Apocalypse II-B - Westward

The Bandit King has not descended from his saddle throughout the entire wait. He's watched over the Adventurers, almost unmoving. Occassionally blinking, or answering some simple questions, before urging people to rest themselves. The quiet is occassionally interupted by a heroic call of 'Fire Wall!', 'Firebolt-o' or 'Twin Cuttaaaah!', as the people on watch keep the Ratkin at bay. From occassion to occassion, enough mages have enough mana to form a barrier to halt any approaching enemies, causing them to give up temporarily from time to time.

"It's time to move on." The Bandit King, no less animated than he's been so far, speaks, his voice echoeing within the massive halls that were once a raid dungeon. "Everyone form up and take positions. I am going to need a few of you to form a Vanguard, running ahead to scout the tunnels." He proposes. "There is a chance some of the Infected have shown themselves ahead of us by now - and we need to avoid those tunnels if we can help it."

Reika had been signing to herself the whole time, glancing once in a while to her 'exhaustion' gauge to see if she was resting. Such a weird thing, having the UI tell you if you're feeling fine or not. Either way, it's been several hours, so time to move again. She still thinks this is a lousy event right now. Why is it lasting for so long anyway, she should get out and get ready to do other work, school even. Instead she had a VR sleep.

"My king! I shall join the Vanguard! The shining light of the north star will guide the path forward!" Polaris is immediately up off their seat and on their feet. A spear is in their hands, and their eyes blaze with focus. "I will ask only one boon of the others: All spare spears! I found that the behavior of the Infected can be changed through assault. And while the spears are lost, perhaps there are opportunities there! If we encounter any of those infected, I can ensure they do not bring their baleful touch upon any of _us._"

But the black knight strides forward, tank of tanks filled with vigor and renewed enthusiasm now that their exhaustion bar has reduced. "Behind me, Vanguard!" They roar. "Today we carve a path that will be known and engraced upon the memory of all here!" They're READY TO GO, and are probably grinning like a maniac under the helm. Even if that enthusiasm is cracking just a little bit lately... Time to march!

"This is the worst camping I've ever done," groans a Spriggan from one cavern edge.

Att Syne, second least helpful member of his guild present, has his back to a cavern wall and his legs kicked out in front of him. He's been in a position near this for a long while now, restless and wishing he could fidget with his phone or a book or something. His inventory being what it is -- with some odd tools thrown in? Cool, he guesses, a tiny silver lining -- he has neither of these things. And so, he waits. And waits. And fights! And waits.

He picks himself up when the Bandit King tells them to get a move on. "Should'a had a cart. A trip to my own execution would'a been better than tonight."

     He wasn't planning on falling asleep, but enough time has passed that he's phased in and out of light naps despite sitting up straight. The only thing keeping him from falling asleep completely being the sound of people keeping guard.

     When it's eventually time to move, Haseo slowly pushes himself off the rock he had been sitting on, stretching a bit as he begins parsing what the Bandit King had said. Infected? Like undead? He doesn't remember any undead. He's also pretty sure the lore for the undead here is less like pop fiction zombies and more like magical ones.

     It takes a moment for him to reach a conclusion that makes sense, but the only thing that tracks is those weird green boars. Well, he's already making his way to the front as he volunteers himself to scout ahead, which should mean he'll get a favorable response from this guy if he asks.

     "Alright. I'll go, but first things first, by infected, you mean the same sort of thing those boars were, right? Is there any way to deal with those things in a fight? You couldn't have gotten this far just by running, right?"

Proteus rests.

As much as she can, anyway. The Imp sits on the stone floor, leaning against a wall with her hood pulled down over her face, trying to get rid of that meter that had built along the way. "How irritating." She mutters. "They decided to even start modelling this." The tone is exasperated, but... tired. She can't really complain for long.

Despite the small skirmishes, she manages to snooze fitfully, eventually awakening when the Bandit King calls for them to move. When the call goes out for a vanguard, she levers herself up, grunting as she shakes herself loose again. "Scouting? I can do that." She says. "Knight, do your knight thing. I'll get the actual work done."

Her gaze swivels to Att. "Oh yeah, just wake up in a cart on your way to be executed. What kind of stupid plot would that be? Come on Haseo. Att, you can stick with the main group if you want, I'll relay intel over guild chat."

She doesn't bother waiting at this point, simply slinking forward into the darkness. Her drab cloak and newbie clothing still help hide her Imp features and make it easier to blend in a bit, at least.

The Bandit King kindly watches the group that moves forward. Enough people move back that the Vanguard ends up being the small group of Wynfei, Polaris, Att Syne, Haseo, Reika and Proteus. It's kind of one of those 'blink and you would miss it' kind of situations.

"Correct." The Bandit King answers Haseo's question on the matter of the Infected. "I believe Adventurers historically have called them 'Bugged Mobs'?" There's a curious tone there, as if waiting for Haseo to confirm such a clear and simple question.

