cheer to it. 

    She turns to face the group as they approach, shifting towards the midway point between the entrance to the chamber and Vivian herself as she looks out from under her hood. She then pulls back the hood with a brief motion to expose her face and give them a smile, "Hi. I'm going to warn you. We don't want to be interfered with." 

    Her hand flicks to her waist and she's holding a steel cylinder. She twirls her wrist and it lets out a *VWEESH* noise as a silver-blue blade erupts from the end of it before she calmly walks about 10 yards left, 10 yards right, and 10 yards left to run to her original position. It only takes a few moments as she drags her sword across the ground to make a neat line. Then the blade flicks off and attaches to her hip again under her cloak. 

    "That line is your warning. If you try to cross it with your body or with an attack, I'll kill you. If you're good, stay right there, and don't interfere, we'll let you watch what happens next! Okay?" 

    She folds her hands behind her back, rocks back and forth from her toes to her heels chipperly, and tilts her head to flash a bright smile.

    The sight that Aloy comes to see is... worrying? Yes, that's the word for it, because Aloy has been giving everyone a summary of what she's reading with the help of her Focus. Now, she has something of an idea what will happen when that thing gets out. That's why her bow is drawn, and an ice arrow already loaded. She doesn't immediately fire, though.

    "You don't know what you're doing," she assumes, because people probably don't. Usually. "I've read the murals, and when this thing gets loose, it will kill indiscriminately. It isn't designed to be used as a weapon... it never was. It's a trap, the biggest trap in this place."

    She doesn't fire yet... she's edging toward some cover, first. "Magilou, if you really know any tricks, now is the time."

  Forget treasure of glittering gold, or the multi-hued sparkle of rupees beyond the dreams of avarice. This masonry is what constitutes treasure, as far as Hyrule's monarch is concerned. There is history in this place.

  Zelda stares up at the carvings in admiration, although she's keeping an ear out for trouble. She can't help but admire the craftsmanship, let alone the level of effort that went into making this stuff last. Someone wanted this story to endure. Not just that, but they wanted this story to endure time itself. It must be terribly important.

  She offers no comment, because her eyes turn past the carvings to the house-sized thing in chains.

  Oh, Goddesses, what has she gotten herself into? Wisdom is her purview, not Courage, and her wisdom is screaming at her to run from this place. Standing and challenging is the Hero's job, not hers.

  Eyes lifting, she notes the figure atop the golem, busily working at the golem's enchanted chains. Oh, that's probably not good... but that figure is familiar.

  Zelda takes a faltering step forward. "This--"

  She halts immediately at the sound of another voice. Her eyes snap wide beneath her hood at that sword and the distinctive sound it makes. For a moment she almost thinks it's magic, and then it eats a perfect, razor-sharp line through the stone underfoot.

  She's still staring as Aily stops and delivers her warning.

  Sapphire eyes flick between Aily and Vivian, twice, before she takes a half-step forward. She's not yet at the line. The bow is completely lowered; the arrow relaxed from the string. See? Non-threatening.

  "Lady Vivian, is that you?" Zelda pitches her voice so Vivian can hear it; but she sounds uncertain. This is probably bad. It doesn't take a supernatural MacGuffin of Wisdom stapled to her soul to understand that much. "What are you doing...?"

  Half a glance is thrown to Aloy. "You understand the murals?" she murmurs. "I will follow your lead; you know more of this place, then, than I do. But I think I know the woman up on the golem. Something feels wrong."

    For the record, Vania came in first.
    The 2nd to 7th places are occupied by her bats.
    One got lost and didn't enter the ruins.

    The murals were pretty, for sure, and Vania almost seemed to be paying attention as Aloy told their tale. Almost, because Aily lets herself known quite early, and makes a show of it with her lightsaber too. Vania wanders right up to the line, six little bats fluttering around her, staring at the now unignited blade under her cloak.

    "Hey, hey! Can you do that again? That was a cool sword, I've never seen one like it! Can I see it? What's it called? Does it have cool legends about it? Oh, oh, can I swing it!"

    The little bats flutter faster, reflecting the princess' mood.

    Vania is helping defuse this.

