Stick a Needle in My Eye

	ST Last time… Our heroes failed to cross the super-convenient ice bridge across the Bering Strait! But that’s okay, because they narrowly escaped the clutches of the fearsome Tsar Mora, Slavic Titan of the Drowned Road. Also they got themselves a free barge, no assembly required! (In fact, there was some disassembly involved.) They drifted across the ocean for a while, silent and undetected… and then…
	ST Frosty mist drifts over the restless surface of the ice pack-studded black ocean, catching the wan light of the half-moon. Sasha looks out over the obscured water, his brow set intently, eyes focused on some distant sight. He steps from his place at the tiller to the very edge of the platform of ice slowly conveying them over the waves. With each step, an ever-increasing soft light seeps from him. His last step takes him into the fog, which quickly consumes the big rig and passengers. For a moment, it seems as if they’re all held suspended in milky nothingness which seems to eddy in the light surrounding Sasha and softens the edges around everything else, giving a dreamlike cast over the rest of existence. The low roar of the ocean fades and gives way to the arrhythmic creak of a warped wooden wheel. That, too, fades to towering silence. The mist pulls away, revealing a still, formless sea. Sasha’s glow fades, sharpening the shadows in the planes of his face, giving him a skeletal cast. The night sky above is utterly moonless, and the stars have been scattered haphazardly about, lacking pattern and any semblance of order. (( Those with Order please roll versus your current WP, or spend 1 WP to forgo the roll. ))
	ST (( Neither Sasha nor Lena go into Order Extremity! Yay! ))
	Ken ((thank goodness!))
	Dovile ((I do not either!))
	Sanura [2 so pretty sure I’m good]
	ST (( Crook doesn’t extremity either. ))
	ST (To Dovile and Ken) Suddenly, an impression that seems to utterly stomp out all the other senses: the all-consuming drive to forge, to craft, to make flesh into steel and bone to gearwork and blood to fuel. Though the other senses return soon enough, the impression remains, throbbing at the back of the mind.
	Ken Ken looks at the dark waters around them, and the dark sky above, searching for any sign of… anything.
	ST (( Ayup. ))
	Ken ((per+aware))
	ST (( Go ahead. ))
	Ken ((15))
	Dovile ((20))
	ST From far off, the thumping beat of myriad wings fill the air, echoing off the massive cliff walls rimming the distant horizon on all sides. It’s quickly overpowered by a cacophony that wants desperately to be called a song—disharmonous but pure notes punctuated by screeching, wheezing, buzzing, and whirring. Whatever it is, it’s coming closer. Sure enough, it’s not hard to see, once the sounds are pinpointed. A flock of large birds, with the upper halves of beautiful woman with long, lustrous hair… or, one gets the impression that’s what they once were. Now, however, they bear haphazard metal- and gear-work, grafted to their skin or, in some cases, replacing whole limbs. As they fly they seem to weave almost drunkenly, weighed down as they are by their metallic burden.
	Ken int occ to know what they are?
	ST Sure.
	Ken 10
	ST Alkonosts. Russian sirens, except far more pleasant than their Greco-Roman cousins.
	Ken Not gonna attack us?
	ST Not as far as Ken can tell. But that “singing” is going to get annoying pretty fast.
	Dovile Instant Assesment on the Alkonosts? (I’m marking down one legend.)
	ST Epic Str: 3 Soaks: 10B/6L/3A DV: 16
	Sanura Sanura is a bit miffed her stars are mussed up.. just sayin’
	ST Crook looks up at the sky, flicking his ears in agitation. Then his golden gaze drops to the water, tail twitching.
	Ken Ken frowns at what he sees but more at what he hears. He asks Dovile, “Are they supposed to sound like that?” Pointing a finger at the distant critters.
	Sanura Sanura looks down from her perusal of the heavens with a faint agitated frown her brow furrowing further as she walks over to try and see what Ken is gesturing to.
	Dovile Dovile glances away from them, toward Ken’s finger. Then she lowers her gaze to the gently steaming water ahead of them. “No.” After a moment she clarifies. “They didn’t have the metal parts before. Was less like machine noise and more like singing.”
	Sanura Sanura turns her attention to Dovile and Sasha, “anything else seem different?”
	Ken Ken nods, then explains for Sanura’s sake. “Alkanosts. They are still a ways off. But by the way they sound, we may want to drag up your cotton-stuffed ears from earlier.”
	Sanura If he sounds quite serious then she’d go digging around for some cotton balls.
	Dovile “And the headache medicine.” Dovile grumbles.
	ST Sasha clears his throat. “Yes and no.” He looks around. “It all looks the same, but this place feels very different.”
	Dovile Dovile nods in agreement with her brother. “Like…” She looks around, and then shakes her head. “Like a bad idea. A very bad idea. Only everyone thinks it is a very good idea.” Then she points up. “And the stars have wandered.”
	Sanura Sanura’s nose wrinkles “I did notice that..” she reaches up and attempts to tug at them a bit just to see if they respond. [should I roll?]
