1013/Apocryphal Entrails

Apocryphal Entrails
Date of Scene:	23 November 2014
Location:	The Secret World <TSW>
Synopsis:	TRANSMIT - initiate New England signal - RECEIVE - initiate the Caledfwlch frequency - THE WEATHER STARTED GETTING ROUGH, THE TINY SHIP WAS TOSSED - initiate echinoderm syntax - WITNESS - Lady Margaret.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, 151, Riva Banari, Wuyin Tsai, Inga, 560, 606, 626, 633

---

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
                            APOCRYPHAL ENTRAILS

It's night in Kingsmouth Town. It's always night, as far as anyone unused to the place can tell. The fog, dense and clinging, blots out the sun even now. Starlight never even had a chance to reach the ground.

The fire station the local investigation team uses as a base of operations is practically abuzz with activity. Wuyin announced not too long ago his intention to venture down to Fletcher Bay, push through the Draug nesting there, and find the supposed source of all of this: The Lady Margaret, a fishing trawler that arrived not long before the fog did. If there is a crisis in Aztlan, he surmised, they will need to know what is happening /here/ to better combat whatever is going on /there/.

The logic seemed sound when he was laying it out, anyway.

Wuyin checks his gear on one of the tables upstairs, going over it one more time. An array of odd-looking talismans, including rings, bracelets, belts and even a set of precision gaming dice are laid out alongside one another. A couple bottles and cans of some sort of amber liquid are with them. His sword is at the forefront, and he has a set of tools broken out to affix some kind of glyph-bearing stone to the pommel.

It is pretty clear he is expecting a great deal of trouble.

Jimmy Wen (606) has posed:
     Buzz buzz. The bees have a visitor today, and his name is Wen Zhengmin--but he much prefers Jimmy Wen. Jimmy's read a few reports, all on paper, of course, about this Kingsmouth place. It sounds like a great place for him to poke around. Sure, there's danger, but where isn't there danger in the Multiverse?

     That cowboy at the Agartha portal was pretty cool--and to be honest, Agartha's not nearly as bad as people make it sound. You'd think they'd never been to the Nevernever! Hell, it's actually better, considering the lack of Brothers-Grimm-inspired beasties waiting to gobble up the unaware traveler.

     Deputy Andy was very polite, if somewhat morose. It's thanks to him that the Hongkonger is able to locate the fire station, and my--they've got quite a ward setup. The threshold tingles, washing over him as he steps through. This place, even before the zombies, seems to have had quite the homey feeling. Must be that small town charm.

     "Anybody home?" A voice calls out from the ground floor of the firehouse.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone does spend a good deal of time here she's been busy wiring up a few odds and ends like scurity cameras to kepe tas on thigns but hes encription might even perterb the socities a bit. Still she wa sbsy working away today on who knows what but she's got four cables pugged into her neck form whateve the heck she's working on at one of the tables. She's working a few small tools on it. AS she hears Jimmy, she calls out.

"Yes, we actually still have pluses in here!"

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan could tell he wouldn't like this town very much. It's not because there's something wrong that feels about it, or even just the smells he smells that are natural to a fishing town such as Kingsmouth. He's certain that the people here are more or less decent rural folks as far he's concerned, if it wasn't so full of... this stuff, in this town.

No, the real reason is that if things goes all the way to the sea, it's going to be very annoying to get the salt out of his stuff. Still, Soan tries to keep a positive outlook: invitations like this for adventure are hard to pass up for someone like him. Maybe it wont even be so bad!

     The young thief strolls up to the fire station, giving the bone structure around it a brief look, peering inside, scaling around the building, coming in from a back door on sheer principle. It's always useful to know if something /have/ a backdoor or not. A door is found by the side. Too easy, he figures. Instead, he just go through an open window, hmming to himself as he makes his way downstairs, exploring.

     Then he find the formidable preparation of Wuyin, the man himself, as well as so much stuff he is preparing.

     "Oh, good!" Soan lets out, pleasently. "I feared I came to the wrong place. Is this where the... ah," Soan fumbles in his pockets distractedly, taking out a card with very neat handwriting on it. "'Investigation team to Fletcher Bay' is gathering up at?"