    It's certainly a tale. Though the symbols and signs mean little to Rydia who can't understand them on her own, the story relayed by Aloy makes the girl frown. "That's pretty horrible."
    A machine that continually broadens its killing scope like that? The thought makes the girl's nose scrunch. But then they enter the main chamber.
    The scale of the golem makes the child halt in her tracks, green eyes widening. The shape, size, and scope of the metal behemoth is one thing, and that's enough to already make her feel very small. But then she sees who is upon it. The familiar black skin and wings- a figure she recognizes, even from a distance, from the day Mist burned.
    Fists clench. Rydia's hair casts a dark shadow over her face as her head dips down, briefly flashing back to the horror of the day her home was reduced to ash. She flinches at the sight of Aily's blade- coming to life like a silver fire and burning a line of challenge into the floor itself. She doesn't have any words though, no retort.
    Rydia just knocks an arrow to her bow.
    She takes aim.
    And she lets it fly. At Vivian.

    Aloy gets followed by Magilou, at a little bit of a distance. Of course, she's going to stay well behind the line, because there's someone with a sword who seems rather devoted to not letting them interfere.

    "Oh, I know lots of tricks! Not very many of them have anything about golems, though, I have to admit. We don't really have things quite like this around back home, and I didn't bring anything that might help.."

    Magilou will sound almost regretful about that, at least. And she'll watch the others cross the line, so she'll just stay back, calling over to the villains and speaking up. "Hey! I'm staying over here, okay? But you might want to think about listening to her, it'll be really sad if we have to get the young old guy outside wash your guts off the ground once that thing crushes you like a bug! ..He'll probably enjoy it, though. He seemed annoyed."

    Raylene listens with interest, idly murmuring, "These were reinforced with magic. Someone REALLY didn't want anyone to forget this story. Of course they did, as legends do. Or maybe they never knew and this was a... confession?"

    Raylene stops murmuring when she sees the lightsaber cut a groove across the floor. Now THAT is pretty interesting. She doesn't know Vivian, either, so the recognition others have is... beyond her.

    "I am a noncombatant," she says politely. Though, well, she /stinks/ of magic, and the Horror is not exactly a pleasant presence even when not manifest.

    Aily keeps a smile on her face and her feet just behind the line as Vania runs up to her. She mentally catalogues Vania's questions to answer them. But first she has to answer Aloy. 

    "I know." She says to Aloy's revelation. The words all the more chilling when said through that cheerful smile. She continues, "I'm having her put a Khyber Crystal in to act as a Focus Matrix when it powers up. That way, when it goes and rampages worlds, all the /pain/ and the /hate/ it causes will resonate with the Force powers of the Crystal." She smiles and spreads her arms out a bit, "As it ruins worlds that connect to the Tree, they will become places of pain and misery, which will in turn feed the Golem to continue its rampage. A perpetual motion engine of destruction, rampaging across worlds and bringing wounds in the balance." She smiles to Aloy, "It's beautifully artistic, in a way." 

    She claps her hands up and down and hops once like a kid on Christmas, "Oh, but anyway." 

    On to Vania, "It's called a Lightsaber. Yes, they're the legendary weapons of Jedi and Sith. Yes I could do it again. Yes, you can see it. Yes, you can swing it." She hands the lightsaber over to Vania. Really, it's a pretty Sith mindset that if Vania lops off her own arm wielding it untrained, she'll learn from the pain and take a lesson from it, "Just flick the switch~. Then swing it at something that's not me. Try one of your little bat friends." 

    Zelda and Magilou are given that continued smile, but she doesn't aim to stop or harm them. They're just observing, after all. Albeit with commentary in Magilou's case. 

    When she sees Raylene, though, she lights up like a kid in a candy store, "Oh my. You are just bursting at the seams with the Dark Side. What ARE you, may I ask? I've never felt one so steeped in darkness so young." 

    Oh, but she has to change her facial expression. It flickers to a frown as Rydia fires an arrow. Aily lifts up her left hand and holds two fingers up. Halfway through flight, the arrow stops in mid-air. Aily twists her hand a bit and then flicks both fingers towards Rydia. 

    In the air, the arrow rotates around and then flies straight towards Rydia like a bullet. Aily scowls, "I told you not to interfere. Be a good little girl and just /lay down/."

    Vivian looks up as the others enter, and she nods at Aily. "Of course," she says to the Sith, without any hint of worry. She's unlatched the first chain, and the glow of the golem's eyes is already beginning. Vivian is heading for the chest, lifting up a crystal toward some of the pits in its surface.

    Aloy's words, and Zelda's own, get her attention. She doesn't react to Rydia shooting at her, since Aily intercepts it, beyond staring at the girl.

    "Nothing personal," she says to each and every one. "Yes, I know what I am doing. Controlling this isn't a worry. The damage it will do, while unfortunate, is what I need for my own purposes. This world needs to be a Thorn, and this is just one step on the way to that. As was your village, child."

