Duty Session 337: Obligatory Rat Maze

It's another one of those situations. The Hunter's Guild needs things done. The world and the Landers are in danger, and they need brave and stalwart Adventurers to deal with the issue.

Which is unfortunate, because they end up with a crew of sneaks, ruin investigators, and negotiators. Proteus pokes at the crack in the wall and looks back over her shoulder to the other two. "Well, it's certainly obvious enough where these things are coming from." She says, shaking her head. "How much of a rat infestation could there possibly be, to constantly be annoying people like this even after we solved it last time?" She sighs, and sticks a pole into the opening to test for ambushes for a moment. "Anyway, are you both ready to solve the Mystery of the Hungry Rat Horde?" she asks.

    Wake has hit a bit of a snag as of late in her progress on Castle Eas. It has something to do with navigating the rather treacherous waters of Dukedom politics. The crux of the matter? It was found that she was attempting to build too much furniture rather than importing it. The duties would have been worth a fortune! It's been annoying, trying, infuriating.. she's even contemplated conquering a sea port just to prove a point. But laying waste to their towns seems rather unlikely to endear Wake to her hosts, and so she has woven her nets to get through the absurd problem. Or rather, is weaving them. When relatively unsophisticated landers are involved, moving things along is a matter of trial and error. All this is to say that Wake is off to find something she can hit.

    "By solve the mystery I assume you mean we convert rats into loot and empty their nest," replies Wake evenly. "In which case, yes, I'm all ready for that. If one of them says a single thing about import agreements, however, I reserve the right to blow up the entire area. And if there's a mystery I'm sure we can figure it out. They are, after all, rats."

    She's confident, and hey! She didn't say anything that would jinx the mission.

    ....

        "How hard could it possibly be to deal with rats?"

    Uhh, yeah.. there's that jinx.

    Wake, being among friends, lets her guard down. Which is to say, her expression remains neutral but she speaks her mind clearly.

    Well, clearer.

Robert, similarly, has run into stumbling block after stumbling block--to the point where the prospect of a good, old-fashioned rampage through an underground rat-maze managed to appeal. And he can't blame it on bureaucrats. Winter, perhaps. Grumpy Landers, perhaps. Sub-optimal investigation methods, perhaps. But not bureaucrats. Thus it is that it is here today, his form and face tilting towards an ambience of wry detachment.

At the moment, Robert stands back by a couple steps, his arms neatly folded over his chest. True, he may be an 'investigator', but he's evidently quite content to leave the poking and prodding to Proteus. At least for now.

His lips twitch for a moment, perhaps in amusement, his brown eyes sliding towards Wake before he offers a faint shrug. "Rats are intelligent, resourceful, and were around in some form back when the dinosaurs were," he comments at length. "I never bet against evolution. Or rats, at a communal level. When we three are long dead and gone, this place will still be infested." A pause. "Or at least that would be the case in the real world. Here, who knows." That bit of philosophizing is a likely indicator that he's ready. Self-distracted, but ready.

"Well, Baroness, if you find some of the nobles who have been giving you problems down here, that will answer the question of why they keep giving you problems, doesn't it?" The Imp Archaeologist chuckles, and shakes her head. Maybe there's a reason why Proteus called on these two specifically to accompany her. Of course they both have their own reasons, that's how people are. But the three of them... well, certainly an unlikely set. "You can say that, Robert, but I'm going to bet on us. Otherwise we're going to have a bad time." She leads the way into the crack and descends...

"Ew." Proteus says, holding her nose immediately as they reach a room stuffed with rotting effluvia and nastiness. "How long have they been plundering the Landers like this? Is that an /entire cheese wheel/?" She asks, pointing across the way. "How big ARE these rats that they're stealing ten pound cheese wheels!?" She shakes her head. "Come on, everyone, let's find a way through this."

    "We'll make it, or we won't," says Wake with a most feline who-gives-a-damn tone in her voice. "Personally, I'm thinking we probably will, but.."

    Wake's expression teeters on the edge of revulsion for a moment. But she holds on to her placcid expression somehow.

    "That smell is.. most remarkable. The rats have found something even more horrific than we encountered when cleaing up the orc mess. Perhaps a bit of.."

    She stretches out a hand and blasts the area with fire. Poorly-aimed fire, no doubt, but fire nonetheless. It serves to achieve little except melting the cheese wheel. It seems to bring the smell of the old cheese to new levels of offense, too.

