War of Dragons: Mac Anu (PL)

Mac Anu is beautiful this time of year. The sound of water dropping constantly from small little waterfalls. The lights lit up in the shops. The occassional playful series of spells getting launched in the air. There's laughter and comfort abound as Adventurers and Landers comfortably roam about. As the Palace Land team, led by Julius Zagan Analeit and Yuri Ullen head forward, there is a bit of amazement at everything this city has to offer.

In many ways, it feels home to those of Rosenheim Kingdom. As they round a bend, they spot a rather heavy presence of Adventurers near the Church of Rosenheim. They've clearly started gearing up for war. They must have heard of what had happened in the Palace Lands.

Julius and Yuri pull hoods over their heads and continue down an alley to one of the many entrances to the Mac Anu underground. There where Adventurers clear out slimes and rats and the like rather constantly. Until finally, they are within the sewers proper, and Yuri Ullen takes out a map.

"Someone give me a Light" Yuri remarks, as she adjusts the Papyrus. It looks like... almost a 'design architecture' for this city. With some sections that don't quite match. But others that do, such as the sewer layout.

"We're going to make our way in deeper. The Slimes and regular monsters should not be a problem. But I want you to keep an eye out for traps and hidden entrances." Julius remarks to the others.

    Shirin stands back behind Yuri and Julius, and Shirin tries not to feel like the runner up as his arch nemesis for the love of the queen is present. So of course like anything he can do to show just how loyal and helpful he is, he is quick to jump to the assistance of 'the only one who keeps the Queen on track'. With a few magic words a bright light fills the tunnel for a moment before Shirin gets it under control and dims it to appropriate sneaking level before he releases the orb of light to float around Yuri. "There you go, now then onward to find the trips and hidden entrances right?"

Daiyu raises two of her tails to her shoulders at the request for some light, and a soft glow flickers from the tips. It's faint, a simple enchantment to provide others with light without disrupting her own nocturnal vision much. "Which means no one goes rushing ahead recklessly. We don't need to be finding traps by springing them." The foxwoman pauses to nudge her classes back up the bridge of her muzzle. "Or heavens forbid create enough disruption to attract the locals' attention." They'll just have to hope there's not Adventurers down there on one of those seemingly endless vermin extermination duties.

    Shiyang, not being from Rosenheim, doesn't have any reason to feel particularly nostalgic over a place similar to that kingdom's idyllic center. She's doing her best not to stand out, but a tall salamander woman is a tall salamander woman. There may be thousands of them in this kingdom, but this one in particular is wearing a hooded cloak that hides her brow. That may well draw some unwanted attention.

    She snorts in reply to Daiyu, agreeing and self-conscious enough to be aware it could well be her that attracts said locals' attention. Fortunately Shiyang is known to be cautious, practical, and... not cold, no, but with a tight self control.

    She doesn't provide light at Yuri's request, having no aptitude for it like a Rosenheimer would. Instead she stays alert, positioning herself as one standing guard. "I may be better at the hidden entrances than the light." she notes. "Traps... we shall see." she adds.

"Thank you." The bespectacled lady remarks as Shirin and Daiyu both offer their light to her. "I don't think we'll find many Adventurers down here during this time of day. But if we do, just nod and pretend you belong. We're a group of five, so we should not stand out too much." Yuri Ullen points out.

"Okay, this way. We will want to get to the center of this maze, and as far down as possible." And so, the group begins to follow the map. Heading down further and further, down various slopes with water streaming at their sides, and climbing down well hidden ladders that descend levels more quickly.

Once they get to one of the lowest levels, they end up coming across a massive ruined chamber where a great battle had been had. There's massive tears across the ground suggesting that something absolutely enormous and metal had been dragged here once upon a time, and dragged out once more. There are broken pillars, and a broken down door.

But at the back of the hall, there's writing on the wall. "Hmm... Shiyang, I need your help here." Yuri points out, where Julius starts walking around the chamber. "What happened here?" He wonders out loud.

In front of Yuri, there are various symbols that make no sense to those not familiar with cryptographs. "I think this is meant to be a passphrase. Can you decypher this?"