The Vanguard moves ahead, and the Bandit King lights a torch they take from their satchel, which glows a unique Blue color that spreads quite a distance. "You should be able to find your way back to us by this color. We'll lag about five minutes behind." He offers to them.

---

As the Vanguard moves forward, they soon come across a massive chasm. The area splits into three long winding 'bridges' that wind to different parts of the caves. Some of this looks new to those present. There's many more bridges on high pillars cross-crossing throughout this massive chamber. Some of the pillars more shaky than others. It is in fact a bit difficult to see where each bridge even goes...

Reika is following, nimbly enough due to her high agility, but standing a step behind the others in the vanguard... because she really doesn't know how to fight yet. She has twin short swords at her sides though, but haven't used them often, just to kill weak things that fans softened up first.

She looks at the bridges though, tilting her head. "Such long bridges... I hope they are safe at least." She doesn't know how much the game rules apply anymore. There could be an event here too after all. Storytellers, why are you tormenting them so much?

Bah, no spears. Well, Polaris will work with it. "The safety of the bridges... Hmm! Your fear is unfounded under the protection of THE UNYIELDING POLARIS, but that is worth considering! Who do we have with the most powerful agility? See to those high pillars and tallest bridges, if you can make the climb! An enemy falling upon the refugees from above would be tremendous peril, especially the Infected that must not be given a chance to even touch them!" They gesture with their spear. They're definitely not the best for navigating this, considering their hefty build.

"I shall focus on finding a path! Let the guiding light of the north star show you the way!" The black knight just strides on, picking one of the three almost entirely at random -- the rightmost -- and walking it to see where it goes, shield and spear eagerly ready for foes.

Att rolls his eyes. "I dunno, what kind of stupid plot is 'just run away'? Pay-off better be good, is all I'm saying." He trudges a couple steps away from the wall -- and finds himself volunteered by proximity. Dammit.

". . ."

    ONE DROP CUT LATER

Att stands at the edge of the chasm. He's got a conjured light floating above his shoulder, looking like a hovering ball of fire with the impression of a smiley face on it. "They're probably rickety in places," he observes. "Just be careful, okay?" He moves over to the edge of the bridge, kneeling down to examine the first one they find. He should have some manner of ability to survey it; he's got the right craftsman subclass picked out for this, after all. "Falling off might not kill you, but it will definitely seperate you from the rest of us."

UNYIELDING POLARIS raises their spear! ENLIGHTENENED... they start up the Sword Art, but then just don't finish it. The gleam intensifies, intending to floodlight the area! It only takes them a few moments with that brighter light to recognize the crumbling nature of the right-side path, and take steps back, dispelling the light. "Not this way! A bridge inadequate for the weight of my legend. We should go..." They check back. The others will hopefully have chosen one of the better paths now that Polaris has elimited the right-side branch.

Reika feels her senses getting sharper for a moment... although it doesn't help her give the right way, she can at least warn about the right path. "That one looks very rickety, we should avoid that one for sure."

"Two things can be right at the same time. And you're right. I'm not a fan of this either. Locked into the event, server wiped, broken and corrupted data everywhere. It's ridiculous."

Proteus moves quickly, unencumbered by heavy armor (or a heavy pack, for that matter. THANKS DARK WAVE). The instructions are given, and she moves on with the others.

For the moment. Once they are confronted with the mazelike paths before them, she looks over the bridges with a frown. "What is this madness." She mutters. "The entire area has become even more complicated than it used to be." She is about to pick a path when she winces at the bellowing cry of the Knight. "MUST you announce everything you do at the top of your lungs? It's like you want to be swarmed under by the ratmen."

There is a little sigh of irritation and she turns to look over at the paths, mentally sketching them out as she works out the way they would all have to connect in her mental landscape. "There." She says, and sets down the central bridge.

Perhaps notably, she doesn't bother telling the knight he's going the wrong way. She's sure Att will tell her if the bridge has problems.

    Wynfei looks up, he hadn't thought about how long he was on watch, but he did rest during this time. Standing up and when he is picked to join the Vanguard, he gives a quick bow of his head, "Alright." he says as he moves up ahead and keeps with the Vanguard Team. He is quiet and watchful as he looks to the group.

    As they make it towards the chasm, he does remember this and he looks to the others as he sees the three bridges, and as he does, he checks the other bridges that the others are looking at. "Anyone got a way across?" he asks.

Att stands up. "That way," he explains, pointing left, "goes into this twisty loop that comes back here. That way," he points right, "won't support our weight if we try to march the whole column up it. See the frayed lines? It's kinda hard to pick out in this light. So, that means..." He gestures towards the middle. "...we go up the middle, and see what the next problem is. I think the bridges are more or less secure, long as nobody tries any funny business."

He looks over to the Loudest Knight. "Tanks up front." Att's eyes check over the group. "Healers to the back. Ranged damage in the middle. Let's get moving. Somebody mark the path as we go?"

He goes, staff in hand, light above him. It makes him stand out, but it keeps the group able to see, so...

