Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

[Tassadar]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Spoiler

Naltaibur: HP = 45, PP = 53, EP = 49, Status = Fine

There was some difficulty in the mental connection step of Naltaibur's plan. Uldric and the two women seemed to have no problems with connecting themselves to Mavra and Naltaibur, but at the idea of sharing a mental link with the demoness Aluwin spoke up immediately, "Not a chance! You might be fine with sharing your minds with a demon, but I'm not!" Jax nodded in agreement with Aluwin while Caden scowled. The man whom Mavra had healed yesterday, who was present but not coming with them as they still needed to leave someone to look after the wounded, was quick to interject, "She's done nothin to harm any of us Aluwin, what are you so afraid of? Father Uldric and Dr. Naltaibur trust her, why can't you?"

Aluwin glared at the man and exclaimed, "Because she's a bloody demon, that's why!" Uldric then interjected, "Aluwin, I have told you repeatedly that you have nothing to fear from Mavra, and Naltaibur can no doubt say the same! Dr. Naltaibur will be the one in control of the link, and will no doubt be able to shut it off if anything should happen, am I correct?" he glanced at Naltaibur for confirmation on his supposition. Mavra stood behind and too the side, her face unreadable throughout the whole conversation.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Sharing minds... Naltaibur had a brief flashback to Subject Gemini laying in her laboratory, which she quickly banished, pursing her lips.

"That's right, Father Uldric," Naltaibur said, You won't be sharing your mind with anyone, Aluwin - I am but connecting our minds, not. The only thoughts that will be shared will be ones you consciously choose to 'speak' to the rest of us."

For a while, Naltaibur stood there, quiet, for a while, simply thinking. Aluwin and his group evidently had something against demons - no small surprise, given how the sole role in their world's history was to appear every so-many years and go on a spree of destruction - but she didn't expect them to have such a hard time putting their misgivings aside.

Then, she spoke again. "The streets may look empty now, but if we should run into anything dangerous, mind-to-mind speech is faster and quieter - and, gods forbid, should we get split up, it will be far easier to find each other." Naltaibur paused a moment, gathering her thoughts. "You've witnessed what the invaders would do to us, haven't you, Aluwin?" Naltaibur asked him, waving her arm towards Caldin, the man whose leg she had restored, and then to Gloria. "They were the lucky ones. Don't doubt that they would do anything different to Mavra, if given the chance. Even if she is a demon, they're as much a danger to her as to you."

"Mistrust is a luxury we just can't afford right now. We're all on the same side - we must stand together. Therion's fate depends upon it."

Mavra... Naltaibur knew she should have stood up for her more, but... she wasn't sure how to do so. She didn't want to alienate Aluwin and his men, after all. Appealing to their logical seemed the best way to win them over - to her, at least.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Spoiler

Naltaibur: HP = 45, PP = 53, EP = 41/49, Status = Fine, Telepathy to 7 different people

Aluwin and the other mercenaries didn't seem much comforted by Naltaibur's clarification on how the telepathic contact would work, but they didn't attempt to argue the point either. They looked quite skeptical at the idea of Mavra being in as much danger as they were against the invaders, but Mavra suddenly spoke up at that point, "She's not wrong. I was attacked several times before arriving here, and I doubt they'd have been any more gentle on me than they were on Gloria here." The girl didn't seem precisely comfortable being mentioned by the demoness, but it was clear that they didn't hear Mavra speak very often as the whole group seemed surprised except for Father Uldric, who merely looked momentarily confused.

Appealing to logic seemed to have worked out for her, however, as the mercenary looked disgruntled for a moment before grunting, "Fine. Do it. But if she tries to do anything funny to us, I'll end her as quick as one of those monsters out there!" That brought a very sour look to Uldric's face and caused Gloria and Margaret to looked mildly ill, but Mavra simply stared at the man with a look of mild disdain.

With their last dissenting voices silenced, Natlaibur was able to enable mental communication with the whole of their group. While she'd likely never had so many in contact at once, Naltaibur found opening the link to so many to be surprisingly easy, requiring only a tiny fraction of her concentration to maintain.