    Shiyang steps forward, curious, gesturing for a little more light. The script is puzzling, and not language in itself. She makes a few arcane passes with one finger, though it's not magic she's working. She's trying to determine a pattern, and she frowns as she gets an idea.

    "This symbol is common." she murmurs. "And these. This pattern repeats." she muses. Cryptograms, an old game, combined with symbols. Having some game-skill in them as well as some inclination from her old life for puzzles, Shiyang slowly works it out. It seems to be both a symbolic cryptograph that lays out a problem, and then a mathematical equation that must be then solved to determine which words of the phrase are significant.

    Working under her breath, muttering, Shiyang seems to work something out after a fair bit of puzzling. "I think, with allowances for translation, perhaps... Child to the Alv, I demand Entry." she says, staring at the doorway defiantly.

    As they descend deeper Shirin takes in the sights aa sthey descend, " Down down we go , where we stop only the map holder knows." As they continue down and they reach the bottom and he sees the sign of the great battle, almost on instinct he pulls one of his crossbows free and looks about. Reaching down for a moment and run his hand along one of the tears across the ground. "Whatever did this was big, is the source of this what we are down here for?" Standing back up he looks around trying to figure out where whatever made the marks on the ground could have went.

Daiyu tilts her head to one side, merely biding time as Shiyang does her work on the cryptic writing. "That's... cryptic and not stupendiously helpful." Her attention drifts a bit, looking at the other wartorn markings of the room. "Something rather potent," she replies to Julius. "I cannot fathom what could of been big and heavy enough to leave those gouges in the floor."

Julius hrrms, "No, it halts here, against the wall. And you can see here, something almost rectangular fell, then was eventually lifted again..." He explains. This is the battleground where the various alliances fought many a monster, seeking to halt the deployment of the mysterious Mirror that seemed to give access to a strange moonlike land.

Of course, the team here lacks that knowledge.

"Excellent." Yuri tips her glasses up, causing them to gleam. "Child to the Alv... yes, this is definitely the right path." She then folds up the papyrus and puts it away into her Inventory. "Okay. From here-on, we're going in blind. Julius?"

The Hero nods his head and moves, as the wall begins to... dissolve. Almost as if it was never there to begin with. Slowly leaving a massive gap where they once were, before the team can head down a series of stairs that look incredibly modern. With electrical looking lights in the walls. It almost feels like they just stepped from the Game into the Real World once again, as they move down a set of office-building-like stairs.

---

Behind them, a group of Adventurers move past the large hall, and peek in with confusion. "What the?" Due to the time that the team had taken getting the decyphering done, they had shone a light for long enough to have gone noticed. "Was that always open?"

Daiyu mmhmms and nods to Julius. "I see now. But whatever was here to be worth fought over is a mystery for another night." As it would seem their own way farther into the depths of this structure has been revealed. On we go. There is no visible need for it but she has her parasol resting upon one shoulder all the same... Of course visible need and true purpose are two different things, as her colleagues know of the weapon she keeps hidden within the accessory's shaft.

She follows behind Julius, but her attention is ahead of them rather than behind, Were Fang senses keeping wary for traps especially when things start to look more skitzo tech around them. If they are dealing with more than magic that is another entire set of problems to have to be prepared to deal with.

    Shiyang continues to stare at the entrance for a short time, expecting something. That's how this works, right? You speak the cryptic passphrase, which usually says something like 'Speak Friend and Enter', and then you can enter. Maybe they have to say instead who the child of the Alv is. Ugh, too much pop culture. Maybe Shiyang got the translation wrong... but no, Yuri seems pleased, and thinks they're on the right path. And then the wall dissolves.

    Shiyang lets out a sigh that sounds a little like a hiss, either affectation or the slightly-alien physiology of the Salamanders coming into play. She waits for the Landers to advance, then falls in with the group, keeping alert.

    The Salamander seems rather moved by the modern fixtures, and not in a good way. Electric lights, office building stairs... all too familiar, and not at all welcome. Though she remains silent, the dour expression on her face makes it all too clear Shiyang doesn't welcome the appearance of them somehow being back in their old world.