     "Yeah. You know, you sure know a lot for a- Tch, whatever. Not even going to bring up you conveniently didn't answer how you've been dealing with these things."

     Haseo trails off, and then rants slightly off tangent from his original sentence as he remembers that they probably shouldn't bring up that they're clearly not a normal NPC.

     They're eventually met with a winding series of bridges, as they're told that the Bandit King will be behind them. Luckily, it seems Haseo doesn't have to use his brain as his guild mates seem to have figured out what to do, so he just follows them. Looks like he's not the only person who spec'd Thief as a profession.

Does Polaris want to be swarmed by the Ratmen? "YES." They announce, eagerly. "But there will be no such grand pull this day. The accoustics of this chamber should yield little to the masses, if it yielded little to them in our area of rest. BESIDES! We cannot _quietly_ carve a legend, can we?" They slam the spear's hilt into the ground and carve an arrow indicating the middle path.

"WITH PLEASURE." One eye suddenly blazes a shining white under the helm as Polaris strides forward to take the front. "Let none of their claws fall upon you, that don't meet me first!" They march confidently on the middle bridge, weapons at the ready for whatever threat they might encounter!

Reika raises an eyebrow at Polaris's rather loud demeanor... but chooses to follow anyway. He has big armor, that should be helpful if something attacks, right? She's dresses in something that covers about as good as new years dresses, compared. She watches him marking up the stone as well, hmming "You think anyone is following? Should be weary of those following even?"

With the team progressing across the path, marking the path for the rest of the team to follow, they proceed forward. The winding paths take them down, then up again. Around a pillar. A few minutes in, they spot the telltale light of the Bandit King's torch. Noting the marking, they begin to follow after them - lagging a good distance. The occassional Firebolt being thrown the way of a Ratkin that comes their way.

From the long broad winding bridge, they can look down. See just how deep things are. It's so dark that even with a light spell, they can't see what truly lies below. Though one of them might spot the tell-tale signs of sharp objects glistening below, as well as the subtle ebbing of waters.

With the team progressing further, they soon enter another set of halls, leading out into caves. This time, with the sound of chittering surrounding them on all sides! Before they know it, they are ambushed. With the main focus going towards Polaris, presumably being loud.

Four Ratkin rush in towards the hall, followed by an /ENORMOUS/ rat-looking mouse with a crown on its head, wielding some kind of massive stalactite in its right hand, charging the group with a massive motion of the mace-like thing aiming to crush them with a wild swing. The smaller ratkin coming at them with daggers!

"Of course they'll follow!" Polaris says, clapping a hand on Reika's shoulder. "Today, we are the guiding light! We will light the path for their escape! That is what it means to be Polaris, after all!"

!!!!!

"BEHIND ME!" Comes the roar from the knight. "AN AMBUSH!" They slam their shield into the ground dramatically, lighting up an arte with their shield. "REPELLING SHIELD!!" Every incoming strike is suddenly lashed out at, with rapid spear-strikes that shine in the dark with ever-increasing light! "FIERCE STAB!" The black knight features shining stars of light as they rush to occupy as much of the ratkin attention as they can. "EN GAAAAAAARDE, FOUL BEASTS! SEE THIS MEAGER SHADOW YOU CAST ANNIHILATED IN THE GUIDING LIGHT OF THE NORTH STAR!!"

"I prefer my legend to speak for itself, not require shaking the mountains with every word." she mutters back. Proteus continues to basically wince every time Polaris booms out with his dramatic declarations. The smile under her hood is definitely looking a bit frayed at this point. Slowly, she looks over the edge into the darkness, where spiked rocks and rough rapids seem to be far, far below... And she looks meaningfully at Polaris' back...

But she does nothing. The temptation passes, and she simply follows along, resigning herself to dealing with the fact that the boisterous knight is going to legendarily aggro every mob in the instance.

At least they focus on Polaris. When the ambush starts, Proteus is already leaping into the air. "Waterslide!" She calls, hitting the ground and skidding right past the mace, ducking under the impact as a wash of water propels and allows her to slip right past and through the enemy formation. She skids to a halt behind them, her hands spreading wide. "You stupid creatures couldn't leave well enough alone, could you? WHIRLING DISC!" There is a flare of water, the spinning, hissing water-buzzsaw spreading along her hands and rotating rapidly on its axis. She brings the attack back and hurls it straight through the enemies, clearly expecting it to cut a swath.

In consideration for the others, she does bother to aim in a direction no allies are in.

Reika followed across the bridge... mostly a step behind Polaris at this point... She looks at the wall mostly, admiring the architecture "They put a lot of effort in this game..." It's still a game, for now.

But then, everything changed with the Ratkin attacked. She almost gets barreled by a charging Ratkin, her reflexes allowing her to move out of the dagger nimbly. "Hey! What's the beg idea?!" A bit of a roll... despite herself. She didn't even know she could do that. The rolling makes her realize she had swords... How do you even use these? Well she pulls one out of its sheath, and clumsily aims the tip back at the monster, thrusting forward without any technique. Just enough to hopefully scare it off.