['We'll need to protect Naltaibur, if she is knocked unconscious we'll lose the link to one another.'] Mavra's mental voice was identical to her physical one, and the others after a moment of concentration managed to respond to the mental link affirmatively. Speaking aloud rather than using the link, Father Uldric quickly asked, "How shall we march? We can't just go out in a straight line, Margaret and Gloria will need protection, and I'm unsure of how well Dr. Naltaibur and Mavra can defend themselves." Aluwin, Jax, and Caden scowled darkly for a moment, and then their leader said, "Jax, stay with the father here and protect the women. Caden and I will be a ways ahead of the rest, scouting. Now, can we move out?" Uldric and the others all nodded as Jax silently stepped toward the center of the group. It was left to Naltaibur to say that she was ready and make an changes to their formation, or perhaps speak to some members of their group more before they could depart.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Aluwin's threat made Naltaibur's eyes narrow into a scowl underneath her mask, and her thoughts closed up, isolating themselves from the world, reflexively, born from Naltaibur's obsession with secrecy; hiding away in a figurative mental copy of her hidden laboratory. If he made good on her promise... she... she wasn't sure what she would do. Her research had kept her well isolated from the social life - it was hard enough keeping it a secret already - doing so with the threat of a friend recognizing you dragging around carcasses around and wanting to burn valuable time at the tavern or some other such thing would have been severely detrimental to her progress. And, of course, finding more excuses to keep herself completely covered up would have been a pain. Mavra was really the only person she'd been close to in a long time.

If he took that away from her... well, she knew what she'd want to do. she'd want to make him suffer. She hadn't uncovered the mysteries of creating and bending life to her will yet... but she had learned enough to make sure he paid. She could surely learn a great deal from live, sentient test subject, as well...

The doctor shook her head, violently. No! She couldn't let herself think like that. She must not toy with souls - lest she become a monster, like those grey monsters that invaded her beautiful Therion.

['"Don't you think Therion has lost enough of those who call it home, Aluwin?"'] Naltaibur asked, both telepathically and vocally. She said nothing further on the matter, however - it would most definitely do them no good to butt heads before arriving at their destination.


When it came to the subject of how they would move, Naltaibur piped up. "Ah... It was, ehm, a little hard to focus at the time, but I swear I saw an invader appear out of thin air when they first hit. It was humanoid, too, and I think it had a sword. I... haven't used it in a while, but I know a spell that should reveal others like him if they should get to close to it. I also have a spell that will let me hear a great distance around me - hopefully, I'll be able to hear anything approaching us well before it can see us." She started casting - her hearing spell was but a cantrip in the field of Body magic she was infinitely well-practiced in. The other, however, was a spell from the field of Arcane magic - the theorems and practice of pure magic, expressed as magic, rather than manifested as, say, crackling electricity, or as the forces that drive a body to move itself. It was an important foundation with which she could build an understanding of the intricacies of life - though, as an active school of magic that she cast, it had gone largely neglected in her years since graduation from the Academy. It took Naltaibur a bit of time to recall the spell and it's workings and work out the rust... though she managed to get it without much trouble, eventually.

'I wasn't sure if I'd ever use any of these spells outside of that classroom...' Naltaibur thought to herself. 'Well, it's good to know it wasn't a waste of time. Now if only I could figure out a use for Hrud's Exponential Mana Theorum...'

The elf cleared her throat. "It's somewhat short ranged, but if you're going to be scouting, you'll probably want to be sneaky about it, no?" Naltaibur asked. "As you can see, it's quite bright, and very hard to sneak around with. I think it might be safer to stay together, but you're the experienced one here, Aluwin."

"As for defending myself, by no means am I a great warrior, but I think I can defend myself against a few... reasonable opponents," Naltaibur finished, the giant that had raped her coming to haunt her thoughts once again.

Spoiler

Casting Eavesdrop (Body spell, level 1) and Eldritch Lantern (Arcane, level 3). Cost: 4 EP BC is 24, so I should be alright even without my Focuses - which, uh, I have in both.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Spoiler

Naltaibur: HP = 45, PP = 53, EP = 37/49, Status = Fine, Telepathy to 7 different people, Eavesdrop, Eldritch Lantern

NPC Stats
Mavra: HP = 63, PP = 54, EP = 79, Status = Fine, Pregnant
Father Uldric: HP = 53, PP = 38, EP = 61, Status = Fine

Rolls

Spoiler

Casting: Both Succeed.
Perception: Not really needed.
Father Uldric and Mavra get their own sheets now, everyone else just uses mook monster stats.

Aluwin scowled slightly again at Naltaibur's question, but he too seemed content to let the matter drop for the moment. Later, Uldric and Mavra gazed approvingly at the lantern that Naltaibur conjured, and the lead mercenary nodded and said, "We'll keep a ways ahead so that the light doesn't bother us. We'll make sure to signal in case of trouble."

