The Island of Zanak'Xala 2: Toe-to-Toe With Terrors

[Astral Harmony]

Raff gave Chrislyn a sidelong glance. "The last batch of adventurers we'll see for quite a long time. We've lost the Sea Dragon, and there's no telling when they'll find out we're in bad shape here."

Roughly half of the base's forces took stock of the new arrivals. The rest continued with their conversations, obviously knowing the arrivals wouldn't be staying for long at all. Their dialogue had some useful tidbits...

Edgart (Nekthrallian Centaur Heavy Lancer*): "Even though what's happening to our friends out there is terrible indeed, I kind of appreciate the appearance of the Perfections."
Cynthiel (Primal Being Catgirl Brawler): "Ah? How so?"
Edgart: "I'm nearly useless against the parasite's basic form, which is far too small and quick for my large lance, but Perfections are big, slow, and considerably armored themselves. Those are the kind of enemies I was trained to take down. Thanks to those abominations, I finally have a big role to play on the battlefield."

Fiskle (Nekthrallian Black Ops Scythe Dancer): "That Ryuk chick is pretty hot, don't'cha think?"
Terae (Lucincaste Dual Revolver Gunslinger*2): "What? You pedophile! That girl is only fourteen years old."
Fiskle: "Yeah, but she said she has an older sister, right? Named Alucard? I bet that woman is smokin' hot."
Terae: "And I'll bet she's at least twice as tough as Ryuk looks. There's gotta be more to Ryuk's little battle fans than their appearance. They just look weird."
Fiskle: "Yeah, that Alucard's gotta be so hot and badass. Man, I've searched half of the empire for a woman like that and haven't found one."
Terae: "They were probably hiding from you."

Revellia (Primal Being Orcha Widow*3): "We have about everything we need except food and healers."
Gurtrad (Lucincaste Blade Rogue): "Well, looks like the priestess we asked for arrived safely. And the general plans on asking them to get a supply caravan to the two bases nearby to try and gather some food."
Revellia: "Asking?"
Gurtrad: "Excluding the priestess, they're not military like us. General Shevenston can't order them to go help us. All he can do is ask and hopefully sweeten the deal enough for them to agree."

Nafina clapped her hands. "Everyone, gather up. General Shevenston has asked us to hear out the current situation and he has a request of us. Let's muster inside."
General Marcus Shevenston was a big man with a kind, unthreatening face. This was offset by the large metal claws magnetically attached to his belt. To his right was the freelance and well-traveled tactician Silvica, studying the party carefully as each one entered. Angela saluted*4 Marcus, who returned it sharply.
The pair waited for everyone to get comfortable. He cleared his throat before beginning. "Welcome, all of you. I am honored to receive you. My name is Marcus Shevenston, and I am Commander of the military forces sent here on loan from all three worldly powers. To my right here is the brilliant Miss Silvica, a tactician who has seen far much war than I think any woman should see in her life."
"Sexist," Silvica uttered.
"It's just the way I feel," Marcus defended himself weakly. Even with his side and weapons, he didn't radiate the aura of a man in command. "Anyways, we thank you all for coming to our aid in bringing a peaceful resolution to the problems here. Unfortunately, we have gravely underestimated the size and potential threat here. Silvica?"
The tactician gestured to a map of what was clearly the island. "We have been informed by a young civilian girl who resides on this island that there exists a construct directly south of our current position," Silvica paused, pointed at a red circle. "In this general area. The girl's name is Ryuk. She has been ordered by her older sister Alucard to keep any outsiders away from the structure by use of non-lethal, but otherwise debilitating, force."

"I don't exactly claim her to be telling us the truth, but the fact that we first encountered the parasites she calls the Phenoliths coming from that general direction, and both Ryuk's and the parasite's objective to keep us from moving south, I believe that it is definitely worth investigating."
Marcus nodded. "If you are eager to go ahead and investigate that area, Silvica here can provide you with some tactical knowledge that could very well save your lives out there. However, I have a personal request that I would like to make of you first."
The general pointed to two small blue dots on the map, one just southwest and one just southeast of the base location. "I cannot order non-military personal to help us, but we are running considerably low on food. So, I would like to request that you take a caravan with you to recover whatever is edible from these locations, our previous base, and a twenty-year old fortress set up by the Silver Shroud religious organization that set foot here."
"The Silver Shroud base!" Angela exclaimed. "I must go there."
Marcus continued. "With the supplies recovered from those bases, we would be able to join you as you trek south to the primary objective. Silvica has tactical data available for the two bases if you choose to lend us a hand there as well. Please, think it over quickly, and come back to me with your decision."

*: Centaurs used the good old fashioned bow and arrow to devastating effect when they existed only in the Primal Being Commonwealth. Now that they have come to live in Lucincaste Kingdom and the Nekthrallian Empire, they've come to learn much in the ways of magic and of lances and heavy armor, respectively.
*2: While it's not too uncommon, elves who use guns is still quite a rare thing.
*3: Part human, part spider. Most of them are fast, while some species wield vicious attacks (venom, poison, or neither varieties) and strong exoskeletons.
*4: The Nektrallian Empire salute involves standing at attention, then bringing your right arm and leg out and saluting across your chest while bringing your heels together in one fluid motion.