Inga has posed:
A short woman in a blue cloak is likewise at a table in the firestation, arming herself as well. She reaches over toward Wuyin for a moment, extending a rune carved pendant she'd finished not long ago. "While I believe we have a resistance to the Filth...better to be safe," she says as way of explaination. It is safe to say they are rattled by the discovery of the Filth in Aztlan, it has certainly kicked them into gear. It is time to take a risk and follow their best lead. This problem cannot be allowed to continue to spread. It's beyond thought--except that it's not, not for Inga. She's Seen a glimpse of exactly what it would be like.

The wisewoman of Uppsala checks her own talismans, a hammer shaped pendant around her neck made from dragon bone, carved with the rune "thurisaz". A symbol carefully painted in brown-ish red upon her brow. She checks the small knife at her belt, the various pouches there...eyes her staff, which is never far from her hand.

Inga takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. She's about as ready as she can be.

A brow raises as she hears a voice call from downstairs. She is sure she recognizes it from the radio. Kotone calls down, but Inga is already walking toward the stairs, leaning on her staff--also heavily carved with runes and magival staves. "Up here," she calls, motioning to him.

Another arrives, unfamiliar. Inga nods to him. "It is," she confirms, then moves off the landing back into the room.

She has a bowl of blood ready, mixed with potent herbs, ready to make her wards on those who need them--which is to say most people if they don't fancy being infected by the Filth.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva is present too. The firehouse has become a familiar place, even if she did move into the Heaven or Hell building proper. "Jesus, Wu. You're gearing up like hell. I didn't think the Draug wre /that/ bad around the Lady Margaret..." She ponders this, and sighs. "I should poke Lloyd abut that sword I ordered. I feel half-unarmed without one." The call causes Riva to poke her head out the window. "Huh. Oh, hi!" Riva waves. "Come on up!"

Riva and Wuyin being on the second floor, the Templaress totally misses Soan breaking in from one of the windows and wandering past them. When he talks, Riva almost hits her head on the top. "WAGH!" She yells, and pulls her head in to look around at Soan. "Huh! You're new!" When Jimmy gets over to join them, she waves to them both. "I'm Riva Banari, working with the Knights Templar and liason to the Union." She lets Wuyin make his own introductions. "Nice to see you both!"

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Emiya Shirou's been here for a whiloe, listening to battle plans and trying to make sense of some of them. If all they need to do is cut through Draug without losing anyone, that should be doable. It's not a hell like fighting a Servant or Dragon... discipline, forethought, proper weapons, and good tactics could carry them through without TOO mch risk.

    He hopes. He really hopes.

    Shirou's all geared up for trouble. His casual clothing is covered in parts with modern fiber weave armor, including a black fiber vest over his torso and gloves to match. He seems utterly unarmed, but anyone familiar with him will know better, won't they?

    But with new folk coming in, Shirou rushes over to the front door with the others to meet Jimmy and Soan. Shirou's not really smiling too much, but his expression does seem a bit welcoming. "I'm Emiya Shirou. You have the right spot! But it's gonna be pretty dangerous. Are you ready for anything?"

    Besides his armor... the only notable change is one of Inga's talismans, a bit of bone with a carved thorn emblem dangling from his neck by a leather cord. Shirou's secured it further with a little bit of tape so it won't go swinging around wildly.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley's here. She also doesn't seem like she's been getting a lot of sleep. Her posture lacks something in energy and she has a frown -- or it could just be her neutral look, hard to tell because she's a reptile -- and generally has a big dark cloud over her head.

    She's sullenly lingering near Wuyin, not making a lot of remarks one way or another. She's had an Understanding with the entire crew of heroes here on Solomon Island, it's just that he is the one that fired eye lasers last night, so she feels like being near him may gain her some extra pointers for her own magic. After all... it may just be a very advanced form of lightning magic.