    "I really should have come up with something better there.. sorry about that.."

    

SpritesHero is Scale. Perhaps a bit unusual, but he is definitely Scale. It's at moments like these where his affiliations shine through. While that giant pile of debris, that Treasure Trove Arcadia for the furry and the be-whiskered, no doubt hides numerous items of interest in its potent, pungent depths, Robert is disinclined to search its mysteries.

Instead he burns it.There's an ominous hiss as he pushes off from his current location and glides to and fro over the assembled rubbish. A slick, sticky substance marks his path, and moments after he passes it ignites. It catches in some places. It doesn't in others. And regardless, Robert's maneuver is cut abruptly short as he slides back into position by his team-mates, red-faced, and gasping for air through the merciful, makeshift filter of his sleeve. Yes. Yes he was holding his breath that whole time.

Everyone comes up with the idea of using fire. This isn't a bad idea on its face, of course. It makes the most sense. People burn their garbage sometimes, right? And this sure is a giant pile of garbage. Even Proteus is joining in on the 'burn it all' camp, as she conjures up some fire magics to try to blast the nastiness out of sight, mind, and most importantly, their nasal cavities.

Unfortunately, burning things alsocreates a lot of smoke, as they all suddenly are reminded, and the indiscriminate application of TRIPLE FIRE fills the room with a smouldering miasma. However, some of Robert's efforts seem to scorch enough garbage out of the way to reveal a trap door. Proteus points at it, and dives down there just to get out of the hot, nasty environment. Everyone else will probably agree...

Even as it goes from fire and stench to... A rushing waterway. "THIS MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN THE BEST PLAN!" Proteus yells as she flails, splashing to gasp some air as the waterway rushes them towards a number of spiky and painful-looking rocks. "WHY DO PEOPLE EVEN DESIGN PLACES LIKE THIS? THE ROCKS WOULD INTERFERE WITH THE WATER FLOOOOOOW!" She objects, trying to logically complain in a world that needs precious little of it.

    "Yeah, time to get out of heeeeeeeeerrreeeee shiiii-!"

    Not the most elegant of ways to enter a room, but this isn't really a room, is it. It's a water park! At least it doesn't smell. All Wake has to do is not die, and since she promised Tae she wouldn't, that's a gimme.

    There's a return to form for the Baroness, this time. She moves like water herself, or perhaps it is better to say like shadow. She either flows around rocks or simply doesn't bother crossing the intervening space between her and safety. If anyone else could actually see her, they'd probably be impressed. Seeing as how the audience is also trying to not get dashed upon rocks, though.. it's a show with no audience.

    "Woooooooo!!!"

    Okay, Wake is dropping her guard a bit now. She's actually enjoying this near-death experience. Which is really more her style than sanitation duty.

SpritesHero doesn't take the time to agree. He simply hops through the trap-door moments after Proteus and lands in the waterway with a dainty little plunk. It's frankly rather insulting for someone with his background, but the system seems -determined- to make him sneakily graceful. Even in spite of himself. He luckily manages to avoid any real flair, though, leaving that to Wake. "I'm not...ow...sure there's much of an alternative," he quibbles, some combination of his churning arms, legs, and wings keeping his mouth (unfortunately) above water, and therefore able to offer an effortless commentary on their situation. Well, effortless, except for the occasional moment where he nicks a rock or two. Cosmetic damage, nothing serious. "I mean, it's pretty unidirectional, right? And it would take...ow...forever if we were to try to go along the wall." A pause. "And, well, it's kinda fun, right?" Conceivably the grin he flashes at Proteus might qualify as sh*t-eating.

The rapids prove to be much less of an impediment to the trio than the garbage room. Clearly, water is much more their thing than fire is. Isn't that usually how things work, though? The Baroness quickly and lithely works her way around the waterflow. For someone who lives at a Waterfall Castle, this probably is how she trains every day. Wake seems like the kind of person who would probably try to sneak into a waterfall cave without getting wet.

Robert, meanwhile, manages to tank a bit but mostly ends up mitigating most of the damage through simply arranging himself efficiently to divert the dangerous levels of force in other directions. Clever.