"I suppose the name /is/ pretty fitting," Att concedes. As far as guiding stars go --

Well, this one guides them right into an ambush.

Fortunately, they recover very quickly. Att intercepts a leaping ratman's knife with his staff, deflecting it with the expertise borne of skill use. Between the shielding techniques and Proteus' water, they seem to gradually come back together... mostly. "Hey!" Att calls to Reika. "Are you actually for-real completely new?" He sounds surprised. "Just swing one of those through the monster, if it leaves a red mark it did damage. Even better --"

Att points his staff. "THORN BIND HOSTAGE!" Glowing violet vines rise up and bind the creatures to the ground.

"-- cut those to do even more damage to 'em. Come on, it's easy!"

     Well. There's a bunch of ratmen. Given there were a bunch before, it's kind of a given, but to count what very little blessings he has right now, at least they aren't bugged out. So that means they're killable.

     Haseo's pretty sure he had some other level one weapons lying around in his inventory, the weapons he generally tended to use too. A bit too convenient for his liking, but it's not like he's going to look a gift horse in a mouth. He opens his menu, and quickly switches to a scythe. It's rather pathetic looking, like a very basic grim reaper scythe, but given that the moment he swings it into the crowd and it's slashing through them with relative ease, it's still an effective weapon.

     Pushing their way through the crowd with controlled swings and making sure not to get hit, they're eventually close enough to the rat king to where they feel safe enough to open their menu and switch weapons again, this time to a massively plain great sword, before leaping into the air and bringing it down against the massive mob's stomach.

     "GUT RIPPER!"

     Here's to hoping there's no realistic gore and that he doesn't wind up covered in Rat King's lunch, but from everything he's seen so far, there probably isn't.

    Wynfei catches site of the the enemies coming towards them, and hearing Polaris as she calls for them. He smirks a little bit as the others begin their attacks, he dashes forward moving towards the Ratkin as there are four of them. Wynfei moves with natural grace and speed as he leaps towards the nearest ratkin, and as he does he does a spinning kick, "FIERCE STRIKE!" he calls as the skill activates and an electric like flicker of energy crackles around his leg as he slams his foot into the Ratkins head.

    Landing and ducking under a swing as someone else attacks the Ratkin he just attacked. "Keep your eyes open and healers keep the heals coming." he uses Strategize.

The knight repells a fierce block, followed by his Spear-strikees slamming into the head of a Ratkin. It breaks its skull and immediately causes it to explode in a shatter of light. Proteus, deftly avoiding the mace, brings the whirling disks to bear, cutting through one of the rats and slicing into the massive 'mace' of the 'King Rat', cutting off some of its fingers at the same time, and lowering its HP dramatically. It looks like the mobs here are still capable of being dealt with.

Att Syne follows this up, right as the King Rat is about to slam its fist into Reika instead, with a Thorn Bind Hostage. Halting its movement temporarily!

Thorn Bind Hostage

> It wraps the caster's enemies in shining thorns. And for every hit an ally lands, the thorns explode dealing additionally damage, ignoring their defenses.

Upon Haseo using his Gut Ripper against two of the remaining Ratkin, they shatter just like the others before. Their HP hitting zero, right before they shatter into sparkles of light. One of them leaving behind a baggie of gold. Wynfei cleaning up the last of the ratkin.

The Rat King awaits the <Final Blow>...

Right as its body begins to shimmer and shatter... and green light appears over its body. It throws out its arms, and shatters the Thorn Bind Hostage status, and lets out a loud roar! One that freezes the team, causing a <Paralysis> status on them. Barely allowing them to move. They might just get a single skill off...

As the rat grabs a bugged mace out of nowhere... materializing it right before them, and then leaping forward and swinging it around, attempting to smash it against the lot of them!

Polaris's helm gleams. "Look out!" They roar! "It has become Infected!" They're in halls, rather than on a bridge, so dammit, they can't even find a good way to knock this thing off! And they can barely move... they can barely move! No!! "Nnnnngh!" They fall to one knee, gasping for air. "No... No! I will not yield... Just a little more time...!" Focus. Focus. What can you do, Polaris? What is left?

Nothing. There is nothing that can be done here. Is this legend going to end before it began? ...No! No, there has to be something! There has to be something! Polaris never shifts! The north star will never be forced to turn.

"You might change the world... change the nature of reality's fabric... but it wouldn't matter if you moved heaven itself." Their whisper rises into a roar. "POLARIS WON'T BE MOVED!!" Their spear, a gift from Att Syne, shifts subtly. A heavy "KA-CHUNK" as if it's loading a hefty round into a chamber. The head of the spear has changed... a HALTING TIP! "HALTING STRIKE! YOU STOP HERE, RAT KIIIIIING!!" The Relic is meant for hunting, but here, it cuts the speed of this target down. Polaris lashes out with one massive strike, meant to slow the creature on impact just for a moment. "STRIKE!! NOW!!"