With that, they set off with Aluwin and Caden out front while the rest of them traveled in a small clump a ways behind them. They stepped out into the cool air outside of the church and headed towards the crash sight of the alien monstrosity, Aluwin and Caden swiftly vanishing a ways ahead of them. The streets were dark and ruinous and filled with naught but death, corpses of invaders and residents alike scattered across the desolate avenues of Therion. The visage of death was everywhere, invisible to Naltaibur when she was high in the belltower of the Thunder God's chapel but impossible to shut out from her senses when she was here on the ground. Thoughts filtered idly through the mental link that she shared with her allies, idle imaginings of what had transpired around them as they surveyed the carnage that Naltaibur alone was party to in full courtesy of being the center of the link.

Gloria and Margaret, strangers to war and the horrors that it brought, produced the tamest but at once the most outlandish scenarios. Father Uldric's thoughts centered largely on the victims of the attack that they passed, sorrow and anger filling his mind more than any other. Aluwin, Jax, and Caden all thought mainly of the monsters that they might face in the near future, nervous tension and the eagerness for battle that training such as theirs instilled by necessity in all who went through it battling for position in each man. Mavra's thoughts were by far the darkest of any of them, as the demon was comparing the actions of these invaders to the battle tactics of her own kind reflexively, though a slight uneasiness assured Naltaibur that her lover wasn't doing such of her own will.

They had only gone a block and a half before Jax spoke clearly over the mental link, ['Trouble.'] A moment later Aluwin's voice joined his, ['An ambush lays ahead of us, I cannot tell how many with certainty but I can see six of them.'] An image appeared over the link, two women standing together next to a cart, one a brunette who looked somewhat foreign and the other a native and a redhead. They were both naked and slick with slime, the resemblance to Subject Gemini clear and all but absolute. A pair of reptilian creatures stood in the shadows of an alleyway, all but invisible as they seemed able to blend in perfectly with their surroundings. Finally, a pair of slimy grey creatures with numerous tentacles were poorly hidden within the wreckage of an overturned cart, parts of them sticking out from the broken wooden vehicle.

['We could go around them, but it would cost us a bit of time. I know that the other shortest route has a downed building across it, meaning it could be impassable to us and force another reroute further to the South. This lot is more or less right around the corner from you, Jax is on the right hand side when you turn that way and I'm on the left. Do we want to take this lot on? If it's only the ones that we can see, then we can probably take 'em if we can surprise 'em.']

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Naltaibur rubbed her mask's chin, thinking. She was loathe to waste any more time... but, as they said, 'haste makes waste'. Still... she definitely didn't like just leaving these invaders here, to waylay the next surviving Crolian that passed by - likely someone who wasn't as prepared to handle them as they were. If they had to flee, she certainly didn't want to flee into their arms, either. Yes... for now, more dead invaders was more valuable than avoiding a conflict. If it really was just this little group, they should have little trouble... but, if there were more, it might be a problem. Especially if they had somehow managed to hide one of their giants somewhere. Naltaibur still had no idea what she could do to stop one of those...

[If we aren't sure that that's all of them, I'd like to try something - just in case they have a few more friends waiting to jump us. It'd be a bit of a drain on my magical strength, though... and it'll require me to extinguish my hearing and lantern, though - at least for the moment.]

First letting the magic holding her amplified hearing undo itself, Naltaibur recited a spell to gather the ambient energies around her and a little of her own into a mirror-like armor around her magical center. It was by no means a powerful spell... but, Naltaibur's experience with manipulating energies to augment her abilities made it far more effective than it would have seemed.

That completed, she mentally instructed her group to be alert - she was going to douse her magical light, leaving them vulnerable to the invisible lizardmen's attack. Once she had done that, she warned them that she was going to move out where she might be spotted by the pair of lizards, and that if her plan failed, they might have to fight the pair of them. She also warned the group of the dangerous ability of the two pairs of women's ability to overwhelm a person's mind with lust, and not to underestimate them.

Once she had relayed that informationerected mental blocks on each of her mental connections... and then went over to the corner where she'd be able to get a peek at the lizardmen Aluwin and Caden had found. Hoping they wouldn't be looking her way when she peeked out, she popped her head out so she could see the pair, and then reached out again, forcibly reaching into one's mind, hoping to subjugate it's will. If this did

Spoiler

Cast Arcane Armor, a Level 2 Arcane buff, to add +21 to my resistance.
34 mind divided by 6, +1 from Focus, and +1 spell level from Healer. That should bring my Resistance from 17 to 38.

Then, Dominate one of the sneaky lizzads and have he stab his homeboy in the back before they can sound an alarm! ...Hopefully.