    Zelda and Aloy get a stare. "I know exactly what I am doing. Hello again, Aloy. Zelda. Again, nothing personal. Under different circumstances you would have been wonderful friends. A pity you had to interfere."

    A sudden wash of distinct unease rolls off of Vivian as she focuses her own magical energy on the crystal... and the golem. A crackle of power erupts along the golem's mystical lines, and Vivian turns to face everyone, since she doubts they will leave her alone. "Just wait right there while this finishes, and we can all leave... well, it won't be peaceful, but /unscathed/ would be good."

>> GAME >> Vivian uses a Free Edge for: New Action Thread: The Golem is Awakening

    The arrow launches toward Rydia.

    That 'dark side' power suddenly spikes, and Raylene's eyes turn to black, onyx pits as she dips deep within her power.

    The arrow thuds into... something... and an oozing greenish-black trickle of blood spatters on the floor, as the invisible figure growls in front of Rydia. Raylene answers, "I am a child, as I look. My great great grandparents, however, were something not quite human at all."

    The dust on the floor of the ruins billows up as the invisible Horror's footsteps suddenly trample forward, heading for Vivian. That bestial shape reeks of dark power, but Raylene murmurs, "I find mass death unpleasant, so I think I would prefer if you stopped that. More can be learned that way." The Horror is heading toward Vivian, but the real goal is to just serve as a shield while she is making for the Golem to analyze it.

>> GAME >> Raylene Dunwich spends an Edge for: Summon the Horror instantly to cover for Rydia.

    "Lightsaber?" Vania blinks. She is handed the weapon. "Cool!"
    It's a legendary sword! And she can hold it!

    The blade wooshes to life in her hands and hums idly, its blue edge illuminating the tiny vampire's face. She swings it about idly, away from Aily as requested, showing no great skill or inclination for swordsmanship beyond the basic common sense not to make huge motions that might cut her own arm off on the rebound.

    Eventually the blade switches back off and Vania returns it, smiling and satisfied despite the now-starting chaos. "Thank yooou! It's super weird because it's so light! That must take a long time to get used to!" Understatement.

    Finally she ends up paying attention to what's going on, at least. "Although! Powering up a big golem with pain and hate sounds kind of mean. I think hugs and friendship would make a better core!" The greater parts of their plan kind of go over her head. "Hurting my friends is mean too! Can't we compromise? We can take half the golem and you can take half! Then we can make them fight to see which core idea works best!"

    She's still helping.

    "Hmm. Well, if you're willing to go so far as to be the first one to die to make it a Thorn, I guess I won't get in your way!" Magilou says, with a shrug of her shoulders, though there's a bit of combat starting to go on. She doesn't seem too bothered by that, either, being rather clearly the noncombatant sort that Raylene had claimed to be, at least for now.

    The witch hadn't had anyone trying to destroy her world, though, which was going wrong quite well enough on its own. "Of course, if you're just going to set it loose on others, that's just kind of pathetic. Shouldn't you at least massacre the villagers with your own hands, instead? Show some kind of initiative and courage, right? And it makes for a much more imposing tale, though it'd work better if you were from there."

    This is... not going well at all. Vania is being childish - but at least not being a net negative - while Rydia is being understandably impulsive. Zelda is the surprise here. "You know Vivian? I watched her murder a man in cold blood while his village burned around them," she says. No realy condemnation though... she didn't suspect the woman was a bad egg until then, why would Zelda?

    "If you don't know any tricks, you should try /something/ then!" That's to Magilou, who this time gets an outright look of disgust. Aloy herself hesitates for a fraction of a second... she would /prefer/ to talk things out, but with the Golem starting up... "Raylene, I hope you know what you're doing! We'll try to cover you."

    Try. Aloy lets fly her initial arrow in the vague direction of Aily, the freeze arrow likely ignored, cut in half, or stopped in midair. It's the second arrow that is her play. Another, larger yet longer and sharper arrowhead on this one is sent flying toward Aily, and Aloy is COUNTING on this one being stopped... the tearblast arrow humming, then erupting with concussive force, intended to tear armor plating away but just as good for knocking people on their ass.

    Rydia watches. She practically glares after her arrow on its course, staring back at Vivian and waiting for the impact-- that never comes. Instead her arrow is halted... Turned about in the air and launched back at her.
    "Wha..."
    That is not how arrows work.
    That is not how arrows work at all, and all of the girl's anger melts away into a chill shock, shock that is quickly followed by cold.terror when it sinks in that her own arrow is on a course to return to sender, courtesy of Aily.
    But when the arrow embeds in /SOMETHING/ in front of her, the girl topples backwards, landing on her bottom and scrabbling backwards, still reeling from the shock of almost getting shot before it sinks in that Vivian has activated the golem. "You can't... Not again...!" She stammers in protest, scrambling to pick herself back up. If she has anything else to say, though, it's abruptly cut off to stare seethingly at Magilou.