    She has all of her bladed weapons with her today, though, so she looks like she's more in a stabbing kind of mood.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Meanwhile, at another table nearby Wuyin's table remains a separate pile of gear being arranged carefully, counted meticulously, and checked for problems. At first glance it might be safe to assume that an apothacary has been set up in the fire station, given the large number of glass vials and flasks being lined up. Accompanying them are liquid-filled darts and strangely-colored bullets. Blocks of red, vaguely brick-like material, are stacked neatly with a sign taped to them of PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH.
    Kyra Hyral, a white mage that looks like she may have gotten lost on the way to the nearest nightclub, stands at the end of the table, cleaning one of her guns. She doesn't seem to be paying attention to much of anything until movement really gets her attention. At that point, she reaches into her hoodie and pulls a set of earbuds out of her ear. The very tinny sounds of some kind of strange music can be heard faintly.

    "Oh hey Soan." She says, stuffing the ends of the earbuds into one of the pockets of her hoodie. "Glad you could find the place! Just in time too-we're just about all amped here." Kyra pauses to wave at Wuyin, "This is my friend, Soan Saggitarius. He's a thief and a damn good one at that."

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
"They aren't, normally," Wuyin replies to Riva. He keeps about his work, scraping and grinding. The glyph sockets into the hole he made with a quiet hiss, adhering to the weapon. There's a flicker of Anima, beads of green light rolling up the length of the jian and momentarily tracing the edges of the blade. "Ah, perfect." He picks it up and affixes it to his waist, satisfied.

Then he takes the talisman offered to him by Inga and adds it to the others. He starts donning each piece, one by one, adjusting how they sit and making sure everything is in its place. He apparently just drops the dice into a pocket and forgets about them. Good luck charm? "Thank you, Inga. I am certain it will help." He casts a glance to Riva. "I have a spare if you need to borrow one. Shirou might be able to accomodate you, too."

(And yes, Ainsley, that's a pretty close approximation. Watch and learn.)

Wu spares a glance to the new people, sizing them up. He offers Kyra a quick nod of acknowledgement, and then addresses them as one: "My name is Wuyin Tsai. I am a..." He searches for an appropriate term for a moment, "...concerned local, insofar as this world of ours is concerned. Riva is the one you need to speak to for any Union affairs." He suspects Inga will have less answers than Riva will on that front.

He starts picking up pieces of other gear, tucking them into pockets too small to hold them. They go... somewhere. "However, if you have any questions about what we're doing here...?"

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan don't even have to present himself, evenif he looks somewhat sheepish at Riva's surprised outburst at his discovery! There is quite a lot of people here, many that are new! "Hi, Kyra! Yes, as she said: I'm Soan Sagittarius, I am a Thief. Or a Rogue, depending on your preffered definition of the sort." He clears his voice, taking in the various unknown words. Knight Templar's one. "Lovely to meet all of you! Ah, well, 'anything' is a bit of a strong word when you deal with the unknown. I'll stick with 'ready for facing what I don't know'."

     He wander over to Kyra's table, giving a glance over what she was preparing, then looking back at Wuyin's offer of answering question. "Actually, yes, I do, in fact, have a question. What's so special about that place? Any objective in particular you are after?"

Jimmy Wen (606) has posed:
     The wizard makes his introductions. Everyone receives a brief-but-firm handshake and a smile, but despite being indoors, Jimmy doesn't remove his shades. "Jimmy Wen, White Council of Wizards." Dressed as stylishly as he is, Jimmy doesn't much look the word, but to be fair, Riva isn't exactly wearing platemail herself. He starts with the people he's spoken to over the radio. "Miss Inga, Miss Riva. It's a pleasure to meet you both in person, and it's no less pleasant to meet the rest of you."

     Now, he's heard about some kind of Translation Effect, and it's just in Jimmy's nature to test things, if only to see A) if they can be of use to him and B) how to maximize that usefulness. 'Wuyin Tsai' doesn't sound like your average New Englander, so Jimmy asks him a perfectly polite question--in Cantonese.

     <Are you a gambling man, Mr. Wuyin?> Wen gestures casually to the dice as the Dragon puts them away.

Inga has posed:
Introductions are happening. Well then. "I am Inga Freyasdottir, wisewoman of Uppsala--and ally of the Union," she says, bowing her head slightly in greeting to those she hasn't met. Jimmy, she realizes, is the one she'd spoken with over the radio about visiting LA. She smiles to him briefly. "Yes, I believe we spoke over the radio. A pleasure to meet you," she says. A Wizard of the White--recognition dawns. "Ah, so you are from the same world as Harry," she comments. Another look over, a small shake of her head. Very different.