Proteus, for her part, manages to twist and rebound off of some flat surfaces of the rocks as the rapids try to dash her into them, active-dodging her way around the rocks while she fights against the currents. A swimmer she is not, but she does what one can. Eventually, the water slide sends the lot of them careeening down a set of louge-like turns before they are spit into a small pool. Proteus clambers out, bedraggles and stares at the environment. "... Tunnels. All that and this thing empties out into a pool and some tunnels. I'm glad you're both having a lot of fun, though." She looks down at herself, and mutters, snapping a finger. The water suddenly just blasts off of Proteus, leaving her once again dry. She arranges herself, coughes for a moment, and looks around at the tunnels. "Well, shall we? This is much more to my tastes."

SOME TIME LATER...

"You are in a maze of twisting passages, all alike." Proteus murmurs as they weave through the tunnels. Eventually, one of them opens into a large room. The massive chamber seems to have one point of interest, that being a massive rat. Proteus stares at the thing and points at it, her purple eyes wide in shock as she looks back at the others, then tries to sneak around the edge of the room.

Was it Proteus who maked that boot scrape? Or someone else? Either way, the horrible thing stirs, and Proteus yelps. "I THOUGHT RATS OF UNUSUAL SIZE DIDN'T EXIST!" She yells, immediately running for one of the other tunnels. "MOVE MOVE MOVE!"

    Wake doesn't even seem wet, actually. She has no use for the whole getting wet thing at the moment. She is enjoying herself, though. Winning always is more fun than losing.

    "So should we cast magic missile at the darkness, now?" Wake asks, letting go enough to /almost/ smirk.

    The appearance of a rampaging rat, however, just sets her back to her even expression. Which is admittedly an almost imperceptible difference to those who don't know her, but Robert and Proteus would notice.

    The Baroness isn't afraid, her reaction is to move fast and reach back, calling upon a rather sharp and nasty bit of magic that draws the stone of the tunnel out in a wave of razor-sharp thorns in their wake.

    Wait.. was that a pun?

Retreating is....not really something Robert particularly likes doing. In fact, he'd just been about to launch himself at said ROUS when Proteus indicates that....nope. No engagement. There's a sound from him that's suspiciously like a 'tch' as he skids to a halt, hand thunking hard into the rock underfoot. Whatever his spell is, it's nearly silent, save for a quick series of whispered syllables. The result is similarly unimpressive. No grant spike of earth. No blocks of stone dropping from overhead to block off the tunnel. Just a slight--a very slight--shift in the rock floor near the ROUS, aimed at knocking it off balance. Anything more substantial is left to Wake.

Once he's certain his spell has landed, he bolts his soggy, dripping way after Proteus's retreating back. He, unlike Wake, is -very- wet. And not drying off at all. How is she possibly not wet? It's not -fair-.

The huge rat screeches and squeaks with unholy fury as it snaps at the heels of the trio. Proteus gets the hell out of there. "Do you have a dagger that has plus three against rats?" She asides to Wake, just adding another meme on top of the one she's supplied.

The massive rat, however, isn't laughing as it ravens after Wake, only for Robert to subtly shift the ground around it. This slows the rat down a bit, causing it to waver... And Wake cpitalizes on it, sweeping a line of thorny stone that quickly tangles it up. With a shrill shriek, it thrashes, forced to damage itself in order to free itself. Proteus, meanwhile, is not wasting time. "Need a little more lead..." Her fingers twist as she quickly pops open a small window, gesturing into it to quickly activate an Ability: V S M

A moment later, there is a rumble as an Earth Pillar blasts from the floor, the head of it topped with a fist as it punches the giant rat square in the jaw, completing the retaliation. The huge thing is stunned for a moment, giving the trio plenty of time to bail down the tunnel on the opposite end, too small for the huge thing to squeeze in and catch up. Meal... denied.

A short time later, with some squeezing and scrapes and increasing claustrophobia as they descend, Proteus shakes her head and huffs. "Well. That was a thing. We have to be getting to the bottom of this place soon, right? Need some time to " She looks around, and comes up against another collapsed tunnel. "Ugh. Another dead end? No, wait, there's an opening over here..." She scrabbles up the rubble. "Come on, guys, let's go, maybe we'll..." She pauses. "What the hell?"

The room itself is lit with a lambent viridian. Somewhere in the back of people's minds, they might have a crackling and popping sound. Much of the place is lit with the strange light... But the light isn't coming from a lamp. It's coming from a series of glowing rats, lines of energy drawn along them and radiating power. "Gggh!?" Proteus grimaces at the sight of the things. "Okay, this is getting absurd." She looks to Robert. "I'm still not betting on rats!" She yells, before she looks back to the things. "I'll distract them! Hit them hard!"