    Having taken out the last of the Ratkins, he saw the Rat King being fought and as he is about to die in game terms, he saw the glitch, "What the hell..." he says as it materialize a weapon out of no where. The roar hits them all and he grunts but he was already close enough as the Rat King swings his weapon to try and attack them all again.

    Wynfei could feel the paralysis but it wasn't strong enough, but through sheer force of Will Wynfei moves forward and he brings his arms up into a X formation and channeling his Block skill and he growls as he steps into the swing taken the hit!

    He hears Polaris words as she moved up to take the hit as well and he could feel the power of the blow, and he grunts as he feels it rock through him and pushing him back abit. If Polaris looks to Wynfei, she would see a grin on his face as if he's having fun.

Reika phews as she manages to push her ratkin away somehow, despite having... no experience to do so. She blinks as the King frees up, and eeeeeks sharply when she's paralyzed. She has nothing she can do about it, but she raises her head to watch what the others are doing. Polaris attacking, and the others defending against the hit with what they have left. She slumps down a bit. It might not hurt exactly, but it's not comfortable at all!

Att looks smug and triumphant, a pretty solid expression on the avatar he's chosen to go with. The fight is wrapping up neatly, with minimal damage on their side of things. "Now, just break the thorns --!"

Everything goes abruptly sideways. The thorns shatter as the corruption seeps in. Att steps back, recoiling as if he'd just seen a poisonous snake rear its ugly head. His avatar tenses suddenly, freezing in place as the <Paralysis> effect takes hold. He struggles against it, trying to call up a command. "We need to withdraw. Slow it down. Find another route!" Att Syne grits his teeth, staff slowly, grindingly slowly, sliding into place...

"Grave... Call!!"

Cracks appear in the ground, and violet-eyed zombies rise up out of them. They lumber forward, putting themselves between the Rat King and the group. Att uses his summon as a buffer. He expects it to be little more than a speed bump.

     The rat king should be dead. It's not. The same green panels that the boars had appeared around it as it picks up an equally glitched mace to swing around.

     This is it huh? There's no way they can escape this thing. He freezes up. They're gonna die. He can't die. He doesn't want to die. Not like this.... Not like...

     HASEO_TEIWAZ....
     Rrha num ra aulla Rre Rat_King_x5!

     Gibberish. From somewhere. No one else can see it, but he's pretty sure it's from the scarf. Like it's calling him to do something.

     This is stupid. This is so god damn stupid. But he'll play along. It beats dying. If something is calling him, he'll just call back.

     "Come on, COME ON... I'm, right HERE!"

     Haseo grips the scarf that he had wrapped around his arm, holographic panels now floating over it that take the rough shape of a monstrously clawed hand.

     He doesn't have a name for it. What he's calling. The useless gibberish in front of him had his name for some reason, but he's not calling out to himself. There's a few other things that work for names, but they don't grab him like a certain name does. A name that means nothing to him, but he can't help but be drawn to.

     "SKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEITH!"

     This is it, this his only chance at making it out of here. He jumps at the rat king like a berserker who's lost all hope, thrusting a clawed hand into the very same spot he attacked as he rips out the monster's 'protection'.

     As he does this, his HP drops. Dangerously low.

     1/35HP

Just when they thought it would be a simple matter to clear the path. Just when Proteus was about to enjoy the sight of their foes being destroyed, the creature glows green. "Of all the horrible times...!" Proteus gasps, moments before that roar drive her to her knees. Crackling energies surge over her as the Paralysis status takes hold, denying her the ability to move. "How... are we going to break through that shield....!?" The energy simply shattered their weak weapons, and she is sure her magic won't do any better. The mace comes, and she grimaces. In a few moments she might have a much more dire trek on her hands...

But then there is a terrific clash as Wynfei and Polaris interpose themselves. It buys them the critical moments they need. "Perhaps there is some use to apparently being without any sense of self-preservation after all." She murmurs... But there is no way to counter attack. Not with the shield up...

However, that is when Something Happens. Haseo screams and manifests that terrible claw, screaming as it pierces the defenses and tears them out. "What..." She says, her eyes going wide. Haseo's HP dropping also adds to the tension of the moment, but...

The shield is broken. Proteus isn't entirely sure how, but the important thing is that the thing has been rendered vulnerable. "It's vulnerable! Strike now!" With every ounce of her energy, she draws her hands apart. "Dark... BALL!"

The black sphere blasts out from between her hands, subsuming the Rat King and blasting it with concentrated energies of the Dark. It's all she can muster at the moment, paralyzed as she is. It will have to be enough.

The team works together intensely. Polaris' relic strike catches the approaching blow, slowing the Rat King just enough, applying a slowed status through the protections - though it quickly drains away. But it's just enough to allow Wynfei to take his blocked stance and takes the hit. His HP drops rapidly from the sheer force behind it. The red shine across his arms showing the damage being done to him. Reika remains in fear, taking the hit and being thrown to the back of the cavern piece.

