World Tree MUSH

    "Captain, we have entered orbit. Initial surface scan indicates ground-based anomalies like the one we encountered enroute." states Minerva, as the half-elf settles into her projection rig.

    "Lifesigns?" "Only local fauna so far, but I doubt that will remain true for long... I have sent out a Liminal message to those we encountered before. They may be able to assist."

    Justina is quiet as she finishes rigging herself up to the system, then closes the hatch and speaks firmly. "Link Up."

    On the surface, near a Vine, the slender robotic frame of an Ur-Doll waits, seemingly patiently for anyone to come through. It starts to jibber in that strange 'boot up' language the Dolls seem to use, then shifts from the rigid robotic stance to a more organic one as the operator 'logs in'.

    The area around the vine is largely flat, with crusty, cracked sandstone. To the north is a vast expanse of sand in great dunes, to the south a craggy mountain. East and West hold an Oasis and a sheer cliff-face respectively.

    Talia met with Justina's vessel ahead of time when she got the message, bringing others. They had been confined to the docking bay, given the condition of some of the crew. Talia had to admit, it was acceptable if it meant keeping the crew safe from contaminants.

    After they neared the planet, Talia volunteered to act as a makeshift shuttle down to the surface, landing the Paragon's Legacy on the surface. The rest of the way, she'll be carrying the others on a speeder, it's just a glorified floating pickup truck, not much of a graceful ride but it does the job when it comes to transporting cargo.

    By the Force, she wishes she could get a swoop bike.

Misaki has come along with Talia because walking is fine, a ride is better. And besides, it's a space ship and that's exciting. "Are we there yet?" She asks about halfway along the speeder ride. She's not transformed yet, and wearing some casual clothes. Today's color is crimson.

Holly manages to find herself on a desert planet from a vine somehow. "Oh, I ended up in New Jersey somehow. I must have taken a wrong turn again..you think I would be able to see New York from here though..." The witch has a puzzled look on her face.

 "I'm not an expert on U.S. geography, but I'm pretty sure there aren't any deserts on the East Coast."

 Servis is quick to correct her.

 "Really? I'm pretty sure someone mentioned something about their being a wasteland...oh hey there's a golem!" She notices the Ur-Doll and approaches it, "You wouldn't be able to provide directions would you?"

    So, one minute, Morrigan is puttering along, carefully driving her Ford Windstar along some highway or another when...
    Ping!
    "Master, you have mail." Mary Contrary pipes up, causing the Warlock to quirk her brow inquisitively.
    "Well that's rare- it's not from my boss is it?"
    "No, it's from an AI named Minerva-- apparently acquainted with a ... Justina Thyme?"
    "Ohhhh... Oh. OH! Yes, yes we know them, what's it say?"
    "It's a request to join on an exploratory venture. Coordinates and directions are included."
    As soon as Mary pings them up on the GPS of Morrigan's smartphone she takes the next exit...
    A little while later there's a crackle of green light at the nearby Vine and with a thunderclap the grey minivan comes puttering through, rolling to a stop as the witch inside puts on the brakes and shuts down the car with a twist of the key in the ignition.
    The door swings open and a boot steps out onto the cracked earth, and Morrigan Lor'osa shuts the door behind her with a ~beep-beep~, Mary perched on her shoulder.
    "Hiiiiii, we're heeeeere."

    Minerva pings the Ur-Doll as people arrive, and links up to Talia's comm. "Miss Kyras, you will arrive at the rendevous point in approximately three minutes, be advised that local fauna has been detected between you and the rendesvous."

    Holly's familiar approaches Justina, who takes a step back. Though there's no facial expression on the robot, it's clear she's not quite sure what she's looking at. "D=Directions to, where?" she asks, a clearly feminine voice coming from the voice synthesizer. The frame has a slightly feminine profile, though it is armed with a pair of folded, repeating crossbows on the shoulders, and a few extra inches of armour plating along the legs and torso.

    Justina's head turns quickly to Morrigan's arrival, the astrally projected half-elf giving a nod to Mary, and her Master by proxy.

    "Copy that, Minerva." She answers over comms.

    Once the speeder makes a stop, the Mirialan Jedi hops off, ND-77 following suit by rolling off a ramp. She nods to Holly and the Ur-Doll, as well as Morrigan and Mary. She offers Holly a smile and a hand to shake. "I don't think we've met, I'm Talia Kyras, it's nice to meet you." She greets politely.