    Shirin steps back as he watches the wall dissolve, " That wall was a real wall right? Not just my imagination right?" Either way he waits for the others to descend before he takes up the rear , crossbow still in hand. As they descend he begins to get distracted at the loss of the fantasy setting and ending up in a sci fi area. "Was I the only one just at the bottom of the sewer a few minutes ago? These stairs... they remind me of well elsewhere." Looking around more he even reaches up towards one of the electrical lights trying to reach out and confirm it is really what it looks like.

"It's Alven technology. It could have been some kind of solid protection of Light. It could have been some kind of spell of Earth. It's hard to say." Yuri answers Shirin. "Right now, it's not our concern." The group proceed further down the stairs. Echoes sounding from their boots.

"This is... absurd." Yuri then mutters, as they step down into the sci-fi looking area.

Julius is most confused. "What is this kind of architecture. It looks... dead. And Barren. Almost as if it could suck the very life out of you." He grunts, while the team heads further down.

Soon, they step into what looks like an office itself. Outside of the windows, they can see the blue outsides of the sky, and a few highrises. Unless one of them had gone to Tokyo before, it's unlikely they would recognize the Tokyo Skyline like this. But yet, here it is...

Or at least some form of it. There's cubicles everywhere, and various writing on boards and paper pamphlets.

Kallamore has more life than this in its highrises.

Daiyu doesn't bother trying to explain the 'modern' architecture appearances because it's most likely their Lander companions would just zone it out whenever aspects of the 'Real World' are discussed. Yet as they step down into what appears to be an office the vulpine snorts softly under her breath. "This is uncomfortably... corperate." Then at more normal tone adds "You have no idea." in response to Julius. Suck the life, the desire to live anything more than the whims of the company leading one on with a wad of bills on the end of a very long stick. It makes her shudder right down to the tails.

"This is peculiar, to say the least." The urban skyline outside is a bizarre sight.

But Daiyu turns her attention to the cubicles and peers inside. Maybe one of the workstations would hold a clue to just what it is they've wandered into down here, an apprently more modern city between the thematic one.

    Shirin reaches up and touches his own face as if he needs to feel the pangolin armor plates there for a moment as he sees the office setting. Taking another moment he sees the skyline and stares for a moment and then looks at Daiyu, "We aren't there right?" His question hangs as he looks at Shiyang and then Yuri. Any closer to questioning things and he may get a headache for now though he begins to look around through each of the cubicles. On the surface he is clearing the office to make sure that no one was in the office, however at the same time he is trying to look for some sort of information on where they are.

    As Shirin shuffles through each of the cubicles he takes a moment to shuffle through the paper pamplets and especially if there are any monitors perhaps see if they can turn on and off. Effectively as he searches he is trying to politely not dig through random peoples stuff while at the same time to dig through the cubicles like the resident office snoop of such a coorperate office may just do.

    Alven technology is nothing Shiyang knows about, beyond the simple basics any Adventurer would know of course. It's also nothing of any particular interest to her, so it's easy for her to follow Yuri's example and ignore it.

    It's harder, of course, to ignore the office furnishings. Julius' comment gets an exasperated snort, and the Salamander gives a nod to Daiyu. Suck the life out of you... the one-time office drone can only agree to that. They may have had similar experiences, once upon a time.

    Shiyang reaches to her belt, unhooking a gourd and working the cork free. She only holds the odd flask up to her nose however, sniffing but not drinking what smells like rather foul and extremely potent alcohol. Then, shaking her head clear, she recorks her flask. "No, we're not *there*." she states with some certainty. "The smell is one of disuse here, not one of corruption. There is nothing moving outside. This is ... a *simulation*." she states, though something in her tone make it clear this is less a statement of fact than one of belief. A lack of absolute certainty perhaps.

"We aren't where? No... there's no way we're back." Yuri remarks, stepping along the center of the office and keeping her attention on the back office, spotting some movement there.

"Julius." She leans over and motions. The Hero of Rosenheim nodding his head. "I've got it."

As Shirin goes through the cubicles and starts moving about the pamphlets, he finds that all of the papers are... empty. There's nothing written on them. When he tries to turn on the monitors, they don't activate. Then...

Click.

There's a sudden detonation when Shirin messes with one of the monitors, as it detonates and sends shards through their body. Tearing their health in one fell swoop straight to about 10%.