	ST (( Sure! Stars + … um… She’s just trying to move them around with, like her hand? ))
	Sanura [yeah like.. um web of stars but not actually drawing htem down]
	Dovile ((Stars and Leadership!))
	ST He peers out into the water, as if trying to discern its depths. But nothing seems forthcoming. He pulls away and turns back to the group. “On the up side, the underworld is still creepy. That hasn’t gone awry, at least!”
	Dovile “Not creepy before. Was homey.” Dovile checks her rifle, again, and loads it casually.
	ST (( Stars + Presence. ))
	ST (( With a Diff of… ))
	ST (( 25 ))
	Sanura [well crikey she only has 18 ]
	Ken Ken clambers onto the tip of the mast to get a better view. With no sun or moon, the stars are the brightest thing around. Ships shouldn’t sail in the dark… it is dangerous and feels wrong somehow. He pulls out a small jar of oil, a wick and a match. But his matches are soggy from that dunk they took, and it’s just not lighting. Ken frowns, willing it to strike a flame, and something clicks into place. A spark catches. But as the flame flickers, then grows, it throws off a light unlike the little lamps inside the semi. A light very much like one would find deep in the heart of Nav… ((stunt for Spirit Lamp?))
	Sanura [rolling three tens is still pretty even if I only got 11]
	Sanura [I like the stunt]
	ST Though some stars twitch at Sanura’s attempts to set them aright, they quickly fall back into slovenly indifference.
	Sanura Sanura grumbles and shakes her fist at them a little, then gets cotton balls for erryones ears.
	Dovile ((Oh Sorry! I say yes to the stunt!))
	ST (( Alright, well, I’m going to give you 2 stunt dice and 2 Legend back for that one. ))
	Ken ((ok!))
	Ken ((22))
	ST (( I don’t think there’s anyone with Death Boons in this group… ))
	ST (( In any case, your spirit lamp goes out 22 yards. ))
	Ken ((ok. So we all get bonuses to virtue rolls and threat detection, yes?))
	ST (( Yes. ))
	Ken ((ok. Ken’s got 10 psychopomp boons))
	Bear (stunt good)
	Ken He looks at the strange lamp with a bit of surprise. But light is light. Ken ties it to his belt so he’ll have both hands free and slips back down to the icy floor.
	Sanura Sanura passes out wads of cottonballs to everyone though she suggests waiting till they’re a must have.
	Bear Bear’s in the back, cranking and steering, directed by geomagnetics and Psychopomp.
	ST Sure enough, as the ice barge floats on the Sea of Tears, dead in the water, the alkonosts draw closer. They are heard before they’re seen, singing their screeching, cacophonous songs that seem to be trying so hard to be in harmony but failing miserably. The vision of them is sadder than their song: the lower halves and wings of birds bearing dull and listless feathers (at least, where the feathers can be seen) and upper halves of once-beautiful women… now their fine skin is seems welded in places to various sorts of metalworks, and their feathers plucked to make way for metal-crafted feet bearing razor talons. There seems no rhyme nor reason to these adornments, and they look more painful than anything else. At times steam jets from various exhaust ports, and, when they swoop close enough, the thick smell of oil trails them. (( Okay. In order to move forward, someone’s got to be rowing/locomoting the vessel with Endurance + Fortitude with at least 7 successes. Failure means everyone loses 1 WP. If there’s no WP to lose, they take that instead as unsoakable bashing damage. Oh, and the alkonosts’ song provides a -3 dice to each roll. It would be -5, except presumably everyone’s got cotton stuffed in their ears. ))
	Bear “Harpies? In Arctic Russia. Goddamnit.” “Steampunk harpies no less.”
	Ken ((what counts as locomoting the vessel? and if Bear fails can someone else give it a whirl?))
	Bear (The engine’s basically a bicycle on a swivel mount hooked to a swamp boat fan.)
	Ken ((I’m thinking tending the sails.))
	Bear (To provide thrust, you crank it like you push a bike’s pedals.)
	ST The alkonosts don’t appear to be actively threatening the group, but they are clearly hovering around them, singing their screeching song.
	Bear Bear puts his shoulder back to the crank.
	Sanura Sanura can give a speach for added enurance? I think? with her new boon I mean
	Ken Ken tugs at a line. It hums with tension from a wind that can’t be felt. The song is pulling at them, turning water into molasses, thickening the air in their lungs. He takes a deep breath, and begins to play a tune. The notes clash at first, but find the rhythm hidden deep in the birds cacophony.
	Bear (That’d help, else I’m missing the first roll by 1)
	Ken ((9))
	Bear (Since I’m doing motor power, and Ken’s summoning wind, do our successes combine towards the diff 7?)
	ST (( Yes, I’ll allow it. Loral, did you account for the -3 dice? ))
	Ken ((whoops. Nope. Want me to redo?))
	ST (( You can either do that or you can take 3 successes away from your current roll. ))
	Ken ((I’ll redo it with less dice. Hold on.))
	Bear (Then his 6 and mine make 12 for the first test.)