Squish. Squish. There's only so much sneaking one can do when one has wet boots, as Robert does now. Every step is far louder than it should be. Every foothold is more slippery than it should be. And more to the point, it's -damp- and it's -cold-, and while Robert never actually complains, his mood is definitely degrading. Which manifests almost immediately in their next encounter.

He's a moment too late on the cast. A touch too careless on the wording. He bites his tongue on a spell that is his usual safe-spell. Rather than reducing his target rat to a whimpering mess, there's the -bang- of a spell going awry, a shrill squeak, and the heavy thud of oversized-rat impacting with him. He's reduced to trying to wrestle his rat into submission, having jammed a wad of cloak between its jaws, and spends the rest of his fight as part of a tangled mass of fur, tail, and soaked clothing. He....could probably use a bit of help. Not that he's inclined to ask for it. There's a smacking sound as he headbutts his wrestling partner in the snoot.

    When Wake hits hard, she usually is really just stabbing things. Sneak, stab, repeat as necessary. In the past, there was no repeating, though. It was always a single hit. Or a fast trip back to spawn. Solo life.

    Wake does a bit of sneaking and instead of stabbing, opts for a more surprising option. She strikes out with finely-tuned needle of pure magical energy, aiming with surgical precision for the brainstem of the glowy rat.

    "It's rare that a creature just /shows/ me where to stab it, but.."

    She's driving her attack home, and driving that attack as deep into her enemy as possible.

Proteus moves immediately, her hands tracing another Ability: + ^ S *

A moment later, the room is filled with a small sonic boom as she vanishes, Lightningstepping across the room and drawing the attention of the rats with the noisy, high-speed movement. She keeps diving around, getting all the rats to follow her as Wake backstabs one, and then another, picking them off while they're distracted.

Poor Robert ends up getting pinned by one of them, struggling until Proteus teleports in next to him and punts the rat off. "Wake, alley-oop!" She calls, sending it spinning towards her for her to dispatch. "You okay?" She asks Robert, bending down to help him up... And then promptly collapsing to one knee as the Lightningstep wears off, leaving her exhausted for a moment. "Gggh..." She breathes... "Just... give me a sec. That one takes... a lot out of me."

After a short rest, they exit to the other side of the room, a bunch of stabbed rats in their wake. Ha ha ha.

A bit more exploring later they enter a large circular room. "Oh. This would be the boss room." Proteus says, lampshading the way interior design seems to work in the World. "Remind me to never put one of these in any place I design." The room, however, is dark, the shadows oppressive and leaving little to see by. Proteus scowls as she steps into the place and looks around. "Well, maybe an Electrical Fuzz will-" A moment later, there is a yelp as she hurls herself to one side, some kind of ephemeral boss-level SHADOW RAT almost scything right through her. "The heck was that!?" She blinks.

    "You will use shadows against me!?!"

    Wake's voice is positively booming. Her right hand first is covered in flames, and then her right. In epic fight fashion, her eyes burst aflame next. The shadows push against her, but it seems to only make her mind more focused, her wrath more cold, detached, and useful.

    For a second, the radiance of her form flickers out of sight, as she moves through the darkness to attack the enemy. It is incredibly direct, but each strike does more than physical damage. It sears the enemy with burning light that doesn't fade away after the blow ends.

    The Baroness moves like the assassin that she is. It's a pity Kauchemar isn't here to appreciate the shadow-play, as Wake flashes in and out of view, like lightning, with blazing eyes as empty as death.

SpritesHero had just been extending his hand to accept Proteus's offer when she collapses, leaving him to rise to his feet on his own. And while he does not offer her a hand up in turn, he does loiter around in in Proteus's general vicinity, ensuring no additional surprises happen while she recovers. Notably, he can be observed to be using low-grade water magic to suck moisture out of his clothing.

But then it's onwards, to scything rats of Darkness. He does not, mind, share the passion Wake has in her fighting, instead operating primarily on instinct, but he does share her aggressive bent. And while Proteus is sidestepping backwards, he's darting forward, his sword in his right hand, gathering darkness in his left. His approach is very much a direct, frontal assault. He releases his mental-debuff just before making contact, and spends the rest of the fight with his blade humming through the air, cutting off bits of shadow whenever they venture too close. He's not doing much in the way of damage, but he does appear to be keeping its attentions.

