World Tree MUSH

    Investigating the home of the ex-Mayor first was a great first step, and in an emergency Muradin has even opened up an entrance to the tunnels under the mansion. However, the elevator company turned out to be a bust for finding actual problems...

    Except that the very fact that the common problem came from somewhere NOT that became evident! This town has some sprawl, but almost all of the workers from the elevator assembly plant were located in the same general area: a spread out residential one, yes, but it's largely spread out over the same two or three kilometers. It's pretty immediately apparent this is also a good place to look...the children in the area, what ones are outside, look bored and tired, and most of the houses quiet. Meanwhile, the entire area has an oppressive feel, like a murky, heavy fog around the area, but an emotional one. This wasn't present in the town hall and business area, nor the more affluent areas that have already been visited.

    This part of town is largely centered around a small street of local shops - some of which are closing down lately, given the big superstore down the road a ways - and the combined K-12 school that is the center of the community.

    Sooooo. Something had to be making all those elevator workers tired.
    Time to go find it.
    Corralling everyone into her van to drive back into town from the Simson's Bed and Breakfast, Morrigan is wearing her leather armor under a rugged pair of jeans and a simple black t-shirt. You know. To blend in.
    Once the van rolls to a stop and she pulls the key from the ignition the Warlock frowns.
    "I've seen cemetaries livlier than this. Even the kids look like they wanna curl up and die."

     Krystal nods in agreement with Morrigan about the look of the kids. "This place just feels... wrong. It's like something is draining the life energy from everyone and making them all look like they're running on empty. I think I'll see if I can find a good spot to settle in and mentally feel about the town to see if I can sense anything out of the ordinary."

 
 "Weeeell, I'm pretty soddin' stumped." Muradin said whilst in the van, taking off his helmet and passing his gauntleted hand over his messy bronze locks. It seemed to him that the case was going somewhere, but where exactly he could not say. He was well out of his comfort zone, though he had expected there would be a lot of stuff about this mission that was going to over his head. Just had to keep a stiff upper lip and all that and trust his more mystically inclined companions to hold his hand through this so to speak. 
 
 As the van reaches its destination, the dwarf placed his helmet back on and hopped off the car, limbering up his arms slightly as he looked around. "Hmm.." He said in agreement to Morrigan. "I'd say.. they look as tired as the workers from the elevator plant. Wot's got em all lethargic?" He yawned as he said that. "Man, it's making me sleepy just looking at them." He pulled his flask with ale and took a long swig, because everyone knows that beer will wake you right up....if you're a dwarf. 

Misaki is taking a nap in the van until it comes to a stop and she jerks awake. "Morning." She yawns wide as she takes a look around, and approaches one of the tired looking kids to try out something. "Hi." Wordlessly, she reaches out to see if she can get the kid to share the burden, and if they don't want to, she'll try another. Just in case the tiredness is an emotional effect.

    "This reminds me of someplace," admits Shirou just before people start pouring out of the van. "It's... nowhere near the same cause, I'm sure, but the the lingering feeling is... not too different."

    Shirou Emiya himself hops out of the van after everyone else, hand clutching tightly at the strap to the tube-pack he's been hauling along since... wow, it feels like forever, now. "It's the same as in the mansion," he observes. "Whatever this thing is, it's... draining all these people. If it's this widespread, it's... not constrained to just one place, I think? I honestly have no idea how to track it down. My sense for magical energy isn't strong enough for that."

    Having said that, he *does* glance to the other-kind-of-magus in the group. A warlock is like a magus, right? "Any ideas, Morrigan-san?"

    It really is kind of... dreary? Something like that. More importantly, nobody has any energy to comment about the strange troupe walking through... though the child perks up a little bit, even if one of the more normal ones is talking to him. "Hi..." Wary, but that's good, given these are strangers. His emotions just seem pretty subdued all around, but walking closer to the house gives Misaki something else to think about. That 'reality warp' sense of hers? It's... tweaking. Just a little. Like there's something subtly off but hard to pinpoint.