	Ken ((10, with the fewer dice XD))
	ST (( Okay. Still beats the Diff. ))
	ST It seems like an eternity. The stars move sluggishly across the sky in the semblance of time passing. Perhaps it’s a day, perhaps it’s a week. The alkonosts continue to hover around them, tirelessly crooning… or keening. (( Good job! Now do it again, six more times. Oh, by the way, the penalty increases by 1 dice every day for those without Endurance and 1 dice every two days for those with Endurance as the song wears ever more on y’all. ))
	Sanura [can I ask them to go away nicely?]
	ST (( You can certainly try. ))
	Sanura Sanura rubs her ears and looks around them at the keening mass of rather sad looking beings. She pauses a moment and then lifts her head and her voice to address them. “Greetings feathered friends, I am Sanura, child of destiny. Myself and my companions seek to right the cosmos and free the Gods to their proper place and return order to that which so sorely needs it. I implore you to calm the din of your voices and allow us passage so that we may sooner complete our mission” She looks to the creatures imploringly yet with a conviction in her tone.
	ST (( Cha + Presence ))
	ST For a moment, the alkonosts pause to listen to Sanura, the silence seeming to ring louder than their song. They settle on the iceberg, heads tilting from side to side with avian twitching as they listen intently. (Or perhaps more akin to the ticking of gears? It’s hard to tell.) But then, suddenly, the water begins to seep onto the platform. Sinking? No—crawling. The alkonosts flutter up, startled, and begin screeching their song anew in a frantic tempo. The water draws back and settles once more, and they continue their song… but then they return, digging their razor claws in the ice, and pull. They can’t get it aloft, but they can help speed its way. (( I’d give you +5 dice to your rolls, but seeing as how you passed anyway… :P ))
	Sanura Sanura endures the sounds and watches with pleased surprise as the avian crew assist as best they’re able. Her thanks is truely heartfelt as she watches their actions with a grateful nod of her head.
	Ken The song is maddening. But like many maddening things, it’s apparently important anyways. Ken doesn’t stop playing, but he gives the Alkonosts a nod of appreciation, and he weaves notes of freedom and birdsong into the melody. Hopefully it will remind them of better times.
	Dovile Dovile wipes the salt crust off her rifle and watches, wairily.
	ST If the first day was an eternity, the next six grow ever longer with the constant nails on the chalkboard going on in the background. But the passengers make do as they’re able, with Crook keeping his head buried in Ovsta’s wool and Ovsta… not seeming the least bit perturbed. (Perhaps it’s a sheep thing.) Throughout this time Sasha can be caught offering tea to the alkonosts one at a time, to whet their much-used throats. Lena is occasionally seen shadowing either Dovile or Sasha, her own features seemingly turned hollow by Peklo’s lighting (or lack thereof). Eventually, they reach the other shore. It’s a desolate place, made even more desolate by the utter lack of the usual numerous abandoned huts made of makeshift building materials. As it is now, what awaits them is the distant mouth of the huge, vast cave that houses fearsome Morena’s former dwelling… a wan, flickering light emanating from within. Once they’re safely ashore and clear of the water, the alkonosts fly off, leaving them to the occasional wind that howls, originless, over the empty, slightly frostbitten plain of sickly brown grasses.
	Sanura Sanura waves to the departing birds. “Thank you!”
	ST Before the alkonosts part from the group, they bid each member of the group farewell with friendly kisses.
	Dovile Uugh, plesantries. Dovile does her best to be polite.
	Ken Ken returns their affection with hugs, and tips his hat to them before they fly away.
	Sanura Sanura regards Sasha and gestures towards the light. “Shall we?” she intones quietly.
	Ken Ken peers into the tunnel, sniffing the wind.
	ST Sasha nods, then glances over his shoulder to Lena. After a brief moment, he holds out his hand. She glances at him from under her hair then smiles wanly and steps forward, slipping her hand in his. They start forward, towards the cave.
	Dovile Smell of salt, dissolved in warm water. Soft warm steam on the skin, floating over the other scents. Furs, rotting whale, oil. The smell of musk and dry bones, growing shadows moving stealthily out of the cave. Dusty taste of melting ice, creak of metal. Scent of her companions, sweat of five different kinds, all the same, all different. Flickering stars overhead, not giving enough light, and yet too much. Gentle, eery glow, reflecting off of rock. Taste of cold air. The muttering hum of six heart beats. The sound of salt, crystallizing on the barrel of her rifle. The sensations float on top of Dovile, or perhaps below her. Aware of all of it, but focusing on nothing. Everything is wrong. The very soul of the place throbs. Throbs wrong. Throbs like a drunk crowd, about to go wrong. Throbs like the unexpected, unlooked for desire to kick a weeping person in the stomach, or break a dying woman’s fingers. Dovile breaths in, tasting the air and feeling for shadows. ((Per + Aware, stunt?))
	Ken ((wow. YES.))
	Sanura Sanura is watchful and uncertain as they proceed but this is one situation where there is no way out but through it seems. [so much stunt.. stunt +1]
	Ken 27 on per+awareness
	ST The light hiss of distant oil lamps, the roar of the cave… and the waft of that same impression from before, the morbid inspiration that had struck on the Sea of Tears. It’s mixed with the smell of rain, and the sound of a turning wheel, uneven, much like when they’d first crossed into the land of the dead. The smell, getting closer. More powerful.