Proteus falls back as Wake and Robert engage the horrible shadow-squeaker. The horrible thing seems to continue to dart around, hiding in the blackness before shredding across the room over and over. They lash out, trying to rip bits off the Adventurers over and over, but Robert quickly puts a stop to that as he tanks the thing with his direct assault. Blade in one hand, the strikes are solid and direct, but it's the Mind Shock that puts the thing off balance, opening its defenses and giving Robert a moment to step in and put his blade into the thing a few times.

But it's not decisive. The strikes are reducing its HP steadily, but it's uncertain on who is going to win the damage race. What's more, the environment begins turning against them. The increasing darkness continues to weigh upon them all, crushing upon their life and making it harder and harder to see or move or do much of... anything. Where did Proteus go, anyway? "That's enough of that." She says. "Paradox!" She calls, a brassy cube rezzing into existence from her inventory and spinning in her hands. "Initiate the first alignment..." She pronounces, parts of the cube pressing in with clicks, panels twisting with clattering noises as with a KER-CHUNK, the cube... opens, revealing a complex series of gears and latches. Without her moving her hands, the object folds up into a brassy recurve bow inlaid with ivory, a central spherical core-shaped object inlaid next to the nock. A thick wire is drawn down a pulley and hooked into the other side, the mechanical bow auto-tensioning. "Now cast open the gate of light!"

A small window opens up, curving around the sphere as runes appear. + ) ! .

The sphere opens like an eye, revealing a complex lens arrangement that extends outwards. There is a seething energy that builds up behind. "Kaleidoscope... BANISH!" As Proteus announces her attack, the bow is loosed, the energy blasting outwards in a rain of countless multicolored beams that shred through the boss as well as the darkness, blasting it away and removing the creature's defenses.

And at that moment, when its defenses are at its weakest, is when Wake strikes. With perfect, icy precision she strikes in shadow and light, shredding at it and ruthlessly carving it up whenever it attempts to escape.

Under the combination assault, the creature rapidly shrieks and dissolves, losing coherence entirely. "Well. Victory for us." Proteus laughs, stepping forward and clapping Robert on the shoulder. "Good work, everyone." She says, smiling... But doesn't waste time in quickly producing some vials and scooping up the little wisps left behind, and passing them around. "Looks like we've captured some evil rat mist or somesuch." She hums, turning it before her before stashing it away. "Well, into the inventory you go!"

    When the rat is no more, Wake is back to normal. The fire is out, and the only light about her is the glow of a more basic light to reveal their surroundings.

    "You feeling okay, Proteus? Love the new.. whatever that thing is! It suits you. And it clearly packs a most unique punch."

    Wake shifts her attention to Robert, head tilting as she considers him for a time. Hopefully just long enough to be discomfiting. Probably a bit too long.

    "Didn't realize you'd be tanking for us! Nicely done, Robert. You are full of surprises."

SpritesHero shifts a bit as he tucks his sword back into its sheath. "I wasn't -trying- to tank it, Baroness," he remarks, quietly, almost a trifle sulkily. "I was trying to -kill- it." His shoulders lift and fall in a half-shrug, his lips quirk in a half-grin. "But I suppose things managed to work out. I'm certainly happy to take credit for the distraction."

At which point there's the thud of Proteus's hand on his shoulder. His own hand lifts to give her hand a quick pat before falling back to his side. While looting happens, he gainfully employs himself in surveying his surroundings. Watchful. It may have been a final boss, but that doesn't mean other things won't pop up. Probably. But so far, final bosses have seemed pretty final.

    "Well, try or not, you did a great job keeping it busy," replies Wake. "It seems we make an unlikely, but effective team. Which makes me think... perhaps there are other things we should be working on. Granted, there are interests of ours that diverge, but that is more of an endgame issue. I suspect we can walk a considerable distance together, though, and figure out the rest at the end."

    Wake is getting at something, but she's not direct. That's probably not terribly shocking, though, considering who she is and what she does.

Having ascertained that they're unlikely to be jumped by anything hiding in the shadows, Robert hoists himself up to a seated position atop a solitary, waist-high boulder that has come to rest against the cavern's wall. His eyes half-lid, he gingerly places his fingertips against the wall, and he murmur something under his breath. A spell, most likely. "What did you have in mind?" he queries, gaze unlidding, though his fingertips remain lightly presed to the wall.