[Bailey]

"Hello." Lith ventured. "Would you indicate some of the individuals in this room you consider to be physically attractive and describe the reasons for your decisions? Also, you appear to draw extreme reactions. Why?"

As they followed Nafina to the meeting, Num spoke to Lith. "Well, anybody with useful qualities is automatically attractive. The trick is to choose the most useful and most easily manipulated mate. That elf, however, appears to have a magical ability to seem more attractive while in actuality being anything but such. I shouldn't complain too much though; as you know, our kind," Num explained, mistaking Lith for another changeling, "can change shape, and additionally, I, in particular, have worked on honing the mental arts to allow myself to discover the exact form of any specific creature's ideal mate, so long as they themselves know what such a form would be. Unfortunately, it seems that both the elf and the scaled one are interested in violent, immediate mating when presented with the object of their deepest affections. I will need to ascertain how to take the form of a simply attractive individual rather than taking the form of any specific creature's deepest desires. I will need to discuss this matter further with the snail, I believe. He is much stronger than I in the mental arena. I'm not even certain if he is, in fact, a snail, or simply another creature pretending to be a snail."

[PyrosNine]

"I am most eager to be off. If this place has supplies, the quicker I am to getting myself some fine tea and sugar, something to sweeten up this incredibly bitter pill that is this island." Jeros spoke up, to everyone and to no one in particular. "In the event that groups are split up, I and my servant shall part ways, and he shall aid the carrying of supplies, as he is particularly good at it, even if it is all he is ever good at."

"And finally, if anyone can explain to me what hallucinogenic effects this damned place has for upright standing, noble Elves, because I am starting to ponder about how I keep seeing my second cousin and another Lizard-kin, only for both to disappear later, and leaving me most perturbed! This is no way for an Elf to be taunted so!"

It was true, his hair was visibly out of place, and even with a bit of glamour in his system, he looked a bit frazzled.

He turned to Angela. "Priestess Angela, as a fellow enlightened soul (even if a enlightened human), can you provide me another perspective as to what is going on? I fear I may be losing my highly trained intelligent elven mind! My worst fear is that I soon may be no better than that guy!"

Jeros pointed to a random red haired member of the crew, who was picking his nose.

Feeling the stares of two upon him, he quickly looked back, though he did not quit his mining.

"What?"

"YOU CANNOT HIDE YOUR FILTH, So DO NOT EVEN TRY!" Jeros roared, pointing with all that he was worth.

The red haired man backed up, and eased off screen.

"Geeze, first it was over the banana, now a guy can't even clean his nose..."

Jeros turned back to Angela. "Do you see my nightmare?"

[Arhra]

Lith wasn't pleased by the answers she recieved. The selection strategy Num had mentioned obviously could not be a mainstream one, as it simply would not function if everyone was using it. Num therefore was an aberration: a manipulative strategy reliant on subversion of mainstream behaviours.

A cuckoo.

"Thank you for your answers." Lith said politely. "I do not believe we should associate further." She continued walking on to the meeting.

* * *

After Shevenston's speech, everyone was clustered around to decide whether to assist the military expedition to retrieve supplies or head straight for the mysterious structure.

Jeros put forth his preference and ranted. In the aftermath, Lith decided she should weigh in on the decision. She quietly spoke, eyes downcast.

"The division of resources would weaken both tactics. Sequential performance would allow full available force to be employed both times."

"However, it comes to a value judgement of the advantage a supply expedition would give balanced against the reinforcements this delay would allow the enemy to gather. I am not qualified to such a decision."

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

"Ssssssssk," Kass was raking a claw down the underside of her chin, piercing eyes narrowed into slits, "I would believe retrieving sssuppliesss would be a good idea. However, what would make you think that there will sssstill be any left after thisss time? Wouldn't the placsse be ssswarming with ssscavengersss by now?"

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

"The fact of the matter is", said Narim, suddenly speaking up, "that we are low on supplies. If we cannot re-stock soon then we won't survive long enough to fully investigate the island or even report back our findings. Taking a short while to search for even the slightest possible chance of finding food supplies should be our primary concern."

"Those are just my thoughts on the situation", he finished simply.

[Astral Harmony]

Angela listened to Jeros complain, assured that all the stuff she had heard about elven sensibilities was absolutely true, and in Jeros' case, even worse.

General Shevenston looked very grateful as he heard the acceptance to his pleas for help. Silvica took center stage, starting by answering Kass' question. "We had constructed a few storehouses in the ground that contained unperishable foodstuffs and helpful equipment. We fear as you have that those may in fact have been raided. However, the needs to the people here rest on the hopes that something can be salvaged from both our first base and the Silver Shroud base."
"Like a hammer for me," Nafina said.
"And a staff I can use," Angela chimed in.
"And you'll help us take the fight to the parasites by removing their stranglehold over those positions." Silvica added. "If a large number of parasites can be dealt with at those two positions, it will delay any offensive the Phenolith Brain has planned for those of us who remain."