Total EP Cost: 10. My Spirit Ceiling is 10, Arcane Armor costs 2, and Dominate is a solid 8.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Spoiler

Naltaibur: HP = 45, PP = 53, EP = 27/49, Status = Fine, Telepathy to 7 different people, +21 Resistance (38) from Arcane Armor.

NPC Stats
Mavra: HP = 63, PP = 54, EP = 79, Status = Fine, Pregnant
Father Uldric: HP = 53, PP = 38, EP = 61, Status = Fine

Rolls

Spoiler

Naltaibur drops her lantern and Eavesdrop, and then casts Arcane Armor before using Dominate. They take place on separate rounds, so you don't have to worry about Spirit Ceiling.
Casting: Success.
+21 Resistance!

Resistance (Dominate) : Naltaibur wins.

Stealth (Naltaibur) : Failure.

Attack (dominated hunter) : Automatic hit.
Damage: 7 + 9 + 23 = 39 * 2 = 78 - 8 = 70 damage. Dead.

['Right. We'll hold position until you've done whatever it is that you intend to do,'] Aluwin replied crisply before going silent. Naltaibur's spell went off successfully, strengthening her mental acumen for the coming battle for control over the hidden hunter. After relaying her information about her plan and the abilities of the slime-coated women, Naltaibur peaked her head out and began her attempt at mental domination.

Unfortunately, as it turned out, one of the hunters had been looking in her direction. The one that she hadn't attacked pointed at her and let out a low hissing growl, barely audible from this far away, but that only left it vulnerable to the sudden strike by its comrade, who never stood a chance against Naltaibur's psionic assault upon its mind. The other alien only had time to let out a surprised grunt as its comrade's claws tore into its throat, a fountain of blood preceding its fall, where it appeared in full. A creature unlike any Naltaibur had ever seen before, humanoid but reptilian and with arms somewhat too long to look natural on its frame. She didn't have long to observe the dead creature, however, before the duo and the two tentacled creatures were bearing down on her position, already almost on top of her.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Dammit! Why'd he have to be looking this way?! Naltaibur swore inwardly as one of the hidden monsters spotted her. Thankfully, his unaware compatriot's mind was easily seized, and her spotter easily relieved of it's neck once the other lizardman was under her control, but it was too late - the rest of their group was already charging them.

Or rather, her. Through her link to it's mind, she fed him the thought that the pair of women wanted to kill it - it must kill them first, or else it would die, and that it could attack freely if it were hidden. Naltaibur wondered if there were some other way - something she could have done to stop this Gemini without killing them - it - but the doctor simply couldn't think of anything quick enough and safe enough, especially with them bearing down on her! She knew they weren't her fellow Therionians anymore... and yet, their bodies had once been, and it would be her that ordered them slain.

Swallowing her misgivings, she opened her mind again to Mavra, Uldric, and the rest of her group, and told them to get ready, sending the image of the monsters rushing the corner, and that the pair of women were unlikely to be among those charging them. She ran behind the soldiers, and then pulled out her falchion, ready to help them kill whatever made it past her thrall.

Spoiler

Command ye sneaky lizard to slay yon Gemini, flee behind big strong meatshields, prepare to chop some tentacles.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Spoiler

Naltaibur: HP = 45, PP = 53, EP = 27/49, Status = Fine, Telepathy to 7 different people, +21 Resistance (38) from Arcane Armor, Dominating

NPC Stats
Mavra: HP = 63, PP = 54, EP = 79, Status = Fine, Pregnant
Father Uldric: HP = 53, PP = 38, EP = 61, Status = Fine

Rolls

Spoiler

Stealth: The grapplers and duo lose every contest.

Attack (dominated hunter) : Automatic hit.
Damage: 12 + 9 + 23 = 44 * 2 = 88 damage. Dead.

Attack (Soldiers) : Automatic hits.
Damage: 4 + 2 + 15 = 21 * 2 = 42 damage.

And just like that, the battle is over.

The battle, if it could be called that, didn't last for very long. Naltaibur retreated past Aluwin and his man as the two tentacle monsters advanced, and both sprung from hiding and chopped the legs out from the creatures before they were even aware of the two men. After that all that was needed to finish the squirming things was a pair of quick jabs, which the two men delivered without a second thought. The hunter that Naltaibur commanded came up behind the unaware gemini and promptly grabbed the two of them and pulled them apart. The two women squirmed for a moment, but once they'd been pulled past about five feet or so they both went limp, and the hunter dropped them.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Hmm.

Thankfully, they had avoided a serious fight, turning the invaders against themselves levelling the odds neatly in the little group's favor. Still... she was already feeling a toll, and they'd barely left the church. She was going to have to be more careful...