  Zelda can only stare at the thing before her. The Queen-Regent of Hyrule shudders under her heavy cloak, the gravity of the situation numbing her hands and her mind. All she can do is croak a prayer for divine wisdom from a throat that keeps closing on her.

  But if a child can summon the courage to right a wrong, than so too can she.

  Wisdom tells her that these people will not listen to suggestion. Widespread destruction is what they /want/.

  Zelda reaches up to sweep her hood back. She looks a bit like an elf; there is a brilliant crown of golden leaves in her hair. There is steel in her sapphire eyes, though she looks hard-travelled, shadows beneath those eyes and hollows under delicate cheekbones.

  "I should have stayed in the castle," she laments quietly. Her complaint is voiceless and her face is ashen in her fear. When she raises her voice again, it bristles with both steel and the gravity of royalty. "I am sorry, but I--I cannot allow you to do this."

  Zelda raises her bow.

  The arrow is loosed.

  It's probably not enough to do any damage, but her aim is generally good, and a single mundane arrow might serve to distract Vivian.

  ...She's gonna die horribly and that's the only thing she can hear in her head right now. Courage is for hot-blooded heroes, or guys in green floppy hats, and she is neither of those things right now.

    "Hm." Aily doesn't seem upset her arrow missed. Instead, she gets to feel the energy roll off Raylene, "Isn't that interesting. Some kind of entity comprised entirely of Dark Side energy. I can't see it, but I can feel its presence as clear as if I could." 

    "I will hold as many of them as I can. Work quickly." Aily says to Vivian before looking back and undergoing some threat assessment. There's a rippling of energy around herself as she channels the force inward and her posture seems to shift along with her attitude. 

    She barely acknowledges Vania as the lightsaber flicks from Vania's hand to fly into Aily's with a quick motion, "Alright. I have had ENOUGH." 

    "I am DARTH CALAMITAS. And when I tell you not to cross a line, I mean not to CROSS THE LINE." She snarls. The lightsaber flicks to life in her hand and she hops back a few steps, seeming to less physically move and more smoothly phase that way to anyone without quick reaction speeds. 

    The blade held in her right hand, Aily makes a shoving motion towards Zelda. And it feels like Zelda got hit by a truck. Aily is aiming to send her flying backwards into Rydia and deal with both of them. She figures Vivian can handle a single arrow sent her way from a standard bow. If she can't, she kinda deserves to get a wound from it anyway. 

    Her lightsaber flicks in front of her, slicing the freeze arrow out of the air before her hand comes up again and stops the tearblast arrow inches from her face, "Honestly. Are arrows all you people ha-" The rest of the sentence is cut off as the arrow explodes with concussive force directly in her face. 

    She doesn't fall over, but she does sail back, landing on her feet and skidding a few dozen feet before looking towards Aloy with one bloodshot eye and blood dripping from a burst ear drum, "You might ACTUALLY be challenging to fight for once." She says, more impressed than anything, "More than a measly Jedi or your friends, at least." 

    And then her head slowly turns towards Magilou, "Oh. I'll break all their necks. Except one. So he can go tell others. Thanks for the idea."

>> SUMMARY[Aily Starfallen] >> Re: Raylene, Re: Vania, Re: A name for Aily. Re: Zelda (But her arrow is still flying towards Vivian), Re: Aloy - A reaction, Re: Magilou - Great idea.

    Suddenly, ultraviolence.

    And Vania's suggestion wasn't even acknowledged!

    The princess huffs.

    "Hey, I said being mean to my friends isn't nice!!"
    She stomps her foot on the ground and all.

    "Bloodkin!!!"

    How does it somehow get DARKER in the cave? Well, the wingflaps of several hundred bats give a rather audible clue as to how that works. Perhaps the entire ceiling was already made of bats, or Vania summoned them, but one thing that's certain is that there's a LOT of them here now.

    Absolutely everywhere.

    Keep your mouth closed.

    Some of them claw, bite and peck at Aily, but individually they don't hurt very much. You might say they only inflict one damage per bat! They sure are making it hard to see and keep track of movements though.

>> GAME >> Vania spends an Edge for: I cast Bateor Storm, it's a level 9 spell.