Att Syne calls for the Grave Call, zombies rising, lumbering, halting the blow further. Blunting the blow for everyone enough that when Haseo rushes forward...

It all happens so far. Yet, it's clear something strange is going on. Those unique panels on Haseo's arm. The way the green 'light' that is superimposed over the rat seems to /drain away/ into the arm of Haseo's, making parts of his character literally glow for a moment... before the youth ends up at 1 HP.

The Rat King just about to bring down the last blow - right before that Dark Ball comes. The fierce Arcane Energy rippling across its body, ripping into its stomach...

Until finally, it shatters!

The crown landing on the floor.

The Rat King shatters, having been nade vulnerable to the attacks thanks to Haseo. Proteus, for her part, stands up as the Paralysis presumably begins to fade away now that the battle is over, and strides over to scoop up the crown. "Yoink." She says nonchalantly, turning the thing in her hands as she examines the object intently. "A remnant of one of these corrupt creatures. I wonder if it still bears some sign..."

Oh, right. Haseo's at 1 HP. "Is there a healer about? Most of us here could probably use a top up." She comments.

Reika eeps as the paralysis releases, tension suddenly vanish from her body. "Is... it over? I didn't think they could be destroyed when they were glowing..." She's trying to reason up what's going on, forced into playing a game she wasn't intending to play. She rises back to her feet, throwing her long hair back as it got messed up with the battle "Uhm, sorry, nothing here." She ponders, and looks over to the rest of the caravan "Uhm, maybe there's potions?" She doesn't even know how to look through her inventory right now "Do I even have pockets?"

     The clawed arm is gone, and Haseo's just standing hunched over in a weird mix of euphoria and pain. He doesn't know what happened. And really, he doesn't care. These creatures. These BUGS. He can kill them.

     A dazed chuckle turns into full on hysterical laughing with a full Cheshire smile. He tries to take a step forward, but in his current state, he just sort of falls on his ass. It doesn't seem to bother him much however as he continues to laugh, but it's starting to slow down as the pain starts to overtake the feeling of joy.

    The Rat King is defeated, Wynfei drops to a knee, his HP dropped drastically. He doesn't know if he felt something like that before. No he hasn't felt pain or pressure like that before, Wynfei smiles as the fight is concluded and he looks at the others as Proteus gets the crown, he didn't care who took it. "Is everyone alright?" he calls out as loud as he can. "Is the way clear?" he asks so that if any of the scouts can see if they can get out of there.

The Halting Tip is dispelled. But it wasn't nearly so dramatic as what _Haseo_ utilized. Polaris' helm turns to look at the youth for quite some time. It's impossible to tell what is going on under there. They seem... focused on the arm. A single thought crosses the black knight's mind:

Is Haseo infected as well?

That's for later. They answer Reika first. "They could not, not _while_ they were glowing! Thank goodness we were able to ensure that baleful light no longer graced it. Let this chapter be written into my legend, that even immortals shall fall before the North Star will!!" Then a turn to Wynfei. An appreciative nod. "Another supporting effort in my legend. Perhaps you might have one of your own, someday!"

They await the expiration of the <Paralysis> patiently, before rising from their knee. "Remarkable. But this makes it clear that we must keep the path clear of all hostiles. At any moment, they could become Infected, and we can't allow that to happen near our procession of refugees. Let _not one single foe_ stand, lest this Infection doom all of us! We don't have a second to lose, and we need plenty of breathing room for the exodus!" While this may have battered them, Polaris is intent on breathing the necessary energy into the group with sheer enthusiasm. "I will see if the way further on is clear!"

Att needs a moment. Haseo suddenly manifesting the exact ability they need seems out of the ordinary, even for him.

"Okay. Uh..." Att produces a potion, downs it, produces a second, and holds it up. "Let's keep the really wounded in shape enough to move, okay?" He cautiously walks over to Haseo, who has apparently collapsed under the weight of his own hubris, and extends a hand. With a potion in it. "Hey buddy," he says slowly, "you okay down there?"

Att manages a nod towards Polaris. Let the one with energy do the forward recon.

The chamber lies quiet, as the heroes rest for a moment, topping off their health. They're going to have to keep moving from here though. The sounds of Ratkin has died off however, with the defeat of the Rat King. No doubt lowering the aggro of the rats in the area for a good period of time.

This gives the group the ability to continue traveling. They encounter the occassional Ratkin - which is quickly dealt with. Until finally, they make it out into the fields to the west...

The Vanguard are the first to see it. The beautiful fields are... in ruins. There's road that still runs from where they are to the south-west. There is still a path they can follow. But everything is wrong.

Like watching a kaleidoscope, buildings keep forming and unforming. A river forms in the middle of a building, cutting a massive hole in it, then just splashes down all that water onto the monsters below, destroying them through sheer force. There is a constant hollow 'tone' that seems to echo from the direction of the canon.