For now, though, she had one of the invaders under her thumb - she knew it would fight her control, now that it she couldn't distract it with mortal peril, but she was confident her grip on it's mind was tight enough... for now. She bade it have a nice, languorous victory stretch, now that it had defeated its enemies and survived. It was a hero! Hooray!

She gave a small, nodding bow to the two that had stepped in to protect her. Making sure her thoughts weren't transmitting to her captive lizard, the doctor opened them to her group. [Thank you, gentlemen - very deft work. Let's pull back together, for now, and have that one act as our eyes ahead. It's under my control, but I can't keep it so and maintain my other spells at the same time, so I need the extra eyes here.]

Hopefully, Aluwin wouldn't have any more objections for her. If he didn't, Naltaibur would bid the lizardman that Naltaibur and her group were very important to it, and that it should go in front of them, to make sure none of it's kind were around. She then would let the others in her group see what it was seeing, along with an offer to let her know if they wanted it to examine something it wasn't - after all, Aluwin and his men knew far more what to keep watch for when scouting than she did. They could direct it far more adeptly than she could.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Spoiler

Naltaibur: HP = 45, PP = 53, EP = 27/49, Status = Fine, Telepathy to 7 different people, +21 Resistance (38) from Arcane Armor, Dominating

NPC Stats
Mavra: HP = 63, PP = 54, EP = 79, Status = Fine, Pregnant
Father Uldric: HP = 53, PP = 38, EP = 61, Status = Fine

There was a general consensus of acknowledgement from Naltaibur's comrades at the revised plan. Apparently, seeing it kill two of its comrades was enough proof for the soldiers to take Naltaibur's words at face value. The soldiers formed a triangle ahead of them, and both Mavra and Father Uldric flashed her brief smiles as she rejoined the rest of the group, who had remained behind while she and the soldiers dealt with the aliens. The hunter blinked in surprise and then turned to lead them forward, and through her domination of the creature she could see through its eyes, and transfer that information across the link. Aluwin and his men relayed what to look for, not that the hunter didn't know how to recognize its kin already, and they proceeded onwards somewhat better prepared than before.

There were no further aliens between Naltaibur and her lab, a walk taking about two minutes from where they'd eliminated the group of aliens and left their corpses behind. All in all, things were going fairly smoothly. ['Do we really need to stop here? I mean, what did you leave behind that's so valuable?'] Aluwin whined for the fourth time so far, and it was Mavra who answered him this time, ['Naltaibur wants to stop here, so we're stopping here. Stop whining and watch the street.'] Aluwin went silent at that, leaving Naltaibur to do whatever she wished to do within her old home. The immediate entryway was somewhat battered, but the secret entrance to her underground lab was still apparently a secret. Who, if anyone, she wanted to take down there was entirely up to her.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Naltaibur blushed as Mavra jumped to her defense, far more readily than she had been... still, placated as Aluwin was, it was a reasonable question. There would be no harm in answering it, would there?

[I have a store of herbs here,] she replied to the group. [Magic is well and good, but sometimes it's better encourage the body to heal on it's own. That, and I don't know how many people I'll have to tend to, so the better prepared we are, the better.]

The tainted night elf looked up and down the street in front of the ruins of her house where they stood. Hmm... she was loathe to let on any part of her secret, but she dreaded the thought of leaving her charges in such an exposed place. She knew she would only be a few minutes... but, even still...

[Follow me,] she thought, entering her home and going down into her basement. [Wait here, I'll be just a moment. Stay alert.] If any of her comrades questioned her about why her herbs were kept in a hidden room, she would respond [Some of my reagents are expensive, and others dangerous unless prepared properly. I didn't want them being stolen].

Creeping down into her laboratory, Naltaibur nursed a vain hope that, by some miracle, the first Subject Gemini - or, at least, the one whose head she hadn't cracked open - would have regained her senses. The damage to her mind had been too much to hope that that would return on its own... but, still, if the one she hadn't slain could recover, perhaps there would be hope for the others? And... and perhaps, she wouldn't feel like she'd raped and murdered them.

Even if she was under their influence, she had still used their bodies to pleasure herself... even if they monsters wearing her countrymen's bodies, she couldn't help feeling as though she had abducted them, locked them up, experimented on them - and then murdered them, Crolia's own.

And yet... what if she had recovered from the invader's control? How could she bring her up, tell them what happened, bring her with them? Perhaps it would be better if she left them down there, after all...