    "I'm not entirely certain, but I think perhaps, here.. in the shadows, we might be able to be more open about our intentions. There's honesty in the dark that cannot exist in other places, I've found. Away, there are so many judging eyes, so many watching every move."

    Wake is vague, but she's building towards something. She watches Robert closely, feeling out his reaction in bits and pieces as she goes.

    "I have been slowed considerably with Eas, but my objective remains. I wish it to become a bastion, a place of such might that Waves crash against it in useless fury, leaving more mark. I want to reach beyond my gates to touch and shape this world. To do so, I must get past the mountain passes. Reaching the waters would be.. complicated and lead to war. I would rather shock everyone and show the Dukes that adventurers do not need to own the waves, for they are already in contention. Instead, we will walk among the clouds."

SpritesHero is attentive, but other than the tilt of his head and the slight inclination of one ear in Wake's direction, there's little that's indicative of anything in the way of an outright response. Little, that is, other than the faintest little furrow of his brow as Wake describes mountain passes, water, and air. Confusion, not concern. But he remains silent for now. Watchful. His non-wall hand gestures to her, as though to ask her to please continue.

    "Airships," says Wake at last. "We need to dominate the sky, to travel faster than any ship on land. With canons, of course, so that we have firepower to bring to bear wherever we might need. Perhaps even into the tower itself. Or towers, since there are more of them. I don't even know what that will mean for us, though. We dabble in these things and we have yet to fully grasp any of it."

    Wake pauses, thinking of the many questions that remain unanswered. But she does not hesitate for long. What isn't known doesn't matter as much as what is at this point.

    "With strength, we gain time. Time to think, time to answer more questions. The undead would have a far harder go of it were we able to shell them day and night."

"This?" Proteus holds up the mechanical bow. "It's just a tool." As she speaks, the weapon begins folding back in on itself, and shortly afterwards it becomes a puzzle box once more, quickly stowed away. There is, however, a little self-satisfied smirk on her face. "I'm designing a variable weapon so I can adapt to changing situations."

The Imp arches a brow at the pat on her hand, but she just smiles at Robert as she does her thing. "We all did great. There wasn't a giant pile of us so we all had to pull our weight here." She says, shrugging for a moment. "As for other things we could work on, there's lots to do. Not enough time to do it. Never enough time. Still..." She sighs. "I have to keep some variety, otherwise I'm going to lose perspective." There is a fold of her arms and she nods. "So you're planning to go aerial." She mentions, listening to her plans. "Some kind of a steam-powered airship, one supposes. But that will take... considerable effort." Proteus nods. "That said, I will help you however you like. Lately, I've been mostly preparing to deal with Scale Emblem."

If Robert objects to Proteus's targeting of Scale Emblem, he offers no sign of it, instead appearing to regard it as something outside his concern. For now, at least.

Wake is another matter entirely. His lips twitch, once, the faintest tightening, then relaxing. "Air has always been a serious tactical advantage," he remarks. "So while I can certainly understand why your aspirations would lie in that area, I do hope that you have given thought as to how much air travel will change how the world around you functions? How it feels?" A sidelong glance towards Proteus. "Even your direct ability to influence events around you. Secondly, I think for now I would suggest investing in lighter, faster craft. Harder for the land to deal with, in my estimation, though I suppose the Land will readily adapt regardless." A pause, a grin. "Much like these magical rats."

    "I have no reasonable access to the water, Robert," replies Wake. "Unless I want to go to war with at least a Duke. Probably all of them. I'm not up for that kind of fight. I want to move beyond their ability to limit and control. As for shaking the foundations of the world? Well, it's not like we'll have an armada of them to start with. The world will figure it out."

    Wake sighs thoughtfully, eventually turning to face Proteus.

    "The air is what I have left. Other than that, I have other ambitions. Like finding a way to duplicate the protections of a root town in Eas. And of course there are the portals, as well. So many big things we can change, and many are tied together."

SpritesHero lifts his hand. His free hand, mind, not the hand which (even now) is still pressed against the wall. "Why do you want access to the water, Baroness?" he queries. "What is the compelling factor? Resources? Transport? Access to other servers? Why do you not acquire those through trade? Or through port agreements? I'm not trying to undercut your idea. I'm just trying to understand exactly where you're coming from. Once I can see that, most other things will fall into place. Is this all in the hopes of Eas becoming your impregnable fortress?"