"New York City! I don't see it anywhere!" Her purple eyes take in the newcomers but it's Justina and Morrigan who get much of her attention. "More ghosts, and a elf! With a teleporting car...wow!" She quickly puts two and two together. "Wait, that looks wait too advanced for Pandemonium...unless if it's a magic-powered car or something? That would be certainly useful to get around!"

 "Holly, you don't have a driver's license. In fact you barely managed to get your flying one." Servis is quick to remind her.

 The witch has a stranger of unknown species approach and offer a hand. She eagerly takes it and shakes it. "Oh there's an orc here too! I'm happy to meet you too." A swing and a miss.

"She's a Mirialan actually, not an orc." Misaki corrects Holly, "And a space knight with a sword of light that goes bzoom." The fact that the sword goes bzoom seems to important to Misaki. "I'm Misaki Sakai, a pleasure to meet you miss..? Dunno if this world even has a New York City or where to find it if it does have one." She has noticed Morrigan, "Hello miss Contrary, how are you doing today?"

    "Half-elf actually. Human on my mother's side." Morrigan corrects Holly rather casually. Misaki gets a wave. From Mary. The little shinki looks a little awkward from Misaki's constant ignoring of her master at this point, but is polite to a fault.
    "Um. I'm doing well." She replies, rubbing at the back of her neck, before Morrigan gives her a little pat on the head.
    "It's fine, Mary, it's fine." She says, before setting her hand on her hip.
    "SO! Justina! What are we looking at aside from a dustball?"

    Talia scratches her head. "Orc? What's..." She sideeyes Morrigan. "What's an orc, per say?" She wonders. She's about to explain to Holly when Misaki basically gives the lowdown. "Y-yeah, that."

    In any case, it's time to get down to brass tacks. She eyes Justina's drone, with ND taking scans of the area for cartography data.

    Justina seems to come out of her little social anxiety stupor. "O-Oh, yes, um. This is Zeta Epsilon Theta IV. Fourth planet of seven in the Zeta Epsilon star cluster. The fact that this world is marginably habitable is an amazing find in and of itself for more than simple scientific curiosity... though the purpose of my expedition is to seek out new forms of life, so the local fauna will need to be located, catalogued and potentially tagged for long-term observation of natural roaming, mating and any migration habits."

    The Ur-Doll straightens. "I am also a half-elf... though human from my fathers side." she adds when Morrigan offers up her own origin. "I suggest we split into teams, we can cover more ground, and with proper communication, can easily regroup should something happen."

"Oh I've never ever heard of Mirialans before, that's something I'm going to have look up later. It tends to vary somewhat, but orcs tend to have yellow or green skin and pointed teeth. Oh there aren't many other humans on Pandemonium besides me, mostly elves. I'm not from there originally though. Just going to college...wait I'm in another galaxy? Wow, I really took a wrong turn..."

 "Well, we're dead so there's no need to tag us." Lavaux figures Justina wouldn't be interested in them. And I'm guessing you've ran into humans before..." He sounds a bit protective of Holly as he says that.

    Talia isn't sure if she should be insulted or not by the comparison to such a being, but she shrugs and ignores it for now.

    More important things need to be dealt with. "Understood. En-Dee has a commlink hub installed that lets her contact others, she can link up with your Ur-Doll if need be from a long distance." Talia nods, producing her commlink. "I've got one too, so if anybody wishes to join me they're welcome. En-Dee, stay with the speeder." The droid beeps an affirmative before rolling back up the speeder's ramp, and sits tight. "Will there be a likelihood of hostile wildlife?" She asks Justina.

"I got a cellphone so we could open up like a group call maybe?" Misaki glances between the others, "I'm human." She heads closer to Talia, clearly intending to stick with the Jedi if they split up. She transforms, "I hope this world doesn't have giant worms. They're the worst."

    "Oh huh, really?" Morrigan says when it turns out Justina is also a half-elf. Well nevertheless the suggestion to split up into teams and to open up a group call gets a pip pip from Mary, who... Proceeds to open up a group call channel for the exploration party.
    Helpful little thing.
    "Orcs are a race of green-ish skinned humanoids that are known for their aggressive nature and warlike culture. Though not all of them fit into that stereotype, they are kind of tribal in nature." She explains to Talia.

    "We are only interested in the local fauna. I am certain that neither you, nor your... mistress... are local." replies Justina to Lavaux's concerns. To Talia she adds. "Local fauna has been scanned on long-range sensors, but the formation and disposition was impossible to ascertain. Always assume hostility unless proven otherwise and treat any encounter with extreme caution."