"I hope that settles it," Shevenston said, looking eager to get to work after too great a length of time in inaction. "I'll handpick some of my crew as caravan guards. I'll need you to secure those storerooms, which means wiping out all hostiles in the general area, be they parasite, monster, or whatever. Once those areas are secured, the caravan will move in and load up with everything we can use."
Silvica directed their attention to the map. "The objective is due southwest of this position. Given how much value securing anything from these bases is to us, it is likely you will face a number of garrisoned parasitic forces, including drones, mutants, and even a Perfection. I am not certain how Ryuk or the Femmedolls she spoke of will react to our operations, so expect additional resistance. Finally, the miasma will also be there in force, and if you can, I advise standing back and letting them take care of some of the battle for you, lest your armguards force the Mystwraiths to dematerialize. That advantage will be quickly lost, however, when the Phenoliths see you and come your way."

Outside, the base suddenly picked up with activity. Edgart the centaur, Cynthiel the catgirl, Terae the gunslinger, Gurtrad the rogue, Nafina the amazon, and Revellia the venom freak were all handpicked to join the caravan force. With a full squad like that, anything would have to be quite desperate to attack the caravan. Edgart was nominated as the squad leader for the caravan. "Once the assault team is assembled and ready to roll, we'll move out right behind them," he explained to his friends. "Remember, the caravan and all supplies we recover are our charge. Don't get excited and go lend a hand to our allies. I'm certain they know what they're doing."

[Teal Mage]

"Well, well, well." Chrislyn whispered happily to himself. His ears had caught everything that had went on in the tent, even from his hiding place a short distance away.

It certainly was going to be interesting following these people. He was looking forward to it. But he certainly wasn't going to wait back with the caravan itself. "That would be boring."

"The Silver Shroud base..." he smiled as he stood and prepared to join the group as they left the base. One way or another he was going with them.

[Arhra]

We are leaving immediately. Lith thought as she walked away from the meeting, unlocking the spine she was using as a spear shaft and fidgeting with it, bending it to the limits of its articulation.

She'd hoped she would enough time to fully consume that Sand Shark but it wasn't going to happen. Given it was about her size, it would have taken a while, even at the scary rate she absorbed food. At least she still had her 'skirt' of dead parasites.

While General Shevenston was getting the caravan force ready, she knew she'd have to get herself ready for the expedition. She found a quiet spot and got to work.

First, Lith's slowly fluctuating appearance changed again.

She'd started out thin to the point of emaciation and short haired. After a detour on the dead Hydralox, she'd emerged from the sea suspiciously fatter, although for her that meant moving up to being classed as skinny. On the way to the base, she'd also sprouted much longer hair, falling past her waist. She'd remained reasonably androgenous.

Lith concentrated and her build gained more muscle bulk, amorphous Lith-stuff moving out of her internal reservoirs and transforming. She rolled her shoulders and flexed her spine, feeling everything settle into place. Examining her lean but strong new form, she really should have made the change earlier she decided.

Also important, it meant she had a lot more free space inside again. Lith looked at the sand shark she'd gone to the effort of dragging the rest of the way to the base eagerly. Detaching her blade from her spear, Lith set to work draining the blood and swallowing as many chunks of flesh as she could cut off before the call to assemble came. With some difficulty, she also swallowed a paw. She'd need the bone.

And so it was a slightly different Lith that assembled with the others. She seemed distracted, occupied in working on some manner of bone spike. It was a little creepy to see the bone slowly change shape in her hands. Lith kept wriggling slightly too, as if she wasn't quite comfortable in her skin.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

With the meeting over and with time to spare whilst the caravan was made ready to leave, Narim decided to take this opportunity to catch up on some quiet meditation. It was common practice among the Order to meditate every day at least once, but being on the island with all of its dangers Narim had grown lax in his usual routine. As such, his powers weren't as focused as they should be. Sure he could slow things quite easily, but anything more might be hard to accomplish, and where they were going he would need his full focus.

Finding a quite spot slightly away from everyone else he sat down and crossed his legs, laying his sword across his thighs. He closed his eyes and began to take long, slow deep breathes and tried to blot out any distracting sounds around him. As he began to relax more and more he could feel the essence of his power flowing through him, coming off him in waves and surrounding him. The remaining sounds began to slow as his bubble of altered time fully enclosed him, shutting him further off from the world. Inside this bubble, all was calm and peaceful. This was further echoed inside Narims own head as he began to work his power with his own mind. The best way to describe it would be like flexing a muscle, or a series of muscles, but muscles that were neither tangible or see-able; the whole process was completely invisible to all but Narim. He could now sense all of time, could practically see its raw power within his own mind and commune with it, control it, command it.

Now directly in contact with the source, he began to mentally work his will, slowing, stopping and reversing the area around him over and over. It was like a warm up before a fight, training for a time-bender. It was also key to a time-benders progression through the Tiers*, something which all members of the Order were working towards.

Narim continued to meditate, waiting for the caravan to leave.

*The 6 Tiers of Time; Time Slowing, Time Stopping, Time Reversing, Time Speeding, Past Travel and Future Travel.