    Raylene is rushing forward, and at first Vivian turns to deal with her and her monster... but she gets a distraction. The Horror is enough of a thing to cover Raylene, at least, but that leaves others unprotected, doesn't it? Somewhat.

    Vivian is faster than she looks, too. She doesn't have a lot of melee combat skills, but her swift dive saves her from the arrow embedding, instead getting a sharp line of red oozing out from her thigh as the shaft slices through and across, lodging in the temple floor's cracks in the stones. A hand clutches at the wound, and-

    Bats. Bats all over. The storm of bats makes Vivian cry out in anger, with her wings folding to protect her. Could she be so easy to subdue? Because she doesn't seem to have any real attacks. Not that Vania has experienced.

    Then, abruptly, a /howling/ from within the bats can be heard. Not an animal howl, but the howl of high velocity wind, a small tornado wrapping around Vivian who is now glaring ANGRILY. There's a lot of anger in the air, and she's picking that up, her empathic abilities feeding off the Sith rage and the negative energies of the Dunwich Horror. Worse, the wave of nausea that she emits... with her magic reaching out and /ripping/ the very lifeforce from the nearest bats, callously feeding on any energy she can reach. When she's visible again, those numerous bats have left her clothing torn, feathers on the ground, and many, many tiny cuts all over. But she's angry. "If that is what you all want..."

    The tornado begins to expand, harsh enough to scour the floor... and pick up dust, making the swirling winds dangerously abrasive as they take up more and more room. She has, in that moment, forgotten about the Horror... though Raylene's attention might be elsewhere.

    Raylene's analysis can begin though. The crystal Vivian put in is drawing upon the energies of the air, just as she is, thanks to its connection to the Golem. Extracting it would be a trick. It's currently bound by the chains though, and only threatening to break free because one was released. She can either try to tear that crystal out, with whatever backlash and protections might be provided on the golem... or she can try the more complex task of reattaching the chain.

    It takes Rydia a second or two longer to pick herself back up. She doesn't resort to using her bow again, though; having seen what the Sith can do with arrows, she'd rather not risk it again.
    That was terrifying.
    But rather than flee, Rydia faces that terror, pulling a rod from her belt, capped in what looks like a small chunk of ice, to keep at the ready. Though she keeps herself behind others, daring not leave the safety of her cherished space in the back row. But now both her foes have names. Vivian, she already knew. The imposing Darth Calamitas is a new introduction- a very rough and rude one as she uses the Force to try and launch Zelda. It does not help tht Rydia is behind the Hylian. Unless she thinks fast, this is likely to hurt- having an older woman hurled at her. But if she evades, then Zelda will be the one who ends up injured.
    The last Summoner of Mist thinks fast.
    "WHYT!"
    She calls out a name. And as she does, mist begins to form from seemingly nowhere, floating around her ankles and rising, before the mists take shape- taking the form of a white dragon whelp that digs its claws into the floor to brace catch the Hylian princess, Rydia already behind her Eidolon and holding on as Vivian's winds begin whipping through the chamber.
    "I'll... I'll cross whatever lines I want!" She shouts back with defiant bravado. Though it's probably lost in the howling winds, the determined look on the Summoner's face says it all.
    She wants Vivan's blood, even if there are absolutely horrifying Sith in the way.
    "-Try again." She prompts Zelda.

>> GAME >> Rydia spends an Edge for: Summoning Whyt so Zelda and I don't both squish.

    Battle is joined, eh? At least, it starts to be. Aloy doesn't dignify Aily with a response... mostly because banter isn't really something she does much. It's a new thing to her. The best she can manage is, "I hear that kind of thing a lot. The last one exploded." Not technically true, because she didn't kill him that way, but close enough.

    Aloy is already dive-rolling to the side, her bow tucking away. Arrows don't work well against Aily, she can tell. That trick with the tearblast won't work twice. And engaging the blazing plasma sword in combat with her spear doesn't seem like a great idea. She has to get her distance and-

    Vania's bats. Those give her the moment she needs to change her tactics.

    The tactic she comes up with, in that brief moment before she is likely stabbed or something, is a lobbed cannister of chillwater. Another elemental attack, but more of it. It's basically liquid nitrogen bursting in the air.

    "...Fiiiine." Magilou says, as Aloy and Rydia both seem quite annoyed with her. Even though she really doesn't have very much that she can do, she'll move over, looking to step right behind Raylene, not at all worried about the right that seems to be going on, or about the winds starting to stir up around her.

    If anything, she seems just a little bit perked up about that, and about the summoning that might be going on.