Wuyin introduces himself, then asks if there are any questions. Inga, for her part, will get her warning out now. "You will likely encounter a black, oily substance. Do /not/ touch it. Do not attempt to study it. If you have magical sight, do /not/ try to Look at it. It is extremely contagious and can be contracted even without physical contact. Those of you who are new to this situation I must recommend you let me apply a charm of warding to your person," she says, fixing the newcomers with her intense gaze. One might even forget she has to look up at most people to give them the eye.

Inga reaches for the bowl, motioning for those willing to approach and be warded. Takers will be given a symbol drawn in blood, looking Norse in design for any familiar.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    The Cantonese given from Wen to Wuyin gives Ainsley a moment of pause. She turns to regard him, listening intently as if the change in speech were the only thing that really interested her about this little excursion. This moment of clear curiosity passes soon after she realizes what the man is referring to, and her head turns to look at the dice Wuyin brought.

    She speaks in rough, but surprisingly unaccented, Cantonese, "<Speaking in another language for the feeling of familiarity?>" She smiles at Wen, not completely expecting an answer one way or another, and it's not often she gets to show off that she knows so many common languages in a Multiverse where such a thing is not nearly as relevant.

    As for introductions, she gives hers in English: "Ainsley. Chronicler. Mage. Some kind of lizard thing." Followed by a light curtsey, just for the mildly formal look. The new faces get her attention, bright blue eyes scanning and cataloguing what they look like for later. Kyra already got this earlier, so Soan is the recipient of the spooky lizard stare this time.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "Well, we're going to be encountering some kind of sea-zombies and who knows what else... by the way, I'm a magus, but not much of one. I only know one or two spells. I'll back people up with muscle more than anything else." That is such an understatement for how crazy his ability is, but Shirou is pretty modest. "Are we leaving soon, Wuyin?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa says "I'm Kotone Yamakawa and good to meey you Jimmy."

she takes a moment and pulls the plugs out of the thing she's working on two of them snap back into her neck seeming to vanish the otehr two pop out of her neck and she shakes her head.

"Listen to Inga."

She pauses and gets an tablet shich shr take s amoment to bring up an image of a flith infected.

"Or you end up lke that."

She looks off a bit physically it's not that it's horrible her face her body seems to have no real flaws it's a bit uncanny, also she seems heaiver than her build should be as well.

"Table top dice?"

She tries to picture what would they table top as to Zon and Kyra she grins.

"Soan, Kyra it's good to meet you both. Other of note there's surivors in the local Church and the police station help them if you get a chance if you see supplies they could use snag em and I can deliver them later if you don't have the time."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "I do have a question. I don't know terribly much about the 'Lady Margaret'. It would be helpful to know in advance if she was a golem or undead or non-biological entity, actually. If we do know. It will change what I end up throwing if it comes to that." Kyra speaks up as she organizes all of the equipment onto herself now, slipping flasks into loops along her belt and the gun she was checking back into a holster beneath her left arm.

    "What kind of warding charm is this going to be, lady? Is it a general 'from danger' or 'protection from evil' kind of deal?" Norse is completely lost upon her.

    "By the way, Ainsley, you wanted to visit, didn't you? My friends are available now so let us know when you want to come. Sorry for the delay, I'm not much of a bodyguard all by myself." Kyra half-grins and finishes packing her gear up.

Inga has posed:
Inga looks to Kyra. "It is a protection from...invasion of the Filth," she answers. "I will strengthen your will--and the Lady Margaret is a boat. It is the draug you must worry about," she adds.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
"There is a fishing boat in the harbor called the Lady Margaret," Wuyin says, to Soan. "It has something to do with the fog surrounding the island, a phenomenon that is persistant and impenetrable. As no one has ever returned from the interior, we have to resort to other sources of information to figure out what exactly brought it here."