At any rate, she had also come for her herbs, which she hastily shoveled off the shelves and into another sack. Besides that, she'd also decided - she wanted more of her shackles, lest they come upon something she'd rather capture than kill. She didn't know how she would manage to take it with them - likely, she wasn't - but even so, it may come in handy. Or... it might be used on her, if she was ever knocked out...

Before she could waste more time on the thought, she yanked out two of her manacles and chains, and put them in the sack containing her research notes.

Finally... what she'd really come for. Dolly. Naltaibur doubted she could take her cage, but she knew her beloved first success wouldn't fare well locked up in that cage down in this dank place. Taking yet another sack - one without holes - she dumped what remained of Dolly's feed into it, and then placed her experiment into it, gently. She would have to figure out something better later, but this would do, for now. She looped Dolly's bag around her belt along with the sack she had had earlier, and carried the one full of her herbs back up the stairs. She could ask Gloria or Margaret to carry it, perhaps.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Spoiler

Naltaibur: HP = 45, PP = 53, EP = 27/49, Status = Fine, Telepathy to 7 different people, +21 Resistance (38) from Arcane Armor, Dominating

NPC Stats
Mavra: HP = 63, PP = 54, EP = 79, Status = Fine, Pregnant
Father Uldric: HP = 53, PP = 38, EP = 61, Status = Fine

The group carefully filed into Naltaibur's office behind her, but despite her prepared answer for it the question on why she kept her stores of herbs hidden was never asked. When she told them to wait, they did just that, allowing her to head down into her lab all on her own. She found it exactly as she'd left it, the bodies of Subject Gemini still lying, one on her table and the other with its head split open on the floor. The flies hadn't even gotten to them yet, given the closed nature of her laboratory, but they were already beginning to stink quite unpleasantly. Her various specimens had noticed it too, and as some of them were carnivores and some others scavengers, they were becoming increasingly animated within the confinement of their cages.

Retrieving some of the herbs from her shelves and two sets of her own shackles, as well as some of her research notes, she turned towards the cage that had contained her experimental rat, Dolly. The tiny winged rodent squeaked and flailed feebly as she was lifted from her cage, but seemed to recognize Naltaibur and settled back meekly in her grasp before being placed into the back containing her feed. When that bag was placed on her belt, the occasional sound or feel of movement from within alerted her to the rat's exploration of its new surroundings. Hopefully, she wouldn't get into any fights in which that bag was in danger of being ruptured or smashed.

Once she returned upstairs, Gloria was glad to take the bag of herbs in order to carry them safely, and even offered to carry the other ones that Naltaibur had acquired down in her lab. The communication across the mental link was silent, but despite the intrinsic connection it was easily possible for her to limit the information, however much or however little, she wanted to share. As it was, none of her companions asked her any questions, likely thinking that her occupation was totally innocuous.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Naltaibur contemplated doing something with the bodies of Subject Gemini... but any time spent dilly-dallying around in here was time her little group was vulnerable. She couldn't let herself be anymore distracted than she already was - she could still feel the lizard creature struggling against her control - she couldn't let it break free.

She took Gloria up on her offer, handing the bag she'd taken when she'd left her lab the day before, with her research notes on Subject Gemini and her newly-acquired shackles in it. Dolly, however, stayed with her - no doubt Gloria would wonder why it moved, and then she'd have to explain why she had a rat - with wings - in a bag. Which, to be honest, she really didn't have a rational answer for, save that she didn't want to leave her little pet vermin alone to die.

"Right, that's that. To the fortress, then - which way do you suggest we head now?"

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Spoiler

Naltaibur: HP = 45, PP = 53, EP = 27/49, Status = Fine, Telepathy to 7 different people, +21 Resistance (38) from Arcane Armor, Dominating

NPC Stats
Mavra: HP = 63, PP = 54, EP = 79, Status = Fine, Pregnant
Father Uldric: HP = 53, PP = 38, EP = 61, Status = Fine

"North and East," Mavra said quietly, responding out loud in response to what Naltaibur had said aloud. Uldric and Jax frowned at the two of them, but Aluwin quickly said, "Lets get moving then. Daylight's wasting."

With Gloria carrying most of what she'd taken from the lab and the soldiers following a ways behind the hunter that Naltaibur held control over, they started moving towards the fortress once again. As before, the first few streets that they passed this time, but when they came upon something a few minutes later, it wasn't something awful. Naltaibur and her group came across the sight of a battle, but this time it had been the invaders who had fallen. A squad of a dozen soldiers in the colors of the Therion Guard were cleaning up the mess, two of their number wounded and being tended to by a young woman in bright white robes, a practitioner in service to the Star God judging by the symbol branded on her clothing.