    "Do you have something in mind?" She'll ask Raylene, her voice a little more quiet than it might otherwise be, almost as if she's taking it.. not seriously, but slightly less unseriously. It would be too predictable to only be annoying! And she wouldn't mind controlling a death golem for a little bit. She's still not seeming very interested in attacking, though she'll dodge if someone decides to take a lightsaber to her.

    Even odds which side might at this point, really.

  Zelda is already nocking a second arrow to her bow, raising her bow and trying to take more careful aim at Vivian. She draws the fletching back to one pointed ear--

  "Haugh--!"

  --and is knocked back with the force of an angry dragon. What hit her? She didn't even see anything. All she can feel and hear is the ringing, concussive force of the blow; for a brief moment she can't even tell which way's up.

  Oh Goddesses there are also bats everywhere, why are there bats everywhere? And darkness. There's a lot of darkness. It feels like the sort of thing her ancestors had sealed away time and time again. A little, anyway.

  And suddenly

    a dragon is catching her.

  What.

  "I'll try," she confirms to Rydia, tone steely. The kid gloves are off; she's found her own store of courage, and maybe some righteous indignation into the bargain. These people must be stopped.

  Raising a free hand, her fingers claw as she looks skyward in supplication. Her voice rings with royal command and yet with appeal, as well; a heartfelt and solemn, if somewhat rushed, prayer. "Spirits of the Light! Wielders of the great power that shines far and wide upon the lands of Hyrule, and beyond! In my hour of need, grant me the light to banish evil!"

  If she felt like overwhelming divinity before, the area is positively flooded with bright holy light -- specifically from Zelda. Something bright flares in her hand; too bright to look at. When she raises her bow, it too glows in holy light, and when she nocks an arrow and draws it back, it flares brilliantly.

  Zelda raises the bow. She lets fly.

  The scathing light sizzles and thrums as the arrow lances for Vivian. Whether she's lucky enough to score a hit again, it's hard to say, but it ought to be a /real/ distraction for anybody who uses dark-type powers. Might well be real /annoying/ on presence alone, too.

  Come to think of it, it isn't just the bow that's glowing. Zelda is radiant, and not just in an overly poetic sense. She's actually casting shadows on the rubble at her feet.

  Yeah, if she wasn't obviously something allied with divinity before, SHE SURE IS NOW.

>> GAME >> Zelda spends an Edge for: Summoning arrows of light. Because Team Heroes need a bigger boat.

    Oh, Magilou is helping! That's... something. And it gives Raylene just what she needs, because she's debating between what actions to take. She points to the chain. "I'm too small to easily do that by myself, and the Horror, for all its strength, is not very good at fine instructions. It's far safer if we hook this chain back up together. Just do exactly as I say and it should be fine. I believe I've traced the magical pattern well enough to re-establish its holding. If we are lucky."

    Decision made, Raylene points to the chain and where the links need to be threaded. "In precisely the order I show you, or it will not work. The others have bought us time and a distraction, we need to use it."

    Aily is... angry. You can tell by the look on her face. None of this is going according to her plan. One eye is kinda bleary. One ear is kinda deaf. And the world is full of bats. 

    That last one is the second most disorienting thing to happen today. The first was the tearblast arrow to the face. 

    And yet... the madder she gets, the more her power seems to ripple around her. Slender arms begin to show muscle growth that wasn't there before. Legs start to swell. Her height shifts up a few inches. 

    Every time a bat comes near her, she gets it down, her lightsaber held in a reverse grip at this point as she tries to get her bearings while being forced on the defensive. She closes her eyes and feels out the world around her. There's an attack incoming. 

    Someone here is using the Light Side. Balance. Harmony. Is that a Jedi? No. It's too... violent. It's too direct. No Jedi would wield the force like that. 

    First things first. Aily charges towards Aloy with her lightsaber in hand. The act of Aily stepping forward off the ground cracked the stone beneath her feet with the sheer strength and force of her movements. This is definitely beyond human. 

    The sword isn't the attack, though. As she rushes Aloy, she thrusts her palm up and then DOWN. Trying to lift up Aloy and then bounce her off the ground. 

    There's an almost chaotic... poetic... passionate beauty to the way Aily moves. A kind of song written in violence. Every move has a malignant sort of grace. As she bounces Aloy off the ground with Telekinesis, she moves past Aloy and grabs the woman's ankle with her free hand. All the forward momentum is transferred into a throw that flings Aloy over her head and down towards the ground with earth-cratering force. She releases the ankle a moment later and extends her free hand towards Zelda. 