Wuyin smiles slightly at Ainsley, and then nods at Jimmy. "<You might say that.>" Yeah, he definitely speaks it, and fluently, too. He sounds like a native. "<They're a talisman of fortune. You never know when you need a little luck.>" Or a lot of it, given this neighborhood.

"The draug are humanoids with a crustacean leaning," he adds. "They typically have growths that function as clubs, blades or spears, and some have some sort of water magic. I expect to run into a great number of them." He picks up the last of his gear. Wuyin affixes a small metal effigy to his belt opposite his sword, some kind of wire-wrapped thing that looks like a man. "There are also zombies. The fast kind. I assume you know what those are."

He heads for the door, nodding at Shirou. "We'll start now, if anyone is ready to go."

Jimmy Wen (606) has posed:
     Jimmy chuckles. His answer--to Ainsley, at least, is in English. "Nah," he admits. "To indulge my curiosity," he admits freely. "I haven't gotten as many chances to dip my toes in the Multiverse as Mr. Dresden has." On the matter of Harry, he adds, "And if you're expecting me to be like him, you'll be very disappointed. Or perhaps pleasantly surprised! He's a polarizing man." To Wuyin, he says, in Cantonese, <Too true.> The wizard produces a deck of playing cards, and smiles, then puts them back into his pocket.

     Listen to Inga. He can do that! She's plenty interesting without the threat of being infected by a memetic virus. The screen of the tablet flickers as Jimmy looks at it, the image reflected in his mirrorshades. "Thanks for the tip," he says. He offers a tip of his own! "You might want to put that away before the hexing effect futzes with it any more than it already is," says the wizard in a hushed, just-between-you-and-me tone.

     That tidbit conveyed, he then faces Inga. "If you don't mind, Miss Inga... I'd like to see you make this protection, after we're finished here. If I can figure out how you do it, I can do it for myself so it's not as much work for you. I can even offer you something in return, if you're leery of giving out trade secrets."

     But yes! He's ready to go. He's got his potion, his gun, and his enchantments, all on his person--and he looks good. "I'm ready when you are," he says to everyone.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan listens to the explanation that he is given, as well as taking on one of the charms as so helpfully given ou by Inga. He heeds well to the warning given. That's good, then he wont have to worry too much -- on the bad side, this does mean he wont... probably have the chance to loot very much on their way there, on the worry it might be corrupted. There IS someone that get a bit of a look, especially since Kyra talkes to her, Ainsley get a curious stare, then a faint nod in her general direction as he apply the charm to himself.

     Perhaps he'll even smell that sort of corrupting, Soan muses idly to himself, pushing himself up once he's got his things sorted out. "I'm ready to go." the young man comments, "Stick together, don't stray off and all that sounds like the sound thing to do here, then?"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra pauses for a moment. "Filth...?" she questions, but quickly adds, "Oh, right Filth, of course. Yes. ...it's a boat." She turns bright red as she realizes she's mistaken a vessel for an actual person. She cannot do anything against a /ship/, beyond blow it up at least.

    Embarassed, she falls silent and merely nods in response to the question of readiness.

Riva Banari has posed:
Seeing a DO NOT TOUGH sign being set up makes Riva want to go out there and touch it. She's that kind of person. However, she stays a good girl for the moment, waving to Kyra. "Hi there! Glad you could join us as well!" She says to the other new arrival. That's three! "This shouldn't be TOO dangerous, regardless." Riva supplies. "I think Ainsley mentioned looking at the ship earlier. The Draug are present near the ship but it didn't seem like any of the advanced forms were there... Probably because those were more out in the ocean."

She nods to Soan and quirks an eyebrow. "A thief? Interesting, most people don't introduce themselves as a thief. But hey, we'll make this work." Wuyin supplies the details, and she nods. "All right! I'm ready when you guys are! Yeah, Soan, that's exactly it. This is a fact-finding mission, not a scavender hunt. And um... The Filth is our term for the black evil goop that seems to be related to a lot of the hostile entities here. It's fairly contagious and we don't have a dependable way to deal with infection. So prevention at this point is better at this point."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    "Yes," Ainsley replies, "I would like to get a look at this new world. I understand that there is a very large academy, and that is where you are from." Kyra is quickly seeing the lizard woman's motivation for visiting. "I have an interest in the many literary treasures the Multiverse provides, and if I could acquire something to read from there..." She practically GLOWS with glee at the idea of getting a new book, a rare sight from the mostly neutral creature.