	Ken Can ken hear anything?
	ST Yes. The echo of the creak of metal, too soft for mortal ears to hear, and the fleeting sound of a leathery flap.
	Ken Ken puts a hand on Sasha’s shoulder, not exactly holding him back. “I smell something ahead. It smells…” he thinks hard. “Like the sea here. We should be careful.”
	Bear (Yes(
	ST Sasha nods, unconsciously drawing Lena towards him. After a moment, a thought occurs to him. “If you see a giant bat with 777 eyes, though… he likes chin scritches.”
	Dovile ((26 on Per Aware))
	ST There, a shadow, moving quick. Swooping from one shadow to the next. The barest wind brushes from its passing. It smells of the same morbid inspiration as from the Sea of Tears, mingled with the more comforting smells of rain-soaked wood, and the phantom creak of a wheel turning.
	Dovile ((Any metal creaking or metal smell?))
	ST (( Metal smell, yes. And creaking, yes, but not nearly to the degree of the alkonosts. In fact, it would be imperceptible to normal hearing. ))
	Dovile ((Hrm diddly. Kay. Thanks.))
	Sanura Sanura blinks softly hearing that and then gives a soft laugh. Bats were rodents but also hunters like cats, she was rather fond of them.
	ST The big fellow’s bright demeanor dims a little, giving way to intentness. He narrows his eyes and slows his gait. “You’ll protect me, right, Myshka?” he murmurs just loud enough for the others to hear, keeping his eyes on the cave but turning his head a little towards her. It’s humor… but his deadpan is… kind of convincing. He waves the semi and those on it forward, wary.
	Ken Ken walks up front, alongside Sasha and Lena, although about a half-step out of sync with them. “This bat, is he part of your family?”
	ST “Yes,” Sasha says, keeping his voice low. “Dedicated guardian of this cave, and Lady Morena’s faithful servant.” He motions with a single hand to the lanterns on the walls, each of which is demarcated by a different handprint, set in clay. “He ensures that no one tampers with these, so everyone dies at their appointed time—no sooner, no later.”
	Ken Ken slips ahead and to the right a bit, taking a moment to look closely at the handprints and lanterns. “Well, then… it may be he is not far. I smell one of your blood-kin ahead.” He meanders back to their side.
	ST “We’ll come across him sooner or later. Nothing happens in this cave without him knowing it.” Sasha’s brow furrows a little. “In fact, I’m a little surprised it hasn’t happened already.”
	Sanura Sanura smiles faintly and says low “Mr Bat we’re here to give you chin rubs come greet us.” Her tone faintly sing song.
	Ken There’s a slight hesitation in his step. “Sasha, I do not think Bat is the only thing ahead. Something made of metal is moving also.” His voice is quiet, pitched low so as not to travel far.
	Dovile “He’s close.” Dovile tells the group at large, very quietly.
	ST Sasha releases Lena’s hand, offering her a brief, reassuring smile, straightens, and moves forward at a faster pace, taking it upon himself to be the spearhead of the group.
	Ken Ken keeps pace a step behind Sasha and a step ahead of Lena, sliding along the shadows where lamplight flickers. The lamp at his hip turns into one point of light among many, making him hard to pick out by anything aside from movement.
	Ken ((Stealthing?))
	ST (( Go ahead. ))
	Ken ((16))
	ST A blur. A startled grunt. A whoosh. And then a shadow lands, welling up, growing, blocking the exit. And then two spots of glowing light—eyes, one a white glow, one a yellow glow. An instant later, more such glowing spots, uncountable. A figure, revealed: a monstrous bat 10 feet tall, with wicked fangs and talons. Over half his head is a smooth, polished metal dome. It’s been grafted to his flesh, much like with the alkonosts, covering a good number of his eyes. A yellow glowing crystal is inset in it in proximity to one of his two main eyes, gleaming at the Children of the Lost Gods.
	Ken Ken whirls, ducks, stirring winds around himself, becoming part of them. He makes a quick step left, a hop to the right, and then dives straight toward the altered-Bat, rolling under one wing.
	Dovile ((Instant Assesment on Bat, 1L)) ((And Assess Health too.))
	ST Epic Str: 10 Soaks: 55B/50L/15A DV: 41 Bat is in good health. Well, except for the graft. The silhouettes of claw-like appendages just barely touch his brain, releasing tiny little shocks here and there.
	Bear Bear’s gonna drop the truck into park.
	Ken ((activating air armor and untouchable opponent))
	ST (( Okay. If you’re gonna try and get all physical, then I’m gonna need Join Battle rolls. ))
	Ken ((what do we roll for that?))
	Bear Gonna get out, toting his hammer. “Any chance in hell we’re gonna get through this without a fight with Cossack Camozatz?”