    "Oh, I don't have to reach the water, I just need to get past my current borders," explains Wake. "I have Eas, and now.. I have learned there is a whole new world to explore, to learn about.. to master. And I cannot reach it on my own terms. Nor can we reach anywhere else without permission, limitation, and constraints."

    Wake shrugs, "This is not what I have in mind for my people or my realm."

"If that's what you want," Robert summarizes after a few moments' thought, "then I have to admit that I'm not quite sure how air power would solve your situation. You're not likely to have a monopoly on air power, once that cat is out of the bag. The air will be free of restrictions only as long as people don't place restrictions on it, or are unwilling or incapable of enforcing those restrictions. It seems, to me, that this is still far too contingent on external variables to be what you want. And if you're thinking of transporting resources, land is still, in my opinion, superior for most goods. If you -really- want the degree of independence and security that you appear to be aiming for, I don't see how you can get it without direct territorial control. Which will come at substantial cost, at multiple levels."

    "Territorial control is kind of what I had in mind," says Wake. "Of the new, open spaces. If I can make root towns and portals, of course, this isn't that crazy an idea. Granted, I'm missing a lot of the pieces, but that's the goal, Robert."

    And there it is, Wake has laid it out quite clearly. She intends to have, essentially, more than a single castle. An empire?

"The portals... Are something I am working on." Proteus mentions. "They are not being allowed to function at this time, by... something. Either I am missing something important, or something is forcing them to stay dormant. As for a Root Town... Consider the source. A root. There's a lot of meanings for that. On one hand, the core administrative user of a computer system. On another, the most basic part of a tree, the part that allows something to grow and spread. The Root Towns do not get their power simply because they have /things/, I believe. Yes, the guard armors are important, but I think there is more to it. But what... I do not know. Mainly because I haven't properly asked yet."

"I'm not saying it's a crazy idea, I'm just trying to figure out what exactly the idea is," Robert counters. He does fall silent, though, as Proteus discusses Root towns, and the implications. None of which, frankly, he's heard even a whiff of before. So he's content to absorb, watching her carefully, until such time as she finishes. But even then he stays silent, muddling things over, brown eyes shifting rapidly between Proteus and Wake. At last he sighs, lifting his free hand to run his fingers through his hair, setting it temporarily on end. "I'm not good at subtlety, Baroness," he begins. "So I'm just going to ask this outright. Do you intend to take enough Fourlands territory to give Eas direct access to the sea?"

    "I made a pledge to balance the Fourlands. While some might creatively twist that, I have no intention on doing that. But I do wish to expand my reach nonetheless. I cannot expect to get more territory by dimplomacy or reward."

    The Baroness laughs softly, trying to imagine that kind of gift coming from the Dukes. Not fraggin' likely.

    "Which leaves above and below. Not sure how the below side would work, anyway, but above.. airpower? That solves the problem and puts me in a spot to better protect the Fourland Dukedom and reach other shores. We could even blast away at hapless enemy armies with little fear. I doubt the Ninetails would be trouble much by undead if we were blowing them to pixels from the clouds."

    A pause. A bit of a guilty smile.

    "Apologies for my vague words. I have become.. guarded ovver the years. Even when I try to be direct, I am not."

SpritesHero exhales, long and low, fingers tightening against the wall for a moment. At length he responds once more. "In my opinion," he begins, "at -best- the aerial route is a high-risk move. One, it requires substantial investment in R&D, on multiple fronts. Two, the world deals harshly with flight. Third, the world does -not- play fair. Fourth, the development of your air fleet will make war either impossible or inevitable; regardless, it will greatly increase tensions between your Eas and...well, everyone else. I think your chances of success are far higher if you acquire territory directly as you strengthen your Barony. Even with everything that entails, though I would obviously discourage outright war. At least for now. Agreements and leases can be made. They'll likely be broken, eventually, but that will give you an excuse for war that won't piss everyone else off."

Proteus has simply chuckles along at the thought of the Dukes /giving up/ valuable land or access. "It is true that arranging for the Dukes to give you a casus belli will allow you to put them in their place much more easily. Plant Duck, of course, will assist you with anything you need in that respect. While the Landers have their own place, Adventurers must have theirs as well. And we /will/ make room if we need to."

    "I don't doubt there are feathers that will be ruffled along the way, to be sure. But Olympus has done a remarkably good job of navigating these waters. I mean, we have developed a lot of steam tech with the Scale Emblem and nobody died there."