    Everyone else, those who are around, are just eying the strange outfits and such. Though Krystal, when she opens her mind to look around, immediately feels that alien presence from before... ALL AROUND. Much closer, and like it's spread around the houses, even though it's slithering about as if flinching from telepathic contact.

     So much for needing to find a spot to meditate a moment while she stretches out with her telepathy. Just moments after Krystal leaves the van and starts to focus her eyes open wide as if something startled her out of a dream. "Something is here, feels like the same alien presence I felt that was shying away from my telepathy at the mansion, except now it's... everywhere like it's spread through the houses of the entire area. Whatever we're dealing with, it's big."

    "Krystal is probably our best bet to actually find this thing." Morrigan says point blank in response to Shirou, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
    And then Krystal indeed drops the bomb.
    It's everywhere.
    Morrigan purses her lips.
    "Everyone just keep cool."

 
 Muradin shook his head. What a sorry scene. These humans looked like they wouldn't even put a struggle if he picked one of them up and hurled them. "Helpless..." He muttered to himself. "Helpless and wide open... fer something." The dwarf was no mystic but as an adventurer he did get a feeling of dread when something unnatural was happening, and he very much felt it now and much harder than before. When Krystal perked up and announced that they were in fact surrounded by the alien energy, Muradin nearly jumped up and summoned his weapons to his hands. 
 
 Except.. 
 
 Morrigan specifically said not to. 
 
 "Uh..." The dwarf froze, looking about like a deer caught in headlights. "So.. no hammer?" 
 
 This seems like a bad idea to him, just saying.

    "You say that..." complains Shirou at Morrigan while he, too, very visibly tenses up -- and quite deliberately turns to face a direction someone *isn't*, as if he's suddenly expecting something to just... suddenly pop out and ambush the lot. "But I don't really know *how* we're supposed to do that if... you know... *that* is what's going on..."

"Roughly in that direction." Misaki gestures in a direction, clearly not entirely sure where. She takes a good look around but stays close to Shirou. "Emiya-kun, if this is an ambush, stay close to me."

    Misaki has the right of it. Krystal is detecting things all over, and also getting some stares, though the young boy is more interested in Muradin because holy shit a real dwarf! But no, the thoughts do sort of resolve into a murmur of voices all over... and now that she's closer it's much easier to determine there's some kind of hive mind going on here? Finding the central control would be the hard part, they're ALL trying to play keep away.

    Misaki's feelings are vague, but concentrating can give her something of an idea of where the 'worst' of the distortion is. Somewhat unsurprisingly, it's... coming from the giant school complex down the road.

    In fact, shouldn't this kid BE there?

    "We're in the middle of a residential district, there are kids here, we don't probably don't want to fight this thing in the open streets if we can help it." Morrigan points out to Muradin and Shirou, voice lowering to a hush for the group. "Keep cool until we're sure we've found something we can wail on, then you can use the hammer."

    "W-well, when you put it like that..." Shirou allows in a considerably quieter tone, with a low little gulp deep in his throat. That doesn't make him any less tensed up though! He's just about ready to jump at the drop of a pin, and his eyes are rapidly scanning through his immediate vision range.

    Misaki, though, she gets a quick peek from him at her urging for him to stay close. "...Sure," he sighs out. "I've got your back."

    He might be misinterpreting her intent.

Misaki smiles when Shirou promises he's got her back, "Thanks." If Shirou misinterpreted her intent, she's got no desire to correct him. With some more concentration, the magical girl concludes. "The school. It's probably the school." She states, sounding fairly confident, and begins to head that way.

 
 Muradin had to admit that Morrigan had a point- to be honest the Warlock usually did even if she looked like the typical derranged Warlock type that gave Muradin the hibbie jibbies, but the Thane would be loath to admit that he ever took advice from a practicioners of dark arts. "Hmph.." The dwarf pursed his lips and refrained from summoning his mighty weapons. His blue eyes kept on the Vixen and then he glanced down to the kid that was staring at him. "Sonny, I think ye better off running home. Off with ye now, lad!" He tried to shoo away the kid as best he could even whilst still being aware of his surroundings in case they got jumped. 