The path forward is closing off slowly. More and more of the mess forming towards the path...

They're going to have to speed up their travel.

Reika hasn't been hurt, so she's still good to go. She moves to those that are more tired, and offers a shoulder... actually surprising herself that she has more strength than she expected, considering she's relatively untrained and small. Game world mechanics obviously, things work differently.

She holds a hand to her ear when she hears the tone, it's somewhat resonating deeply "Ugh, it's still going over there it seems... and it's getting worse." She states mostly the obvious here though. "I don't think we want to be touched by those things either..."

"Unless you've always wanted to be half an item shop," Att remarks, looking out over the chaos.

"We need to get word back to the others. We're running out of time to get out of here."

They're going to need to speed up. Dammit. Polaris turns dramatically! "If there's one thing I know how to do," They declare. "It's get the word out!" They stride confidently back, a ways. Their voice should ring pretty goddamn far. "LOYAL ADVENTURERS OF THE EZZO EMPIRE! FOLLOW THE GUIDING LIGHT OF THE NORTH STAR, THE UNYIELDING POLARIS! IT'S TIME TO SPEED IT UP! OUR PATH IS STABLE BUT CLOSING! DON'T LET YOUR LEGEND END EARLY, SHOW ME HOW YOU CAN _MOVE_ THROUGH THE EXHAUSTION! I WILL DUEL ANY ONE OF YOU WHO TRAMPLES HERE AND NOW, DON'T YOU DARE STAMPEDE! GET YOUR FRIENDS, GET YOUR STRANGERS, GET YOUR _ENEMIES_, AND BRING THE REMAINS OF THE EZZO EMPIRE _OUT_ OF THIS LEGENDARY MESS!!"

     Is hit with a potion by Att, which causes him to grumble as he starts pulling himself up off the ground.

     "Yeah. Thanks."

     Haseo seems to be off his high now and back to his usual grouchy self. When they finally reach the ruined fields, something feels off. How fast does this glitch spread? Why is a glitch spreading? Shouldn't it just pop up all at once in the affected areas?

     "Hey. You! The guy riding the Pekko! I don't expect an answer, but just how many hours has it been since these bugs started showing up!?"

     He turns to Polaris, an exasperated look on his face as he's clearly reached his limit.

     "And you, SHUT UP! WE'LL FIND A TAVERN FOR YOU TO ROLEPLAY IN LATER JUST TAKE THINGS A BIT SERIOUSLY RIGHT NOW!"

The rest of the trek through the area proves to be more or less relaxing after that dramatic and deadly assault. Proteus is watching everywhere, trying to keep an eye out for more ambushes, but the Ratkin seem to lack the enthusiasm they did before without their leader.

There is a little squint beneath the hood, and she tugs it forward a bit more as she looks over the state of the fields... And tilts her head at that odd noise. Her gaze shifts to the way the ruined fields shift and change, morphing into something completely inimical to the people who formerly lived here. "We can't operate like this. How are you supposed to fight when the world itself is being shaped against us?" She mutters. "We don't know enough. And we're moving too slow. There has to be a better option..."

There is a pause, and then with a flare of her cloak, she turns and heads back to the Bandit King, who is a few minutes behind. "The path ahead is closing rapidly." She informs him. "We can't afford to deal with the way the caravan is slowing everyone down. I propose an alternative solution."

She gestures to the bag with the Shard. "Tell us where to go and where to put it. Entrust it to us. A small group can move much faster than this easily-distractable mess. We will rush towards the destination with all speed and use the Shard to contain this effect, which should give you the time you need to bring the rest up behind. Are you willing to trust us to get the job done?"

It takes about 4 minutes for the Ezzo Group, its Landers and the Adventurers, to meet up with them. At the head of it all, the Bandit King. Immediately met with Haseo's inquiry, he first moves up to him before he deigns to answer. "It's been about a day since this... Infection showed up." He answers Haseo, before looking torwards the massive canon, which can be seen from this side of the mountains as well.

The Bandit King then looks to Proteus as she proposes they can go faster. Do this faster, as a small group. There's a moment. Proteus can tell. A moment where the Bandit King clearly is considering this matter. But then, a shake of his head. "You are unable to complete this task. You do not have what is needed." He then turns towards the group following them.

"But you are right. This is too slow. This group is good enough, they can survive going southwest-wards. We can speed this up, with me in tow." There is concern there. Will they really be okay?

Reika can keep the pace if they need to move faster, but shares the opinion that the larger group would slow things down. What group is the Bandit King suggesting though? She isn't sure. She doesn't even consider herself a fighter right now, despite that she has the class for it, as an 'adventurer'. She moves up thought "Whatever is needed to get out of here with everyone." Whether or not it's an event at this point, she follows what morals guide her normally. She's not playing a role in this game, she's just herself.