    Soan gets a nod. His silent acceptance of her presence is reciprocated without a fuss.

    After that, Ainsley looks to Jimmy again. His remark about Harry gets her blinking once, somewhat slowly. "I rarely encounter situations where Harry and I are working on the same problem," she admits to Jimmy, "So I would have very little precedence for comparing the two of you." She shrugs at him. "I am sure you are tolerable, at the very least. Everyone in the Union has been so far." Such an optimistic view! She smiles at him, though it seems more a courtesy so that she doesn't seem snarky when she says that.

    Oh and Ains did accept some help from Inga. She's not one to turn down a little blood magic assistance, considering her own affinities.

    Ainsley follows along with Wuyin, eager to get out there and chop up some fish monsters. Her tail wiggles behind her and the dark and gloomy feeling returns. Definitely itching for a fight today.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone pause at the mention of the Lady Margaret.

"Dunno but it's been undead and it's creepy the samne ones keep coming back evne if the bodies are burned."

She now seems to be going to get gear now a rifle which she starts checking over for the moment.

"Then there's them the Draug...smarter than the shamblers, will sometimes uses some basic tctics."

She checks her ammo one last time and she looks to Inga nad says

"I'll take the protection of any good intented being that wants to see this madness stopped."

She sighs for a moment and then seems to be ready to go.

"Right SOanl, I'm armed and ready to go."

Inga has posed:
Inga looks back toward Jimmy, amusement in her eyes. He may notice she is careful not to maintain unbroken eye contact with him for too long. "No, I expect that you are not like him," she replies.

Inga reaches for the bowl of liquid she'd prepared beforehand, raising a brow toward Jimmy. "Very well, I could show you. If you have the skills and knowledge...another person able to make the ward would be quite useful," she replies. She dips her fingers into the blood-herb mixture, then reaches up to draw a well practiced symbol on his brow. She would not mind exchanging some trade secrets. "As I mentioned, do /not/ use your Sight out there," she adds to Jimmy quietly.

Soan, Kyra, Kotone and Ainsley are given the same treatment. Everyone else should have been given more permanent talismans by Inga previously. Kyra is given a smile, hoping to dispell her embarrassment a bit.

Once all is ready and everyone is warded, Inga takes up her staff and begins to limp toward the door. Gods know she'd better get a head start.

She probably wouldn't say no to piggy backing.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley pauses when she notices Inga's gait, and then steps over, kneeling down before the lady, and offering her arms out. "Here," is all she says to indicate she means to carry the other blood mage.

Inga has posed:
She's been through more undignified positions.

Inga allows herself to be carried by Ainsley. "So long as I will not be a terrible burden--you can drop me if we're attacked by the undead," she says quietly with a small laugh.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "Alright... then, let's go. Trace... on!"

    Shirou steps out with Wuyin, and immediately activates his Magic Circuits, circulating prana. Anyone with magic senses might feel that he has a pretty average amount. His control isn't too good, but...

    Then something freaking WEIRD happens.

    Twin swords appear in his hands utterly from nowhere. Well, not nowhere - there was a very efficiently contained flare of golden light... but nothing like the previous bright flares some people might've seen accompany his Tracing efforts.

    The twin swords he's geared up with are KANSHOU and BAKUYA, Chinese short swords of fine craftsmanship. The weapons have a pristine and pure aura, and are styled after Yin and Yang - indeed, one is matte white, the other a deep black with a crimson turtle shell pattern, and both have the opposite color in a small swirl at the root of the blade to form the Yin-Yang symbol.

    Perhaps Wuyin will approve!

    Then the magus who knows only one spell turns to face Inga... and he smiles her way. "Thanks for the Charm. I get the feeling it'll really help!"

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Wuyin pauses at the door to look at the gathered team. He nods, as if satisfied at what he's seeing. Shirou gets a look of brief approval. He turns back, starting forward. "Alright. Let's go."