    Her eyes are laser-focused on the Princess. She brings her hand up and then slowly closes it. There's a kind of slow building pressure around Zelda's neck like a hand slowly escalating into a choke. If someone doesn't break Aily's focus soon, she will have a hostage. She's still cutting bats out of the air with her lightsaber, so Vania can take kudos for keeping that thing indisposed.

>> SUMMARY[Aily Starfallen] >> Aloy: Force Enhancement + Juyo Fighting Style = Unpredictably brutal attacks. | Vania: Lightsaber mitigated by being on bat-handling duty. | Zelda: Force Choke

    It's not hard to get rid of those bats. Vivian's death whirlwind and draining abilities tear through dozens and dozens of the critters. They basically have 1 HP. It's the same story for Aily! That lightsaber scorches and bisects them with almost no effort, each swing finding purchase in the swarm of somehow adorable death rats.

    Or cats? Are bats more like rats or cats?

    Oh well.

    An idle swing almost nails the princess, too! That's significantly less fun. She feels the heat of the blade as it passes inches from her face, forcing her to back away. Maybe that's enough to actually make her realize what kind of danger's at play. Not to mention, Aily is getting faster and stronger with each passing moment! Vania notices, even if she can't fully keep up.

    Well, there's only one solution.

    Vania swings her arms wide.

    She casts Bats to Lasers.

    Brilliant streams of red and pink light surge all around as the remaining bats flare forward and turn into beams of light, mostly centered on Aily this time (if any nick Vivian or the golem it'll be completely incidental to their location, not aim, and won't be especially threatening). They're perfectly deflectable by her LASER SWORD, though, so that might not be the greatest tactic.

    Or maybe there's enough that that won't matter!
    It was a lot of bats after all.

    Bursts of wind erupt, sailing outward as Vivian flings them carelessly, much like Aily uses the Force. She's a victim of her own Empath powers again though... she's fighting with anger and without focus. And though her tornado would be near perfect proof against normal arrows, right now she can just see a bright light behind a curtain of bats.

    Which allows Zelda, braced by Rydia's summon, to get a nice and clear shot right at her midsection.

    Vivian isn't actually a creature of darkness or unholy, but her powers ARE fueled by the most forbidden magics of her people. So... she isn't vaporized by that attack, it 'merely' pierces her through the middle with a stunning force that rocks her back against the leg of the golem, her hand clutching her middle. A force like that was... unexpected.

    That's when she notices Raylene and Magilou... and how their efforts are redirecting the energy flows. Which means the area around the crystal is not sending power through the golem correctly. Which means...

    "DARTH GET DOWN!" Vivian screams that and tucks a wing over her head, moments before a lance of light blasts outward, tearing through the upper wall and roof of the temple to blast an opening out, and send the crystal shooting out as well.

    She knows when the tide is turning. Even if they beat these, the cost might be too great for her tastes.

    Badly wounded now, she flaps her wings and leaps into the air, blinking spots from her eyes. Lasers all around tend to make things just as hard to see as swarms of bats. At least she's running on a pretty full charge from absorbing so much life energy. But it's time to get out of here.

    This isn't good.

    This isn't good at all.

    Aloy notices a little too late that hurting Aily is just /pissing her off/ and making things worse, because in another moment she's getting hurled around like a rag doll. "GAH!"

    Aloy's armor is enough to keep the impact from being TOO brutal, but slamming her down as hard as Aily does jars her more than superficially, and she feels /something/ inside cracking and stars in her vision. That's making it hard to fight back with anything more than luck and blind fumbling for something, anything that she can use.

    Something is hurled blindly from her pouch.

    It explodes in a burst of stored charge, deadly to a machine and shocking to humans.

  No sooner has the first divine shaft flown than Zelda draws another from her quiver, which is awash with brilliant light. There is a look of determination in the princess' sapphire eyes, despite the story of crushing exhaustion her features tell. It may not be wise to risk her own life like this but it would be more foolish still to let these people go.

  Her eyes turn too late from Vivian to note Aily reaching out towards her, clenching her fingers and closing a fist. The pressure settles immediately around her throat, and the most Zelda can manage is a choking cough. Even that trails into a wheeze as the Sith forcibly closes her windpipe. Dark spots dance at the corner of her vision and the chamber around her wavers uncertainly.

  Zelda would falter, but the crushing grip around her throat is holding her stiffly upright. One leg kicks reflexively, and she drops the furious light of her light-infused bow, clawing helplessly at her throat. There's nothing to fight or move. There's not enough clearance for her to gasp or even choke.

  Her lungs are burning.

  Time's running out.