    Minerva pings the group call. >"I will assist with controlling the group communication channel, the Sanctuary is in geo-stationary orbit, so we should be able to maintain comms no matter how far you travel. Be advised: Lifeform readings have grown more intense to the north in the sand sea area. Orbital visual scan has noticed nothing, so potentially these lifeforms are sub-surface."

    Justina turns her Doll's head and nods to Morrigan, before heading NORTH. "I suggest you go with... Holly, was it?" she says, to Morrigan.

    To the NORTH: Desert. To the SOUTH: Craggy Mountains. To the EAST: an Oasis with foliage and some small antelope-like creatures hiding in the tall grass and tree analogues. WEST: Impassable Sheer Cliff Face, Connecting to SOUTH MOUNTAINS.

"Yes, what Morrigan said too! I don't have a cell phone so I'll let you handle that. Sounds good, witches should stick together after all! She nods in agreement with Justine.

 "Can you even get reception out here? I'm not seeing any cell towers or much of anything." Lavaux would be surprised if they could.

 "It might be best to head east, you don't want to get heat stroke out here, Holly." Servis advises the witch.

    "I think Minerva IS our cell tower right now." Morrigan notes to Holly's ghost, folding her hands behind her head.
    "East it is!"

Misaki listens to the options, and is about to suggest east when that option is taken. North is out of the question, "Shall we go south?" She asks Talia. "Good luck, miss Lor'osa, miss Contrary and miss you didn't tell me your family name."

    "Right. I can handle myself, so can everyone else I assume." Talia says with a nod. She sets her comm-link to join the group-call, and plugs in a headset. SHe'll start heading SOUTHWARDS with Misaki. "South it is."F

    EAST: Morrigan and Holly find the trip almost pleasant. The air cools noticably from the dry heat of the sandstone plateau to a pleasant, if humid warmth as they close with the oasis. The local animals seem to have no fear response, likely they have no predators, or the things that eat them aren't bipedal walking creatures. As the trio close in, they'll get a better look at the creatures. They're small herbivorous things, seven eyes blinking in unison, and a hextet of small stubby horns lining along the skull. Their markings are rather drab, a sandy coat with a small 'ruff' along the back of the nexk, starting from between the lines of horns.

    The grass is thin and wispy, and the tree analogues are tall, spindly and capped with a large 'hat' of interlocked leaves. The water has a greenish-yellow tint, perhaps not potable to the humanoid system.

    SOUTH: Approaching the mountains, the shadows offer some protection from the local star, the temperature dropping off rapidly once out of direct sunlight. The mountain is a craggy affair, but appears riddled with many oddly shaped caves, almost like someone, or something took a drilling machine and let it loose on a random pattern that crisscrossed the entire range.

"I'm guessing these are what Justina are looking for. I kind of wonder how they ended up this way." Holly looks at the strange creatures curiously and the water. "I wonder if they mutated somehow." The water looks odd to her.

    Talia feels the heat lower as they made their way to the craggy mountains. She was sweating like a nerf in summer, even with the cloak protecting her from the hot sun. As she and Misaki reach one of the caverns, Talia produces a glow-rod and begins to walk in. "Hmmm, this doesn't look like a natural formation."

Misaki summons her light, "Yeah this looks like a giant worm made it." She doesn't sound at all happy with her conclusion. "I guess we should just get this over with, right, miss Kyras?" She adds on her phone, "Something has been digging here, we're looking into it."

    "Huh."
    Well an oasis is nice. And the creatures there aren't attacking.
    Morrigan will call this a win when it comes to exploring new worlds.
    "They're not afraid of us." She muses, rubbing her chin. "Must not be used to things hunting them." She says with a shrug.
    Before she looks to the water.
    "It doesn't look very... quenchy."

    >Understood, Miss Sakai. Proceed with caution.< comes the half-elf explorer's voice. In the background are the gravelly roars of something big and angry. >I have encountered the local apex predator... your worries of 'giant worms' are unfortunately founded.<

    Entering the obviously un-natural cavern, it digs into the mountain for about ten or so yards, before turning smoothly westward and up. the echoing sounds of /something/, perhaps just the tectonics, or perhaps the residents. It's impossible to tell, though the sounds aren't close, yet.

    At the oasis, one of the creatures breaks cover and trots over. It makes a sound like a cross between a bleat, a chirp and a croak, then snuffles at Holly and Morrigan, then lifts its nose toward the two ghost familiars.

    "Damn. That would explain the tunnels. I didn't see any sign of mining efforts from machines." Talia comments into her commlink. She slowly reaches to grip her lightsaber when she hears echoing sounds of something. She kneels down, and tries to feel for a tremor with one of her hands, letting her glow-rod float in the air.