	ST (( Wits + Awareness ))
	Dovile ((12))
	Ken 16
	Sanura Sanura nudges Sasha and mimes a handshake and friendly smile before nodding towards the bat dude
	Dovile “Got metal in his brain, making him twitch.” Dovile informs the party. “Break the device?” The last is more a suggestion then anything else.
	Sanura Sanura winces slightly “If we need to.. let’s avoid any sort of .. aggrivation if we can? If we cannot then I like that plan.”
	Bear “Let’s see here…”
	ST The creature crouches, winding up to spring. Sasha holds his hands out, palms down. “Stergti. Šikšnosparnukas. Вы помните меня, не так ли? Sasha.” He smiles. “Я только что был здесь пару лет назад.”“Stergti. Bat [said in Lithuanian]. You remember me, don’t you? Sasha. I was just here a couple years ago.” (( Charmer. ))
	Sanura Sanura is charmed even if the batty is not. .
	ST (( 24… which doesn’t beat Bat’s MDV. ))
	Ken ((ouch))
	ST In response… Bat makes another dive for Sasha.
	ST (( Rolled a 41, versus Sasha’s 24. ))
	ST (( 58 damage… ))
	ST (( 35 post soak and post Damage Conversion. ))
	ST (( Sasha’s going to use Flash of Foresight again to dodge the roll, for 6 Legend instead of 3 this time. ))
	ST (( Aaand he’s running low on Legend too. ))
	Dovile ((Can Lena use that thing on her turn? The one that gives us all tons of legend?))
	ST (( Yes. ))
	Dovile ((K’tnks.))
	Ken Years of practice make him move faster than thought. Ken is already moving before Sasha’s words have a chance to echo. Between one breath and the next, he’s behind Bat, spinning, axe in hand. He almost lets it fly at Bat’s good eye. But…. Something is not right. The hard mechanical edges, the smell of grease and gears, the push to make something. This is a place of unmaking, of rest. At the last moment Ken twitches his wrist just a hair, aiming a bit to the side, for the glaring target that is the crystal. He lets go, heaving the axe with everything in him. ((flaring, channeling Harmony, and activating Body armor while I’m at it.))
	Ken ((also stunt if you guys think this is worth it XD))
	Dovile ((I vote yes on stunt.))
	Sanura [Yes!]
	ST (( Remember, Bat’s DV is 41… ))
	Ken ((Oh shoot.))
	ST (( Well. 39, since he attacked. ))
	Ken ((so…. this is never gonna work, eh?))
	ST (( I’m open to ideas. ))
	Sanura [could whoever is next provide distraction?]
	Sanura [or.. I’ve got Lucky Star still if -that- could help]
	Ken ((I like the distraction idea… can we go with that? Also how do coordinated assaults work? ’cause several of us have perfect partner…))
	Sanura [and I’ve got Axis of the heavens on top of that.. er whenever my turn comes around]
	ST (( Cha + Pre to organize an assault on organizer’s next turn, every 2 successes being another person you can include in the attack. ))
	Ken 29
	ST The axe whizzes far clear of Bat who… wasn’t where he was when the axe was thrown. Or was he? Hard to tell.
	Dovile Dovile’s hunkered down, crouched over her rifle, watching. ((Fight with Your Head to his DV, 1L.))
	ST This strange work follows no rules, no laws of… well… anything. It can only be Titancraft, taken directly from the Stvaranje, the Titan of Creation—beyond Bear’s ken. However, he can see the lines of Fate woven within it… this machine controls the creature, and processes visual input, transferring the image elsewhere. The creature himself is insanely powerful—God level. A direct contest would be an uphill battle indeed.
	Bear Just visuals?
	ST Just visuals.
	Bear Nice.
	ST It’s also powered by the crystal set in the eye.
	Bear “The machine’s broadcasting visuals to whoever’s in control. Blind it. It’s titanic thaumachinery, but the crystal’s basically a camera lens. That’s our target.”
	Bear “The rest of the rig’s a broadcast mind-control device, once we have the thing unconscious, I’ll try to disable it.”
	Sanura "Getting him sleepy seems much easier said than done.. "
	Bear “Wait, no, not a lens…power supply.”
	Bear “Pop that crystal, and we’re good, assuming we can avoid a feedback.”
	ST Lena fades, like a dream, as she passes by Dovile. A brief, light brush against her like some kind of breeze… but it’s almost electrifying, like the crisp snap of a snowy wind. Her voice is soft, but resonant, in all places but in only one place at the same time. “It’s both,” she says. "существо кристаллLit. “it is a crystal”, but the pronoun implies “essence crystal”. We should break it. Bat should be okay after." A brief breath of a pause. “But Tsar Afon’s seen us—me already.” (( Untouchable Opponent and Legendary Surge, 8 Legend to Dovile. ))
	Dovile Heart beat like a fluttering bird, going to fast too hear and— Calm, or calm enough. Dovile breathes in the scents of cold steel and sweat, hunkering into her worn-comfortable spot. The world is darkness, turned to shadow by Bat’s glowing eyes. She watches him. She knows him. Old… friend. Sort of. And, of course, something is wrong. The smell, of course, and the ticking metal in his brain and on his eyes. But something else. Something she can’t quite pin. Dovile breathes in, the smell of Sasha’s blood, and waits, watching. Heart beating like a fluttering bird, going so fast it’s just one note— And a breath, like a the first touch of a summer storm, coming fast. Not a fluttering bird. A falcon, wings dropping down one last time, diving— Power! Yesute’s power. The power of the sky, long empty, and the earth, long dry. The device flickered, twitching in his brain, every time. Easy as that, announcing the way.