     "That would make sense, being in the center of town is probably significant, and maybe whatever this entity is, they might have an easier time starting with the young minds of the children before taking on the adults." Krystal says with a nod as she moves to follow after Misaki. "I just hope that this hasn't caused these poor people any permanent harm, or this town is going to need a lot of specialized help even after we're done."

    Yep, the school is definitely the center of... something. WHAT, it isn't clear. The boy frowns a little, but... doesn't seem to have the will to argue about it, sort of half-shuffle-walking back toward his house. Naptime maybe?

    Krystal, moving toward the school, can pick up more thoughts... and if she concentrates, pick up a general idea of individual thoughts. Well, as much as a hive mind has them. But of course, the real problem is... there's a police car or three out front, and a crowd of kids of various ages milling about outside. It definitely looks like something happened here, huh? It also means it might be tough to just walk through the front door, but then again this is a huge school, there are tons of entrances.

    To the school! Morrigan lets Misaki lead the way and...
    Comes to a grinding halt when there turn out to be so many kids around, several police cars, and looking like something is going on.
    "Thaaaaat can't be good." The Warlock muses as she gives her backpack a light pat.
    The flap opens and Mary Contrary pokes her head out.
    "Yes, Master?"
    "Mary, do the thing." She says, getting a nod from her faithful shinki Familiar, who takes to the air-- and buzzes her way slowwwwly towards the throng to try and get an aerial view of what's going on while Morrigan watches through her eyes.
    "Someone try and find a side entrance or something while I figure out what has the cops over here."

 
 Naptime seems quite right. "Lad looks like me after me fourth barrel of ale." Muradin grumbles to himself seeing the lad be off on his way before shuffling to join the others. Swift and short dwarven legs took him closer to his companions, and while Morigan said not to pull out his weapons that did not meat he can't be ready for a fight. The Thane filed in next to Krystal and cracked his knuckles. 
 
 "Huh! Now what!?" Muradin recognized those fancy cars that he'd seen some humans drive. That's usually reserved for the guards, and if the town guards where here that meant there had been trouble. Not to mention that it was particularly bad if there was trouble -in the school-. 
 
 "Sod.. I guess I'll check for a side door. If ye get in trouble just yell fer me." Said the dwarf as he moved around the school. 

    It mostly looks like the police are just keeping people away and talking to the teachers, right now. There is an ambulance, but from the lack of urgency it's likely that they are either here 'just in case' or... perhaps their subject is beyond help?

    As for finding a side door, well... there were several, though it just matters if Muradin is looking for a side door into the building, or into the gymnasium or pool area(yes it has a pool). The windows can give a good idea of what's behind each, though the gym doesn't have many. They are, of course, locked and sturdy doors, but given the sort of people poking around, that shouldn't be TOO much of a problem unless they want to be ultra quiet.

     Krystal shared in the feeling that the police being here was inconvienient, though wondered if their reason for being here was related. Time and reports back from Morrigan's familiar would tell it seems. For now she joins Muradin in looking for another way in. Figuring with how run down everyone is no one would have the energy to be swimming at the pool, she heads for the pool entrance. Still just to be sure, she puts her ear to the door and listens while also reaching out with her telepathy to see if anyone was inside before trying to unlock the door with her staff like she had done before at the mansion.

Misaki's attempted approach at getting inside is to jump up to roof, summon one of her guns and use a laser to melt the lock, then get down to unlock a door from the inside so the others can get in. Trying to be quick and quiet about it.

    "...Why do these things always happen at *school*?" Grumbles Shirou. Granted, not *all* the fights he got into in his world before he was so violently pulled out, but the fact that it happened *more than twice* was still really weird.