Taking a potion out of his pouch, Wynfei notices that a lot of his high end potions were gone. He did have a few low level ones which was enough for what he needed. He rubs his eyes a little as his health is restored. It takes a moment for Wynfei to speak, he looks to Proteus, he is about o say something when he stops and looks to the Bandit King ot find out what's next.

    Taking a breath and walking towards the Bandit King and Proteus, he is does look at the larger group and if this has a time frame, yes a smaller group would be far better then this large group. "Who are the ones you want to complete this mission?" he looks around at a few people he think would be picked. "We will need a small team to move out and another to find a place here to defend the Landers so no harm comes to them or the Adventures here." he says.

The Bandit King turns to look towards Haseo for a moment. Notably, looking at his arm. There is wariness there for a moment. A consideration of this young man. "This vanguard clearly has what it takes to go forward with me. The remaining Adventurers can protect the Landers and keep moving South West at their own pace. But it's still going to take a good day to get all the way to the south-western end of this land - even if we managed to wrangle some animals for you people to ride."

Att exhales, turning away from the Bandit King. "Figures," he mutters. They get dropped in the middle of this, get their gear and skills stripped away, and now they're judged inadequate to complete whatever quest this guy is supposed to be giving out. For a moment, Att is of a mind to gank the NPC and do it anyway, but he remembers the vast power gap before he does anything quite that rash.

"There should be boats en route. We just need a faster route, or a way to draw off any glitched monsters. When we hit the edge of the morphing terrain, we've got to cross it quickly." Animals, eh? "I've got some Monster Taming skills. We might be able to speed that up. Let's get out there and get hunting."

The mention that she doesn't have what is needed brings a mirthless smile to her face. "Of course I don't have what is needed. I only had /everything taken from me/." There is a certain edge of bitterness to her voice at that response. She turns around, and shrugs. "Fine. Accompany us if you must. At least you're the one with the mount." She says nothing else, instead focusing on getting things moving. The direction is given.

The question of if they will be okay is mostly irrelevant at this point. The only thing they can do is try. "Let's get moving." She looks over to Att and nods. "If you can wrangle us some new mounts, that would help." She looks over to Polaris as well. "If nothing else, it would help that giant wall of metal move faster."

The Bandit King then turns to Att Syne. "If my plan works, and we get there in time. There should be enough land left that people can safely be offloaded. Well, at least, it should halt the incursion of the Infection by its current means. But the longer this goes on, the more Infected Monsters fall to it, the stronger and faster this will spread." At the suggestion of getting animals caught, he nods his head. "Go on."

"I will _guarantee_ that the Shard can be planted where it must, my King!" Polaris beams, planting both gauntlets on their tassets. The thought of a steed appeals to them. "Remarkable idea! What's a knight without a steed? I will find something worthy of my legend to speed up our travels, then! Do not worry, my King, you'll have my blades in every coming danger!" Even still, they're focused on getting this plan executed. Proteus's plan isn't rejected here!

They begin scanning about with their Tracker profession, even if it's far lower in level than it usually is. Time to find something suitable in the Land, even through this horrid corruption... Can they find something rideable? Can they command it? Even with their usual nature, they'll collaborate with the others!

Somehow, despite everything, Polaris has tracked down a valid steed. A goat of unusual size, barely under control through the use of a set of first-level saddle and reins and such. When they come out of the warped countryside, the thing is nearly to the point of throwing the knight off its back, but they are getting it in the right direction. On a goat.

In another timeline, an observer could have made an astute observation about goats and the simulation thereof. This is not that timeline.

In this one, Polaris roars, "FIND YOUR STEEDS! WE RIDE TO OUR CHALLENGE!" We ride _approximately_ to our challenge at least. To Polaris's credit, they're vastly more focused on getting this very, _very_ important task done instead of finding a gorgeous, elegant horse or something.

     "One whole day for this mess huh? I guess that's CC Corp for you."

He sounds extremely angry and bitter at bringing up CC Corp. But it's whatever. They have more pressing matters than shit talking a multibillion dollar company.

     Like finding an animal to ride to make the trip easier. Something that Haseo considers briefly before ultimately deciding, screw it, he's going to walk. Wasting time getting an animal is time that could be used MOVING.

    Wynfei is back to full hp, he rolls his shoulders and he rolls his neck a little. "I don't have a horse, but I will keep up with you as best I can." he says to the others. He walks over to Polaris and looks to her steed, "Nice." he says and he turns to the look at the others, "Come on, we need to get going." he says as he hops from foot to foot, his tail sways from side to side as he seems to be getting excited.

Reika doesn't trust a mount for now either, so she chooses to walk. She is pretty fast after all, more than she expected to be again. This is going to take some time getting used to... not that she knows of that, for now she's still thinking that this is an event, although every hour she gets the growing feeling that it's more than that...

Att tries to tame a boar with an extra set of tusks on the way out. He manages to hold it still with magic, but by the time he mounts it, it refuses to do anything useful. Instead it just roams around eating random things, ignoring his presence on its back.

He walks the rest of the way, slightly glum.