	Dovile ((Stunt for Legend))
	Ken ((I’ll say yes))
	Sanura [very poetic! yes]
	Bear (Big yes)
	ST Sasha squares himself, growing easily to the size of Bat and being swallowed by fiery gold. He’s like some kind of moving idol, a living statue in honor of Lord Father Svarozhich. (( Form of the Giant 3L + 1W, Body Armor 1L. ))
	ST (( Sasha rolled a 9, putting 7 into his Strength and 2 into his Stamina. ))
	Sanura Sanura’s eyes widen as she realizes that this situation has gone from bad to worse and without many words exchanged. Surely this didn’t have to end in violence, surely the being who was a guardian the order of life and death could be reasoned with! She steps forward and walks purposefully towards the altered god. Her heels making echoing clicks and announcing her approach her face solemn and without malice, she halts and holds her hands up placatingly. “Please listen to me, we mean no harm to those you guard! We come offering our aid and kinship to you and the other great ones here. I know you’re being influenced by something outside yourself but I know you are great enough and strong enough to defeat it to put it at rest! Reclaim your soul so you may guard those you are promised to!” [snap out of it, flair, order, stunt if applicalbe]
	Dovile ((I vote yes stunt.))
	Ken ((I like the gustyness. Yes stunt.))
	Bear (yep)
	Ken Clearly hitting Bat was a losing proposition. Ken reaches down, hand skipping over a knife and grabbing his harmonica instead. Bone dust, musk, oil, death. The air here tastes like the peace of the grave. He twists the air through his harmonica. There is no wind, everything is still. The sound that comes from his harmonica is the last beat of a bird’s wings on it’s final migration. The last kiss of summer’s breeze before forever losing one’s freedom. The puff of mist on a wolf’s bloodstained muzzle.
	Ken ((Stunt for legend?))
	Dovile ((I’d lsay yes.))
	Sanura [so much poetic yes]
	Ken ((Also playing for as many ticks as I can get away with and giving the bonus to Dovile, Sanura, Sasha and Lena))
	ST 766 eyes clear. Bat straightens. Recognition flickers in 432 eyes (216 each) as they light upon Dovile and Sasha. Crook shifts from his dead run to an easy saunter with only the slightest hitch in his stride. He looks up at Bat, and Bat looks down at him. Then, after a half-moment of mutual understanding, he sits and stares at Bat. Bat reaches up with the phalange of his wing, and pops the claw into the crystal with a delicate sort of ease. The apparently hollow power source shatters. A mist drifts slowly from it, forming the vague shape of some kind of bird before Bat gently closes his wing around it, shutting the eyes in the vicinity as he draws it to his chest. Then the mist disappears, and Stergti regards them once again. All of them. At once. And folds his wings.
	Sanura Sanura slowly relaxes from where she had tensed ready for a black wing to knock her head off. She looks at Crook then at the being they’d just been fighting. She grins softly. “Had a feline to arial rodent talk?” she questions with a faint smile.
	Ken Ken puts his harmonica back in his pocket, and pulls his axe out of the wall. Then he turns to Bat and gives him a friendly bow. “Извините за грубость, так. Я надеюсь, что вы чувствуете себя лучше. Меня зовут Белка Vindovich, приятно встретиться с вами.”“Sorry for being so rude. I hope you are feeling better now. My name is Belka Vindovich, pleased to meet you.” He smiles up at the many eyes.
	ST Crook looks over to Sanura. His trademark golden hieroglyphs float nonchalantly over him.
	Bear Bear sets down the hammer, and approaches. “Hey, Bat. I’d like to know who made that thing on your head, and how it works, so if I come across it again, maybe I can shut it off safely at a distance?”
	Bear “Mind if I have a look up there?”
	Sanura Sanura smiles and bows low to her companion “beautifully done” and then offers a sweeping bow to Bat as well. “Pleased to meet you sir”
	ST The bat bows back to Ken and Sanura, spreading his wings slightly in imitation. Sasha lets out all his tension in a laugh and starts forward, rubbing the fleshy part of Bat’s head vigorously. Bat leans into his rubbings, his eyes closing in pleasure. But, once addressed by the smith, Bat pulls away (regretfully) from Sasha and stoops, bringing the machine to Bear’s eye level.
	Bear Bear approaches. “Sorry ‘bout this, but I figger you’re not a fan of this thing kickin’ back in.”
	Dovile Dovile shakes herself out of her watchful state, scans the cavern again, and slips down out of the bus, approching her brother.
	Sanura Sanura looks sort of fertive.. “after he’s done checking the machinary I wanna pet the bat” sheepish expression.