Misaki manifests her guns as she receives the news. "Let's hope that whatever dug these tunnels isn't feeling particularly hungry." She comments, and keeps the light flowing to try to give them as much warning as possible if something comes through the tunnels.

"It's noticed us! Are you able to scan it from here Justina, or do you need us to bring it back?" Holly's not fully sure of what the half-elf's technology is capable of. She's trying to figure out the best way to capture the creature if they need to do so.

    One of the critters approaches.
    "Uh. What do I do?" Morrigan says to no one in particular.
    "... Do I like... Pet it or something?"
    Morrigan... Attempts to pet the creature. Hopefully she won't get wrecked by some kind of weird toxin or something.

    >"I am teleporting a tagging device down to you. Just attach it somewhere that won't impede the creature, near the ankle of a back leg is usually best, it will track their location and build a database of its movements. Attempt to get the whole herd tagged if you can, but minimum of three or four animals will suffice."< Minerva says, before a small box materializes nearby. Within the box are a set of small 'bands' with a 'ziptie' style locking mechanism. It's small enough to go around the critters leg and tighten so it won't come off, but not so tight it hurts.

    Morrigan pets the critter. It pulls back slightly at the tough, but then chitters and allows itself to be petted. There doesn't seem to be any kind of toxin in the fur or horns, so that's good at least.

    Talia checks for tremors, and can feel a low vibration, almost like a herd of horses were running relatively nearby. Then a deep rumbling, like a rockslide sounds from deeper in the tunnel, and if one looks that way, the open toothy maw of a fairly large creature can be seen closing in. It's not /giant/, the tunnels are only about five meters in diameter, so perhaps this is where the 'young' ones go to get big enough to compete in the dune seas.

"Okay!" Holly says cheerfully as she opens the box eagerly and grabs one of the devices. She carefully tries to tie the band around the creature that Morrigan's petting leg without break it or the device. Of course given the witch isn't the most delicate person, this is easier said than done.

    Talia frowns when she feels the vibrations. "I have a bad feeling about this." She muses, hearing a large, toothy being approach. She looks to Misaki with concern. "We might need to leave, unless we want to be that thing's next meal."

Misaki is already running when Talia makes that observation, and she calls back, "You think?" She takes a moment to aim some shots at the ceiling of the tunnel in between Talia and the worm to try to cause a partial collapse and slow the worm down.

    Morrigan distracts the creature. By petting it. Very awkwardly. This should make it easier for Holly to tag it.
    "All in all this wasn't pretty bad. We helped with science, right?"
    Mary Contrary nods sagely, a holorgram screen popping up in front of her displaying a scientist riding a rocket propelled bath tub through a portal and out another portal. It's tagged 'SCIENCE!'
    "... Close enough." Morrigan mutters.

"Well, at least it didn't involve being turned into a small creature for research. My roommate tends to do that a lot." Holly makes a mental note not to mention the creatures they discover here to Rue if she does manage to find her way back.

    Justina, for her part, meets Morrigan and Holly at the Oasis. The Ur-Doll is a bit battered, its outer casing scored from something sharp trying to damage it, likely a tooth or claw or something. She waits at the edge, so as not to startle the herd until all the beasties are tagged.

    Misaki manages to collapse the tunnel, and a grumpy sounding growl comes from the creature on the far side of the blockage... and then the boulder-like sound begins again, as the blockage is being 'chewed through' by the beast. It's sufficiently slowed to allow the pair to escape without much trouble. They're directed back to the Oasis too, so the group cna reconvene. "Good job everyone. All records have been logged, and we have a basic idea of the worms lifecycle to some extent at least. It seems their 'larval' stage live and congregate in hollowed out rock formations, but they lose the ability to chew through rock at a certain age, and leave the mountainous areas for the sand dune seas." she relates, looking over the small deer-like creatures. "Whatever the worms eat, it's clearly not these guys... they may only be incidental casualties if they wander out onto the sand... I noticed that the creatures are attracted to rhythmic vibrations and have a very advanced sense of touch to pick these vibrations up from several kilometers away. I managed to tage a couple of the beasts with a subdermal tracker, this will allow us to see how they divide up territory, or if they communally share resources."

>> SUMMARY[Justina Thyme] >> TL;DR: NEEEEERRRRD TAAAALLLK.

    Talia uses the Force to begin to make some rocks drop as well, knowing that Misaki has the right idea. "Let's get out of here, Sakai-san!" She says, honoring her preference for formality. Once they're out, she listens to Justina talk. "If that was a juvenile, I'm almost terrified to see what the adults are like." Talia says.