A few lenses in the ceiling shine with a subtle reflection as Shirin ends up on the ground looking up.

Someone is watching them.

    Click, click, click, boom!

    The sherrif is sent flying back through a cubical wall and ends up laying there with a cough and groan. Even with the pain dampeners his health dropping all the way down to 10 percent of his health still hurts. Not as much as drowning, but damn near close. As he retrieves a healing potion still laying there he notices the reflection on the ceiling. "I am pretty sure we are being watched. Also Julius, I found a trap." With a groan he tosses back his health potion and gets to his feet.

    Shiyang is quick to pull her blade, angling the duelling weapon defensively as she steps over the fallen sheriff into a guarding posture, but it becomes apparent there's no one to fight. She snorts an unwilling laugh at his joke, then reaches out with her free hand to offer him help. Not that he needs it, but she's that kind of person.

    "Next time, with your eyes." she murmurs, reluctantly amused. "Now, was that a trap left for ones like us, or did someone trigger it? Yuri, do you know if there's supposed to be anyone still in this place? Is it long abandoned, or are we expecting opposition?"

Daiyu jerks at the sound of an explosion and backs several steps in the opposite direction quickly. "What did I say about not discovering traps by setting them off?", she hisses, tails all frizzled up like fluffy appendages do when one is startled. But at least it was Shirin. She was more worried about Julius bolting ahead all heroicly and getting shredded for it, he can't respawn like the rest of them.

Though now glad she did not do more than a passive glancing about.

"Whoever or whatever crafted this facility was expecting... nosey company," she adds, with a glance up. "No telling if there is actual people or just some manner of survelence system."

Julius mumbles, "So you have." As he brings his blade out and points it towards the office door... as it opens.

"We're not alone." Yuri warns...

And out steps what looks to be a human. Wearing a cardigan, and his hair mostly gone. Just kind of combed over a bit to the right with the few black strands they have. They're wearing a pair of lenses, and are hunched over a bit.

They look like they're about to fire someone and reprimand them for not staying another 10 hours to get that project done.

"I do believe that you are not welcome here." The old man remarks. "I would ask you politely to depart this domain that was promised to me." The man brings his hands behind his back and continues to stare at them. They might notice the odd 'ears' on him.

"Sorry old man..."

Old Man ('I')

"But we've got something here that we need to gift you." Julius pulls something from a satchel. It looks like a crown as he gets into a readied stance.

This seems to startle the office-worker looking being. "Is that..."

Well that answers that.

As the door opens Daiyu turns, hand shifting down to grip the end of the parasol shaft that is actually the hilt of the concealed sword within. Eyes narrow in a scrutinizing gaze at the elderly odd-eared fellow that trudges out of the apeture looking all the worlds for a surly old corperate desk jockey, which does nothing to ease her own concerns. Ears tilt slightly forward, wary.

"I suggest you do as he says, and accept the generous offer you are being granted..." Though, the man seems to have some manner of recognition? How? Tails flick. Eyes narrow a bit farther. The hulijing tenses, ready to move at a moments notice....

    Shirin looks at the old man and upon see the black on the old man's name pops another health potion. This is going to be more difficult then originally planned. "Didn't realize the office grind could cause someone to level that high." It is a joke more then anything but if things go south he is going to need all the health he can get. Following what Daiyu says he adds, "It is a blessing and an honor to be gifted such a thing. You will gain great protection and finally understand things as they should be. " Perhaps the sherrif shouldn't be in charge of the sales pitch, however he does at least lower the crossbow and avoid showing any hostility for the moment.

    With her sword still drawn, Shiyang simply lowers her arm slightly and angles it forward, drawing a line between her slightly-extended arm and the interloper. Or at least, the older man who seems to belong here for some reason. One who either recreated an office or has been studying and reproducing an office from afar.

    Either way, this isn't likely to endear the old man to Shiyang, and her blade pointing at him makes her attitude clear. Never mind that, in an old life, Shiyang would have worked for someone much like this. That was an old life, one better forgotten. She echoes Julius, settling into a duellist's crouch, prepared to spring forward upon his lead. He's far stronger than she is after all, and if this figure is black-rated... well, it will surely be a good death.