  Zelda bares her teeth in a desperate attempt to marshall her strength, but that strength is failing. She's unable to breathe. If someone doesn't break Aily's concentration, she will indeed have a hostage; the princess' divine blood is not proof against attacks made against her person. Not like this.

  The princess manages a croak, a wordless plea for help, but all that does is waste precious air.

  Yeah she's made better decisions in her life than this one.

    Rydia had expected Zelda to fire an arrow. The next thing she knows, she has to rub the spots out of her eyes when that arrow of blazing light is fired; covering her eyes and wincing from how sheerly bright it is.
    "Aloy? Aloy!"
    One of the last things she had seen was Calamitas rushing the Nora girl, and considering how angry Aily looked, there's clear worry there, even if Rydia is temporarily blinded by the light. She'll get better though, but for now she huddles against her dragon- which peers curiously over Zelda's shoulder with what might be a surprisingly soft cooing sound, before it draws breath.
    What it unleashes at Aily is a chilling torrent of misty breath, as Whyt acts on its own while its master is still rubbing at her eyes.
    Rydia will no doubt have her hands full with first aid after this fiasco.

    Aily squeezes. And grips. And enjoys the sound of someone choking, like a true Sith wound. 

    But only for a few moments. Aily releases her grasp and restores the blessed flow of air to Zelda's lungs when the room turns to lasers and a hole is blasted in the ceiling. She hops back and away, moving quickly and tightly. Her entire form and style seems to change, keeping the lightsaber in close as she deflects and dodges the lasers coming in at her. One or two still hit her and scorch pieces of her skin, leaving nasty burns that will take a good amount of time in a bacta tank to heal. She's not one of those Sith Lords that likes to replace flesh with dumb armor, not like that lumbering oaf Darth Malgus. 

    With the addition of electricity and a mist-covered breath into the mix, Aily is further driven back. She absorbs the electricity with a lightsaber to avoid being killed, but still suffers some nasty shocks. And the cold breath crackles, causing the lightsaber to stutter a bit. 

    Much like Vivian, she makes to leave. Unlike Vivian, she can't fly. Instead, she crouches low and then leaps straight up and out of the room to retreat.

>> SUMMARY[Aily Starfallen] >> Driven back and retreating.

    Raylene is mostly providing instructions... so why is she trembling? "Here... and then here..." The girl breathes deep as the chaos in the room starts to calm after that eruption, and weakly points... "And close it off there."

    The Horror vanishes. Well, it was invisible anyway, but that awful /presence/ vanishes, and Raylene just... crumples to the ground, suddenly looking pale, frail, and exhausted.

    Magilou makes an honest effort to help out! At least a little bit, following the instructions Raylene gives. "Aah, I didn't realize you had such expertise on these sorts of foul creatures. From these parts, are you?" Raylene will be asked, out of curiousity, before Magilou realizes that her companion has collapsed. At least they've finished. 

    "...Well. At least they didn't put up much of a fight!" She'll say, cheerfully, because she's not the one who has been force choked or elecricitied or any other horrible fates. She's just been exploded around a little bit, more explosion-proximate than explosion-targeted, and so Miss Magilou seems to have no shame at all in claiming a great victory.

  Just when it seems like the battlefield is slipping away from Zelda, the pressure abruptly releases her throat. She immediately crumples to her hands and knees, coughing and choking, and the sound is ugly. If that had gone on any longer there might have been permanent damage.

  As it is, it's not fun. The chamber around her is swimming, and she's only dimly aware of the things going on around her. Bow and quiver forgotten, she focuses first on trying to coax her body back from a powerful urge to pass out.

  Even the dragon is unremarked upon, although that could be because she's busy trying to put air back into her lungs. They're burning.

  She might be able to help some of the others in better circumstances, but trying to stop Vivian had taken priority. If that thing had gotten free...

  But maybe the Queen-Regent overdid.

  Zelda narrows her eyes as the chamber swims around her; plants her hands on the ground and tries to push herself to her feet--

  --and crumples to the ground, unconscious; overdrawn between being strangled half to death and calling down the monstrous wrath of her divine ancestry. Hylia might have provided her descendants with some neat tools, but the goddess never said they were easy to use...

    Oh, they're leaving. Vania pouts.

    A cluster of a dozen bats floats back down, the few left from the onslaught. She wanders on over to Raylene and Magilou, trying to peek over their shoulders (metaphorically, she's not that tall) to see what they're doing.

    She even lends some bats to Zelda! ... that is to say, a bunch of bats act like a stretcher, haul her up, and float her over to the rest of the party. Bats can, in fact, solve all your problems.

    Don't let her stuff the golem full of bats.