The first to spot the group of soldiers was the hunter she was controlling, but Aluwin and Caden saw them only moments later. They didn't seem to notice the hunter creeping up on them or the two mercenaries hidden behind a shattered section of building a short ways down the street. ['What do you want us to do Naltaibur? They could be useful, but we don't know if they're just wearing the uniforms or if they're the real deal. They could be bandits, or deserters. We could go around 'em if we had to, but we'd need a distraction to get you non-stealthy folks past their line of sight.']

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Naltaibur thanked Gloria for taking the things for her - it would have been quite awkward to manage, hurrying to pull out her weapons in a hurry if they were attacked. She hoped it wouldn't tire the thin girl out too much... but, they weren't that heavy, so she should be alright. Even with the strength she'd attained from integrating that orc's essence into her own, she hardly considered herself an able-bodied woman - Gloria ought to be fine.

Upon happening onto a group of humans - in the guard's uniform, no less! - the doctor couldn't keep herself from smiling, though her mask made it next to impossible to tell. She fully intended on walking out and revealing herself to the soldiers... at least, until Aluwin hazarded that they might not be as friendly as she hoped they would be. Bandits.. deserters... she hadn't really considered that. In a situation as dire as this - the entire city, beset by these freakish monsters - would people still abuse the chaos to steal and take as they pleased, even attack their fellow Therionians?

Naltaibur sighed, and decided to resort to what she'd been leaning on throughout this whole crisis - mental contact. Given her non-success at remaining hidden when she wished to be before, Naltaibur decided it was best to warn her group to ready for trouble - just in case. She, herself, unlooped Dolly from her waist, and handed Gloria the bag - silently asking her through their mental connection not to worry if the bag felt like it moved. Commanding her hunter to cross over to the side opposite of her and the group, she bade it find a loose cobblestone and throw it into a window - hopefully distracting the group enough for her to peek out and reach out again with a tendril of thought, to contact one of the soldiers in the group.

[Hello?], she would ask. [Sorry, but in a time like this you can never be too cautious. I'm a doctor, and I'm speaking to you through your mind - who are you? Do your injured need help?]

She hoped her mental voice would sound trustworthy enough that they wouldn't be off-put by her... 'unorthodox' method of contact. She also hoped she would be able to sniff out any lies they told... as much as she didn't like making contact with a possible threat, they were going to be desperately in need of more men to help them hold their fort and scavenge the ruins for supplies. She would take all the help she could get to bring Therion back to it's feet.

Spoiler

Telepathically try to talk to and maybe if possible mindread one of the soldiers. That's 1 EP, I think. :x

Possibly-relevant stats:
Resistance: 38
Perception: 26
Stealth: 11

Also augh, forgot to loot the bodies again. Gotta get dem research materials.

Speaking of, did I get xp for that fight, or I easymode it too hard? >.>

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Spoiler

Naltaibur: HP = 45, PP = 53, EP = 26/49, Status = Fine, Telepathy to 7 different people, +21 Resistance (38) from Arcane Armor, Dominating

NPC Stats
Mavra: HP = 63, PP = 54, EP = 79, Status = Fine, Pregnant
Father Uldric: HP = 53, PP = 38, EP = 61, Status = Fine

Chucking a rock through a window proved to be quite an effective distraction, as the entire party spun towards the sound with weapons at the ready at the sound of breaking glass. They eyed the place for a moment, but then the one whom Naltaibur chose to contact jumped in surprise as her voice echoed within the confines of his mind. His companions stared at him in surprise, but then he shouted; "Got a psychic nearby, seems like a friendly though! She ain't tryin to worm her way into my head at least."

Turning in the direction that he seemingly thought that she was in, which was almost completely the wrong one, he continued; "Show yerself if you're about, Annabeth here could probly use some help with our wounded if you're fit to it, and we've got food and supplies enough if you've not had a bite in a while." This particular form of mental contact didn't allow Naltaibur too much insight into the man's inner thoughts, but she could tell that he was relieved at the very least. Likely remembering the mental assault that Subject Gemini had use upon her, it wouldn't be difficult for Naltaibur to understand why that might be. Whether she wanted to show herself, and whether her trust of this group included indicating for her companions to join her in coming out of hiding was up to Naltaibur to decide.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Naltaibur rubbed her mask's chin for a bit. The recklessness of her first experiments had taught her not to trust in what she didn't have full control over... but still, he... sounded trustworthy, and she didn't detect any deception running in the tone of his mind. That he knew what she was might mean he knew how to fool her, though... wouldn't that just be her luck, picking the one particularly cunning and quick-witted deserter of the bunch, with the acting skills to feign friendliness not only in his mannerisms, but even thought, at a moment's notice like that, just to lure her out?