"You would not..." The man remarks. "That tool was made to battle the Waves. To defeat Skeith and its Kin. It is not to be used upon someone of my station! That thing is no gift. It's a horrible corruption of everything Lord Apeiron stood for! Helba went too far!" The man demands, before bringing his hand forward and declaring; "KNEEL!" He then demands, as a pulse of green light suddenly ripples out.

LAW itself forces a headache to all who can feel it, as their Cosmospheres come under assault by the piercing blow of this pulsing power!

As Julius goes /down/. Gritting his teeth in anger, and kneeling before the office-worker. Yuri barely managing to remain up before this intense force she suddenly is subjected to, trying to grab the crown from Julius so she can hand it to someone else more adept than herself at combat.

Waves? Skeith? Lord Apeiron? What was this old man going on about? Someone going too far to create th--

And then he does -something- and they are down on their knees, the fox included. As if one mind altering effect wasn't enough! Her expression scrunches briefly, likely in an attempt to resist, then just whines sharply as she realizes that is doing nothing more than hurting. Instead she side-glances at her companions... Damn, is Yuri the only one still on her feet? Now this situation isn't looking very good.

No offense to Yuri. But she's said herself that dangerous situations like this aren't her forte.

    Wait... what is she doing? For a moment Shiyang gets the feeling like she's just drawn her sword against Potimas Harrifenas, her liege. She drops the sword as if burned, quickly falling to her knees in practiced obedience to that regal command. She lowers her head and averts her gaze as well. Shirin... Daiyu... even Julius is down. Who is Shiyang to question such a powerful lord? Isn't this what drew the troubles down upon them all those months ago?

    Shirin steps forward as if to try intimidate the guy to put the crown on but instead he trips over his own feet and feels himself tripping over his feet as he ends up on his knees. Yeah that was all it was. However he wasn't going to stay on his knee. He tries to push himself up and stand but instead he kneels back down as he grips his hand with his free head and begins muttering something about loving his queen to himself. It almost seems like it is a common response to these headaches.

"Good... now... kill yourse~" SLAM.

A fierce punch flies into the man's face, sending him down into the door of his office, as Yuri punches him in the face, before wincing and lowering her body, cradling her hand. "Damnit Julius, get your act together!" She demands from the Hero, glaring at him, as the office worker starts to get up once again.

"You will pay for that." He mutters, staring daggers at her, before bringing one hand to the side. One of the monitors suddenly flies straight against her head and shatters, detonating and ripping her health down to 10 percent, before he begins to walk towards her and takes a ruler from the board and wields it like a sword, positioning himself above her...

"I do believe it's time to do away with you. While the others Remain Seated, don't you think?"

    Kill yourself? Yes, of course. It's the only way to make amends...

    That thought shakes Shiyang. She might have done it too, if Yuri hadn't lashed out. The interrupted words bring the slightest measure of anger to Shiyang's mind, and with it the first breath of mental clarity.

    This one is NOT her ruler. Even if he has the authority of this Land to give commands, he has no personal authority over this Adventurer. Unlike the rulers of Thor, no one here has done affront to this old man; no one needs to redeem themselves or their kind. Sure they came here with a crown, but so what? It was the will of those who knew of such things.

    The first cracks open, and Shiyang begins to struggle for control. Anger, never far from the surface of the Salamander's mind, begins to bubble like hot magma. It pains her, this fierce and powerful fury clashing with the far more powerful command, but so what? What is pain beside righteous anger?

    Slowly, Shiyang begins to reach her hand out towards her fallen blade. It's nothing truly special, nothing that can shield her, but it's a symbol. Something she can shape her will around.

    Shirin heard the words and begins to struggle like crazy to get out off his knees and put crossbow bolts in his ass. "Damn dirty cheater. You want to do this let us up and lets do this. Fight like a man you damn coward. This is why you all deserve to wear those, can't even fight with honor. I swear I will put a beam of light into your knees and make you kneel!" Despite all the bravado and arrogance it does nothing to hide the panic as he struggles against the commands. His speech is quick and it is all said with powerlessness as he continues to struggle to raise his crossbow to shoot the old man.