	ST Sasha turns to Dovile, and obligingly shrinks back down to his normal, more manageable size.
	Ken Ken looks around to make sure everyone’s alright after the fracas, particularly Lena.
	Bear “So…far as I can tell, this thing’s way outta my league. The machinery makes no sense. It’s like looking at something that’s supposed to be intentionally obtuse. I barely manage Dad’s clockwork and forge techniques…this is…damned different.”
	ST Lena’s form grows more… solid. More present. She watches, calm but grim, more years than she’s lived weighing her shoulders and, at the same time, propping her up.
	Dovile Dovile gives her brother what can only be described as a look and then smacks him lightly on the head. Then she hugs him.
	Sanura Sanura once she’s -sure- that the threat is no more, at least for the time being would then do her head count and question aloud. “anyone bleeding?”
	Dovile Dovile looks around at the question, checking over the team.
	ST Sasha grins, a little mischievously, then lifts his right arm and moves it around demonstratively.
	Bear Bear’s mentally forming a sketch.
	Sanura Peers over Bears shoulder just for the sake of having a frame of reference for further such things. She also might reach out and give those chin scritches.
	Bear “Given a few minutes, I might be able to grasp the basics…I don’t think there’s a chance in hell of me making one myself…”
	Ken Ken approaches her on silent footsteps, leaning back against the wall near Lena, but far enough so he won’t be in her space. He smiles at her and says quietly, “You have come a very long way, Lilla, in a very short time. You know that, yes?” He looks away, letting her stay out of the uncomfortable line of eyesight. “I think you will go much farther still, and I for one will be happy to walk with you the whole way.” He stays quiet after that, letting her choose whether to stay or drift away. ((BFF on Lena))
	ST Lena looks up at Ken. She swallows, and then her gaze drops and her shoulders drop too. “спасибо,” she says quietly.
	Sanura Sanura bends and reaches over to Crook giving him massive ammounts of petting and skritching, or at least as much as he will allow. “Way to go” she murmurs before looking for a place to sit down, with her knees just a little wobbly after the confrontation. Crook pads off to investigate probably, or maybe primp and gloat a littl. Who knows with him!?
	Ken Ken’s crouched in a nook against the cave wall, below the shelf that holds Slavic soul-lamps. His own lamp hangs at an angle from his belt, throwing off the same unearthly light. It catches in the hollows of his cheeks and hands, pulling out the form of his bones. Ken works a buttery rag over the surface of the axe. He’s looking at nothing in particular, but his ears occasionally twitch at far-off sounds.
	Sanura Sanura’s heels click softly on the ground, small pebbles making a faint few taps when sent rolling. The movements giving warning of her approach. “Room for one more?” she questions as she gestures to the out of the way place he’d found to rest up. Her nose twitching slightly at the scent of the butter.
	Ken His face crinkles into a smile. “Always.” Ken brushes away some pebbles to make a smoother seat for Sanura.
	Sanura Smiling a little she gracefully folds herself down to sit. “Thanks” she murmurs as she leans back against the wall, legs extended and crossed at the ankle. “Glad to see you made it through without a scratch. Also, thanks for the assist, I felt your song lend strength to my words and the will of a quite little mouse as well. Thank the stars for the both of you”
	Ken Ken chuckles a bit. “That quiet little mouse can hear everything we say, you know.” He shifts some, tucking his feet in pretzel-style and leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “In any case, it is you who deserves praise, Starbringer. You certainly have a way with words!” He shakes his head in amazement.
	Sanura Sanura waves a hand “I was just hoping to get him still long enough to be disabled, or distracted by my clear insanity at least.” She snickers a but and rubs her knees. "Crook is the one smart enough to step in and get him to disable that thing.. I mean I knew Crook was clever but that " she shakes her head, clearly impressed once again by her guardian. “I hope Bear can get a handle on those metal bits, it seems like that sort of thing is a bad influence here.”
	Ken “That it does. I wonder…” Ken frowns, but then lets go of whatever it was. “Well, in any case it is good to meet the real Bat after hearing so much about him.” He stops working over the axe for a moment, looking Sanura over carefully. “Are you alright after all that?”
	Sanura She nods “he seems like a good sort, without you know evil mechanics affecting him.” she hmms softly. “I wonder who -exactly- was watching.” she murmurs before glancing over to Ken “who me? Never laid a wing on me!” not going into the reasonable fear she’d had that her little speach would fail and she’d have been swatted like an annoying fly.
	Ken “Tsar Afon was watching. Maybe others.” Ken answers the question she didn’t quite ask. His brow wrinkles with concern as he says it. He holds the axe up to the light, tilting it at an angle. Unsatisfied, he returns to polishing it.
	Sanura Sanura pauses. “Tsar who?” she questions, after so many new experiences and her recent fright she can be forgiven for not knowing off the bat right?
	Ken Ken stops his work. He looks at her, rubbing a hand over his grizzled chin with narrowed eyes. “The only thing I know about Tsar Afon is that I do not want him watching Lena.” There’s a steely bite of anger in his voice - not directed at Sanura, but there nonetheless.