    "I mean, we *could* just ask the cops, to be fair..." Shirou points out to Morrigan helpfully. Not that he is actually doing that right now, however. Instead, he reaches to give a light tug to Misaki's sleeve... only for her to leap off just before he manages that. "...Okay, she's off too," he mutters with a sideward glance back to Morrigan. "I guess I'm stuck with you for a bit."

    Most of the doors are alarmed if an attempt is made to break in. The rooftop... is not, at least not the way Misaki does it. A good move on her part, as it means she quickly allows the others in quietly and while avoiding anyone who happens to be in the halls. The paramedics are all talking around a particular staircase door, too, which seems to lead down to the basement.

    And outside, Morrigan is getting info, but Shirou can tell that whatever happened here, it doesn't seem to be happening NOW. Like, it's not a bomb threat or something.

    "Kid, I'm a sketchy-as-all-get-out Warlock. If I walked up to country bumpkin cops asking what's going on at a kid's school, I'd be arrested on the spot for witchcraft and satanism." Morrigan points out to Shirou.
    Anyway it looks like something is up if there's an ambulance, but it seems all so low key that she calls Mary back.
    "Let's go meet up with the others and see about getting inside." A pause. "Is being stuck with me so bad though?"

 
 Just as well, Muradin was struggling to look through the windows of the doors and the school itself to figure out what was behind. This place was certainly not designed for dwarves and the mighty Mountain King was doing a rather undignified tippy toe to look through the windows when he noticed Misaki jumping on the rooftop. "Aha! There's the ticket! Let's go!" Oddly enough, jumping to the rooftop was -way- easier for the dwarf than trying to look over a window, Muradin can jump very very high but he can't float. The Mountain King jumped up, did a sommersault, and landed nicely on the rooftop without even breaking through it. "Excellent job there Misaki." He said as he entered the school from the rooftop as well. 

     It does occur to Krystal, perhaps a bit late though not so late that she's already tried to force open the door, that even in a relatively low tech world like this, a public building like this is likely to have electronic security, and she doesn't want to chance setting it off with the police right out front. So she follows Misaki and Muradin to the roof, taking just a moment to climb up there, she then heads over to join them in entering the school from above. "Odd that there is less security up here. I mean ladders aren't exactly hard to come by." She comments with a shrug.

    "N-no, I didnt mean it like that!" Shirou is quick to protest with a rapid waving of his hands just in front of him and a subtle flush over his cheeks brought on by embarrassment. Trying to put *that* aside, though he coughs and pointedly turns to go ahead and take lead on their brave expedition to... join up with the rest of the guys already there. "Anyway!! I think if we can circle around we might be able to find a spot where we can slip in to get to where everyone else is without all those people noticing! Come on!"

"Ladders are big and obvious, and people are slow to climb." Misaki answers Krystal, she quickly sends a flash of light to attract Shirou's attention once she's downstairs, and once Morrigan and Shirou are close enough, "From what I heard we want to go to the basement."

    Well fortunately for Morrigan and Shirou, Misaki did say she was willing to open a door for the others. And yes, it would be odd the roof wasn't alarmed, except this is technically still during school hours. It's possible some of the side doors aren't alarmed right now, too! Just hard to say which. Either way, opening one from the inside doesn't cause a problem other than a brief, annoying beeping noise, but that isn't enough to alert the others with all the noise of them chattering.

    Now the only issue is getting past the paramedics and cops, two of each, standing around the entrance to the basement. Unless another entrance can be found, of course... but both Misaki and Krystal, this close, will be able to sense the basement is much nastier than anywhere else!