What the hell was with this old man and the power he was holding over them? Confound it for not having a better idea what they were getting into. It was exactly the sort of tactical disadvantage Daiyu did not enjoy, and right now it was biting them in the collective ass.

She started to pull the sword from her parasol.. but the compulsion ended when Yuri gives the old man a knuckle sandwhich. Then gets brutalized across the office for her trouble. The fox snarls, tries to shift her position, but finds herself still unable to actually get up, or finish drawing her weapon for its intended purpose.

Was this how the story was going to conclude? On a Bad Ending and.. considering the other powers this man has demonstrated, was there any hope they would even respawn properly? Now -that- was a terrifying thought....

The old man glances aside at the other Adventurers. "I can feel you struggling. This is what that crown does, you filthy ingrates. Bringing Helba's tool to bear upon one of the Children... how dare..." Pause. "Wait, weren't there five of you?"

There's a sudden flurry of motions, as a blade comes towards him. The Old Man is forced to halt the strike with that ruler, which holds the strike. Sparks fly off from the challenge between Julius and the Old Man.

His eyes widen.

"A Hero!? What... what are you?"

"I am the Hero of Light." Julius answers, as his blade suddenly brightens. It begins to radiate, blinding the entire room. Making the windows wash out. The desks go from a bland gray to a pure white as everything gets sun-bleached. Even the armor the Adventurers are wearing starts to lose some of its color.

And amongst all that light, they finally spot a shadow. A man approaching, as he pulls back a cloak - and its invisibility spell ends. An aged Cait Sith with a smile on his face, and whiskers. "Now now. What have we here. Come now child..." He reaches a hand out to Yuri, and takes the crown given.

The Old Man tries to lift his hand to halt Ino Hatsuse from doing what he's about to do. "This must be done." The old man remarks, as Julius' light wraps around Old Man's body, binding him, and the circlet is put on him...

And then the light vanishes. The pressure disappears from the Crowed that are present - and the Old Man's influence suddenly disappears.

"Now." Ino Hatsuse notes, putting a hand on his shoulder. "If you would please transfer ownership of this Kingdom to me?"

"... of course." The Old man answers, while grimacing.

    The moment the pressure ends Shirin stands up and looks a little bit confused and also relieved. There is a look though tossed in the hero's direction, envy , jealousy, whatever you want to call it, Shirin was only reminded why the Queen named him hero and he was simply the sherrif. Sighs he looks over at Ino Hatsuse and says, "Thank you. I am sorry you had to be involved." Turning back to the old man he simply walked up and says in a lower voice, "It is appropriate to kneel to those who command you."

Julius manages to recover, and outshine the entire situation in a surpressing presence. And then...

The old cat had been following them the entire time?? Call even Daiyu impressed, tails resuming their usual curl behind her as she gets to her feet once the pressure in her head is gone and the situation is descalated. "Your timing is impecable, sir" She dips her head in a respectful nod to Hatsuse. "And a shame upon us that you had to intervene at all." Then watches as the Old Man is brought to heel despite the tremendous threat he had posed moments ago.

So this is why they had been tasked with distracting everyone -away- from Mac Anu. The considerable layers of subtefuge in this endevour impresses her... even if she feels terrible for being so useless a few minutes prior.

"Curiouser and curiouser...."

    With an explosive gasp Shiyang lunges and grasps her blade's hilt once again, gripping it far too tightly for an effective duelling grip. But then the fight's over, isn't it? Were she a vengeful being, Shiyang would get up and strike this old man for the way he tried to command her. For very nearly killing them all, in fact. But no, that sort of petty vengeance is beneath her. Slowly she rises to her feet, sheathing her sword. She looks down on the old man, but only because of the differences in their heights.

    "This was the ruler of this land, then?" Shiyang asks, trying to regain a measure of calm dignity and somewhat succeeding. "Is this land now a part of Kallamore, then?" she asks roughly. That would be a good thing... right? Kallamore is an ally, and they're breaking the power of Yamato piece by piece. And yet, this old Cait Sith is not one of the lords Shiyang has personal loyalty to, and no orders either for or against. Wiser heads than Shiyang's will have to say whether or not this is a good thing, she supposes.