	Sanura Sanura purses her lips softly and considers “maybe there’s a .. protection spell or.. something we can do to.. keep her free of his regard.” She bites her lower lip softly then as she considers “Like.. maybe.. the shield I put up to guard… mixed with your ability to .. vanish?”
	Ken Ken makes a thoughtful hum. “I do not vanish… I just…” he shrugs, “…go somewhere else. But not all the way. Lilla, now, she vanishes. You might work something with her own strengths, eh?” He leans forward again, picking up his work where he left off. “In any case, perhaps you should talk to her about this straightforwardly.”
	Sanura Sanura gives a faint nod of her head. “Yeah actually you’re right she is a mistress of the disappearing arts so it probably would be better to work on it with her.” she leans her head back on the wall. “Not just now but soon as everything is settled” she murmurs faintly.
	Ken Ken chuckles again, the sound comes out a bit dry. “Tired?” He glances at her sidelong.
	Sanura She hmms softly and shrugs “not as much as others I’m sure” she snickers faintly “running my mouth isn’t quite as tiring as dodging a beast or beating one”
	Ken He shakes his head and shoulders to dismiss her comment. “There is tired and then there is tired. You may not be out of breath, sweet Sanura, but that hardly means you have not been working as doggedly as the rest of us.”
	Sanura Sanura grins softly as she closes her eyes “oh my pompoms are doing alright” she murmurs. “How about you, old man? Running from mammoths and saving kitties from the water, you must be feeling it”
	Ken Ken laughs out loud this time. “Young lady, I learned how to not feel such things long before you were born!” He grins and leans his head back. But after a minute of quiet he decides that it’s an important question, and really Sanura ought to get a better answer. “I can put it outside myself for as long as I have the heart to. If I grow weary anymore, it is only in my soul and not in my body.”
	Sanura Sanura hums softly and glances over “that sounds handy.. but a bit dangerous as well.. don’t let yourself get too damaged.. body or soul.. yeah?”
	Ken “Ah, now I’ve gone and made you worry. It is not so harsh a thing as it sounds.” He tilts his chin down, grin turning sly. “Why, I learned how to do it when I was just a little boy - younger than Lilla even.” The statement is at odds with his former explanation of learning magic as an old man.
	Sanura Sanura quirks a brow faintly. “Because you had to order your bandaids from Denmark?”
	Ken “Bandaids? Well, I suppose we would have. But first, see, we would have had to import the blood to bleed with.” He finishes with the flint part of the axe and moves on to the handle, getting the rag into every crevice of every rune. “No, you see, it is simple. I worked on a farm as a boy, and I am sure you know that farmer’s chores begin before dawn and last until after dusk.” He arches an eyebrow at Sanura. “Well now the problem was that Grimsey, it is north of the arctic circle. So in summer the sun does not rise or set at all! So in order to get all my chores done, I not only had to learn not to sleep - I had to learn to be in two places at once.”
	Sanura Sanura chuckles a little and shakes her head. “uff that one made me a little dizzy” she murmurs as she folds her hands on her lap. “When did you get that funky axe?” she asks curiously.
	Ken Ken considers the axe for a moment. “That night at the bar I told you about, with those rowdy fellows claiming to be my kin? I must have got it then, since I had it the next morning.” He shrugs. “Can’t complain though - it is a damn fine axe.”
	Sanura Sanura hums softly “I thought so, frankly I was much more interested in your denial of your family than the rest of the story to be honest” she shrugs a shoulder. “D’you know what the runes mean?”
	Ken “That I do! They say ‘Ukonkirves.’ Means ’Ukko’s Axe’ in Finnish.” Ken reaches down to dip a little more butter onto the rag, then goes back to polishing, “Not that I know who poor Ukko is or why the devil he gave me his axe.” He shrugs. Some puzzles in life were never meant to be solved.
	Sanura [see now here is where I’d do an occult roll]
	Ken ((I’ll save you some trouble. Ukko is not a norse god. I figure she’s got enough occult and that’s pretty basic info, right?))
	Sanura [yeah I’d imagine between her occult/academics as a historian..]
	Ken ((he’s actually a Finnish thunder god, according to the info Meg gave regarding the axe))
	Sanura [related to Pekele maybe annnd a thunder god, called grandfather as well yay wiki]
	Sanura [woulda got a 14 that’s not bad attal I think]
	Sanura Sanura smiles a bit “I’ll have to make a trip to the library to learn even more it seems like”
	Ken Ken elbows Sanura in a friendly way. “That will be quite the trip! But you let me know what you find out, eh?”
	Sanura Sanura smiles “Well of course I will, you know I love to talk” she glances sideways to him a moment “almost as much as you” she teases.

Campaign of the Month: February 2017

God-Touched

In which our heroes begin their journey into the underworld

Comments

Saturnine Night In which the path into the dark is revealed

Into the Thrice-Nine Lands In which our heroes journey a long time or a short time

Clash of the Titans In which our heroes narrowly escape the grasp of a titan

Migrating North In which our heroes reach the Bering Strait

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