    Wake starts pacing. She thinks aloud.

    "And Proteus is right, honestly. Landers will not challenge us for the sky. They have no means. As for the world itself? We all fight against it, and flight is hardly my unique desire. I will have allies in that battle. I have thus far gained a Castle with the aid of a dozen people and no Lander bloodshed."

    Wake pauses in stride, "If we gain flight, it won't be for Eas alone. It isn't likely it will just be Olympus, either. We'll need an ally. Possibly the New World Alliance, possible the Scale Emblem. But what of Scale? That alliance needs supplies, commerce, and is quite focused on a tower. There are ways for airships to help them and perhaps gain some measure of diplomatic leverage that keeps us both on a safer path. I have to feel-out your leaders to understand the reaction to the whole.. multiple towers thing."

SpritesHero's gaze shifts towards Proteus, lingering on her for a moment with...is that a spark of hope? But whatever it is, it's abruptly killed, and he returns his gaze towards Wake. "Landers will find a way," he posits. "It's already rough enough on them, with the explosion of immortal individuals. Immortal individuals who can deal death, with impunity, from the skies? I cannot speak for the Landers, but I know what I would do if I were one. I'd make darned sure I got that technology, by hook or by crook, whether by independently focusing on development, stealing the technology, or paying Adventurers to develop it for me. And while it is true that the steam technology that you have developed has so far not resulted in serious issues, I've been informed that pollution resulting from widespread implementation would be dealt with, with the utmost severity. As for Scale, I have no doubt that our leaders would be very open to anything that grants Scale an advantage. Prophylaxis does enjoy his development projects."

    "And what if we give it to them in treaty?" asks Wake. "I mean, the Landers already confront all the facts you mentioned. What if the deal is now that we defend the shores, destroy the Leviathans, and protect them against all threats external and otherworldly?"

    "Ultimately, what I propose is a way to take the skies and benefit everyone. I have every confidence we can find a way to have everyone win in the end. It's.. what I believe. I wouldn't try if I didn't have that faith."

    The Baroness looks at Robert seriously. "You are filled with foreboding, though. And that does concern me, because you have seen things from angles that I don't. I'd like to hear more, but I haven't given you time to think it through, either."

"If you give it to them in a treaty," Robert concludes, "then they have the airships. And you're right back where you started, are you not? They have control over their airspace, and can grant or deny you access whenever they want. If, on the other hand, you're suggesting that you'll serve as their defenders...well, that sort of arrangement has a rather bad history in our world, for numerous reasons. First, it keeps the target nation weak. Which may be the point. Second, defense against threats will only hold so long as people at home think the cost is worth it. And as the threats mount, so will your casualties. This is a problem further compounded if they are Lander casualties, or if attacks make it past your defense and do substantial damage."

"But regarding airships in general, I should note that the tower dispatches monsters to down airships. I should also note that the tower seems to have no trouble making some of its denizens invulnerable. It seems to me that we'd be gambling that it doesn't decide to put two and two together and send invulnerable monsters at your airships. Which doesn't mean that there aren't countermeasure available, there's just a lot of unknowns. Far more unknowns, in my estimation, than you'd have if you went with a standard approach." Beat. "By which I mean grabbing the territory properly."

    "Thank you, Robert. I will need to investigate these anti-flight monsters. And I'll have to find a way to balance the calculus of the rest, as well. After all, taking Eas was much the same thing. I exist because I make any attempt to move ahead by any of the Dukes futile. I'll come to the defense of whoever is under attack and overwhelm whoever has gone on the offense. I don't know what the balance would be here, but.. I will think on it."

    Wake seems satisfied for now. She's put forth her ambition and gained what she needed: criticism. That, she can work with.

    "Well, anyone else interested in sharing their endgame objectives? If not, I think we should head back before something resets here. I'm not sure what timers are in place in this thing."

SpritesHero hops down off his rock, smacking his hands against his thighs a few times to knock off any residual grit that digs into his palms. "My end-game objective isn't really here in this world," he admits. "But that shouldn't be a surprise. I -suppose- that if I were to be trapped here permanently, I'd..." A pause, a crinkling of his nose. "I'm honestly not sure. I suppose, if the world is only an illusion, then the only meaning to be found is in the only things that -aren't- illusions. The other Adventurers. But that doesn't seem particularly healthy." With which comment he starts heading towards the exit. Which is, presumably, a tunnel leading back to the surface.