    "Thank you." Morrigan says rather casually as Misaki gets the side door open for her and Shirou. Though she scowls at the beep. Hopefully no one will notice that. It's right when she spots the police and paramedics that she makes a hand motion for the group to hold up a moment.
    . o O ( Hold up a sec, I've got this. None of you look me in the eyes while I do. ) She mentally broadcasts to her party before rounding the corner and ... Walking right up to the police and paramedics!
    "Oh! Oh excuse me! I'm a substitute teacher here, I was in the supply room when everything happened, what's going on!?"
    She lies like a pro. Thing is, as soon as they look at her and she has eye contact with the four of them at the entrance to the basement, her eyes turn an inky shade of pure black, dotted with the pinprick lights of thousands of stars.
    "It would be really awful if something happened and you all just... Fell asleep on the job."
    The paramedics and police will suddenly be slammed by the compulsion to yawn. And then curl up where they are and drift off to sleep then and there and let just about anyone into the basement while they doze.

>> GAME >> Morrigan spends an Edge for: Good Night!

 
 "Aye, pretty much." Muradin had to agree with Misaki there on her assesment of why people wouldn't be hauling around ladders. "Hard to conceal too, it'd be best for a one time kinna thing leave yer ladder and go, but if yer trying to rob a place yer better off climbing or using rope and that's certainly harder. Not that.. I know bout these things." The Thane cleared his throat and followed everyone down the building to let Shirou and Morrigan in. He too scowled at the beeping noise and was ready to get into a fist fight with some cops and paramedics, it'll hurt their faces but at least he wouldn't flat out kill them- they're just doing their jobs after all. That was his plan at least, until Morrigan told everyone to close their eyes and Muradin, quite frankly, immediatly looked away. "Soddin' black magic." He cringed and heard the bodies of the cops and the medic curl of on the floor. "Well done... Morrigan... at least ye didn't turn them into frogs or something.." Said Muradin slightly grudgingly, honestly... he could travel to the ends of the Multiverse and he'll never feel comfortable working alongside Warlocks.. 

    Shirou, then, gives a quick thumb-up to Misaki once he and Morrigan slip in through the door! "Well done."

    He's no stranger to sneaking through a shcool, at least... just under entirely different circumstances. "Okay, so how are we--" he whispers... until he suddenly hears a voice in his head. "Wh-?"

    It takes him a hot second to realize that it is, in fact, Morrigan talking through telepathy, and his eyes widen with surpirse when she just... rounds the corner.

    And even more so when her gambit ends up resulting in the paramedics and cops just... falling over for a quick snooze cruise. "...Morrigan-san?" He calls out after, as he peeks around the corner. "You have Mystic Eyes?"

    Well that was nice and anticlimactic. Not that hard though... these are just normal small town cops, and not so small town that they're secretly retired war vets with mutant genetics caused by secret government experiments on lizard people, like in Episode S2.6.

    So it's a quick and easy rush(and trundle, in Muradin's case) down the basement stairs and into the furnace room... where the victim has already been hauled off. Yes, victim, because there's a huge smear of blood, and the 'scent' of reality wrongness is stronger. Most likely due to the large drain set in the floor that likely leads directly to the wastewater, though surely that's not where anything came from... it looks like a rather heavy grate!

    Spoilers: telepathy can definitely tell there's something living down there.

     Krystal feels like her fur is standing on end as they get closer to the basement and the feeling of this presence gets stronger still. She is momentarily distracted from the prospect of what their facing when they come upon the police and paramedics, and she blinks when she looks back to see what Morrigan had done, finding they have fallen asleep. "I'm really glad you're on our side." She comments with a grin.

 
 "Alright! Now the hammers coming out!" Muradin snarled as his nose caught the scent of blood as soon as he and the party reached the furnace room. With a flash of light Troggbane and Mithrios appeared in his hands and he, as usual, took position at the front. "We got a bloody casualty here! This thing better not have hauled off one of the kids! I'll be right soddin' pissed if he did! GrRRAAH!!" Why, Muradin could hardly contain his anger at the thought of the monster targeting children. "Someone tell me where this thing is so I can bash it to bits!" The chase had been going on long enough. Muradin wanted this thing dead yesterday. 