...No, she was just being paranoid again.

[...Seems safe,] Naltaibur thought at last to her comrades. She considered going out alone at first... but, even a minor deception like that would make it that much harder to convince them to help her. [They seem friendly, let's go have a chat, what do you think?]

Stepping out from her hiding place, Naltaibur walked towards the group, doffing her hat once they'd noticed the shuffling of their feet.

"Goo- well, perhaps not a 'good' morning, but it's a relief to see more Crolians that survived that harrowing experience," Naltaibur said in what passed for a greeting. "Let me see your wounded."

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Spoiler

Naltaibur: HP = 45, PP = 53, EP = 26/49, Status = Fine, Telepathy to 7 different people, +21 Resistance (38) from Arcane Armor, Dominating

NPC Stats
Mavra: HP = 63, PP = 54, EP = 79, Status = Fine, Pregnant
Father Uldric: HP = 53, PP = 38, EP = 61, Status = Fine

['It's your decision Naltaibur,'] Mavra responded over the mental link, ['It's your call. If you wanna risk it, go ahead. We'll come out of hiding once it looks like they won't attack you.'] Aluwin said, but Father Uldric didn't bother to respond over the link. Instead, he stepped up beside her and smiled reassuringly, and when she stepped out into the open, so did he. The soldiers turned on them immediately, but managed to return the priests expression after a moment's pause at her full body coverings.

"Aye, you're the first group that we've seen this morning that haven't tried to attack us. Damned monsters are turning our own people against us!" the guardsman who she had contacted mentally said aloud as he spotted them. Margaret and Gloria came out of hiding a moment later as well, followed quickly enough by Aluwin, Jax, and Caden, though the soldiers were hesitant and came forth with their hands on the hilts of their swords. Mavra was the last to come forward, and the entire squad of men immediately drew their swords, causing Aluwin and his men to do the same. The demoness froze at the sudden standoff, until Caden glanced behind and grunted; "Oh... Don't worry about her, she's with us."

The speaker for the Therion guard stared grimly at them for a moment before slowly sheathing his blade. Once his sword had been put away, he said; "Right. Well, our wounded are over there, being tended to by Annabeth." He gestured towards the woman in the white robe with the symbol of the star embroidered on its back, who was still kneeling by the wounded despite having turned in their direction when Naltaibur and her comrades had come out of hiding. She crouched protectively next to the two wounded men, a staff held sideways in front of her as if to block access to the men. Upon being mentioned the young girl straightened and stood back up, smiling somewhat sheepishly at the covered physician, "Greetings doctor! It'll be good to have some help with the healing."

The two men weren't seriously injured. One had slashes across his face, likely from one of the alien lizards like the one that she was still maintaining control of. The other looked to have been throttled by the tentacles of one of the slimy creatures, as his neck had bruising on it and was covered with goo.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Dr. Love, Dr. Death (GargantuaBlarg)

Naltaibur tensed, too, when they drew their weapons - yanking out her falchion in kind. When Caden mentioned that 'she's with us', though, the elf mentally kicked herself. Damn it! It had slipped her mind that they might take exception to Mavra, too occupied fretting on whether or not they were enemies and keeping a handle on her lizard to remember how mistrusted her demoness would be to people who didn't know her.

It was starting to get to her, and she clenched her free hand in frustration, before forcing herself to relax. Putting away her sword, she tried to put it out of her mind as she made her way over to sister Annabeth and her wounded, to whom she doffed her hat. She looked ready to defend her patients - an admirable trait. "Mm," she replied when she spoke. "If I may, I'd like to look at him," she said, pointing to the man who'd been choked. "Trauma to the neck is never good, and if his windpipe is damaged we'll want to fix that right away."

Provided she let her at her patient of choice, she would proceed to fix him up as she usually did, letting the magical energy in the air around her power the man's healing - her energy was at a premium, after all, lest she be forced to let their telepathic linking or mind control fade.

Once that was dealt with, she looked to the guards around her, and approached them, intending to ask if they would join them - though, as they were members of the guard, she wondered if they might take offense to their little group trying to commandeer one of Therion's fortresses.

"Do you lot have a stronghold of some sort? If you don't... well, we were going to see if we could take refuge in the fortress in merchant's district, and a few more loyal Therionians would certainly not be unwelcome."

Spoiler

It was the merchant's district, right? I am a derp and cannot recall. <_>