    Morrigan covers her mouth to laugh as Mary perches on her shoulder.
    "Hahahaha! Don't be silly! I wouldn't turn them into frogs. I'd turn them into starfish." She says before flashing a fanged grin at Shirou and Krystal.
    "Uh huh! Turns out 1-800 contacts DID have lenses for my Special Eyes. Who knew?"
    Down into the basement though and Morrigan frowns.
    "That's a lot of blood." She points out the obvious. "Now's a good time for the hammer, yep." She agrees, drawing a dagger from her belt."

"We're here. This is ground zero." Misaki summons her other gun and stays behind the others, but begins charging energy into her guns. She sticks close to Shirou, "Let's hope this isn't too nasty."

    Yes, ground zero! Or... close to it? Because that grate was definitely removed at some point, even if it is heavy. And underneath is... well, some wet tunnels. Kind of cramped? Yet large enough for people anyway! And just a little ways in, close enough to see, is a pulsating tunnel that's broken into the wastewater(which, seriously, why is this sewer line so huge?)

    Muradin definitely can recognize this tunnel. It's much like the one at the manor, but while that one was sculpted and smooth and organic-like, it was kind of... dead. This looks like a living thing, and even has a six-limbed, man-sized clawed... THING emerging, with four eyes glowing yellow as they look at the explorers.

    Krystal could probably sense this one coming if she was paying attention, but the 'reality twist' seems to be coming from the tunnel, not the creature.

 
 Despite the rage that he was feeling, Morrigan's comment was just distracting enough to pry his attention away from their mission to glance at her over his shoulder. "Why a Starfish??--Actually, ye know wot? I don't wanna know." The dwarf shook his head and reminded himself that the less he asked of a Warlock, probably the better. Besides, there was hardly any time to interrogate Morrigan about her schemes when there was clear fighting ahead. At last! Something to kill! "Beasties up ahead, lads and lasses! Stay sharp!" The dwarf shouted as he moved forward and towards the claw shaped creature with surprisingly little fear. No eldritch horror would ever be giving this dwarf pause! 
 
 "Eat this, punk!!" The Thane winded up his right arm before hurling his hammer at the beast, spinning and crackling with electricity as it sailed towards its many eyes. 

     Krystal looks like she's going to be ill as the creature emerges, though it's more due to the nature of the tunnel it's coming from. "Well, now I know why it felt like this thing extended through the the whole residental section... because it probably does, and that is a rather terrifying realization. Anyone know any plumbers versed in the paranormal? I don't really know how to kill a living tunnel network. Any ideas Muradin if killing this thing that came out doesn't take the tunnel with it? Because I have my doubts." She questions as she grabs her staff and levels it at the creature from below, ready to blast it, and as Muradin goes charging in, she joins in, waiting for a clear shot and then aiming an energy blast at it.

 
 "Kill it first! We can worry 'bout keeping the integrity of the tunnel later! That's nothing a couple o' support beams won't fix!" The dwarf yelled back at Krystal in mid fight. 

Misaki stays near the back, when the thing emerges she immediately shoots her beams, aiming for one of those eyes. "What we're after is further down the tunnel." She states, "And this is disgusting."

    Down into the sewer and there's a tunnel... Lovely.
    What's coming out of the tunnel?
    Even lovelier.
    "Oh that's an ugly one isn't it." The Warlock says, taking aim with her palm, and keeping her distance.
    With a crackle her fingers dance with arcane energy, before they unleash several crackling bolts of dark energy with the sound of a thunderclap as she fires off an Eldritch blast.
    She pointedly does not explain to Muradin why she picked a starfish. It is a mystery.

    The creature appears to have been skittering ahead... and with two more behind it. The first is slammed FIRMLY by the hammer, pulping its chest and causing it to collapse, and then the beam of light slices another's arm off, before a blast from Krystal sends it reeling to the bottom of the tunnel with a splash in the trickle of water. The last gets blasted with the Eldritch Blast, screeching and clutching its side before stumbling back into the tunnel... which reflexively 'seals up' in a shallow closure. It's retreating in a way, but now... now everyone knows where it is.