It isn't a long trek away from the fire department; a few minutes down the road and downhill, all in all. The area immediately surrounding it is devoid of the walking dead, but the closer they get to the shore, the more numerous they become. The zombies hunt in packs, with groups of up to a half-dozen of them congregating around miscolored stains in the pavement or lurking near doors. The moment they see the group, they turn and attack, rushing in with snarls and open jaws.

It is safe to treat them like the practice round. They are quick and dangerous en masse, but no match for a group of Elites this size.

Fletcher Bay lies beyond. The pier is dimly visible in the fog down the road, with shapes milling about on the road running along the shore and on the beaches next to the mixed wood-and-concrete docks. There's also a diner off to the group's right! It even still has a couple lights on inside. It's probably unrelated, though.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     It's definetively the air, Soan thinks to himself. All of this place smells... wrong. It smells bad. Not just from a fish smells bad perspective: no, this whole fog is /awful/. It is a stench that he can't seem to get rid off, a stench that is unfamiliar, yet manages to be very, very familiar to him. It's like smelling a new version of the worse perfume that you hate -- except of perfume, you smell filth, evil. Corruption.

     Kyra's seen the young thief mostly relaxed over the years. This is one of thoses times where he is visibly more on edge, perhaps a bit irritated. His sword is drawn at the sight of zombies, not at their smell. He smelled them from far enough, anyway, getting used to the whole stench of the place. 'Filth' is a good name they found to represent... this thing. He'll have to come back here as Dragoon Man.

     The zombie fight, while easy, had Soan trip up briefly. He do not make a good showing with his strangely black blade. Nothing special about it, it's just some sort of non-reflective dark steel sword.

     Soan looks with some effort pushing off the discomfort he feels, slowly getting used to it as he give the dinner some attention. Probably unrelated. Who knows? His piercing eyes travels around, squinting at details, the wood itself. Is there shapes in the Dinner, his eyes tries to find out.

Jimmy Wen (606) has posed:
"Nice conjuring," he says to Shirou. That'd take him at least thirty minutes to do! There's probably some other-world physics going on. Almost certainly, in fact, but man, if thaumaturges could make weapons that quickly, they'd definitely do it more often! Well, that, and the fact that other wizards can just, you know, dissolve them with the right application of will. But hey, he's sure Shirou's got insurance against that. Multiverse!

     Despite having introduced himself as a wizard, Jimmy's choice of weapon is a handgun. It's a custom affair, a nickel-plated Colt M1911 with custom ivory inlays on the grip, depicting a scene from some epic or another. It's hard to tell with his hands on it! Come to think of it... suit, shades, handgun... he looks more like a member of an organized crime outfit than a 'wizard.'

     When the zombies come, Jimmy's first instinct is to /listen./ Then he realizes this isn't his earth, and there's no necromancer animating these things. There's no simulated heartbeat. This assumption nearly costs him! A zombie dressed in a tasteful, but bloodstained fleece jacket swipes at him. He manages to avoid the swipe.

     Jimmy counterattacks with a surprised expression and a move out of a John Woo flick, in that order. He plants an elbow, then a foot, in quick succession, on the zombie's face, staggering it, then puts several bullets through its chest.

     "Phew." Inga said don't use your Sight, so he doesn't, not even when he sees the diner. "Making a mental note about that diner," he says under his breath. Few things that seem unrelated truly are!

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva is already moving along with the others, staying close to the new people protectively despite being DPS and not tank. The certainty of certain inherent 'benefits' of being part this secret war requires certain hard choices when interacting with out-world people helping with their stuff.

She already has her guns out once they leave the station, and similarly wastes no time in using the pair of Ingram MAC-10s to devastating effect. blue-greeb bolts of Anima energy shred into the zombies, several of them bouncing in streaks to ricochet among the enemies. She's devastatingly straightforward about the issue. "Man, having better gear really makes a difference." She mutters. "Unfortunately, these are just the small fry."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley helpfully lets Inga off her back, allowing the norse wisewoman some room to do her magic when the zombies start shambling toward them. This also frees the lizard woman up to enter the fray herself, something she is excited to do. You can tell she's excited, because she uses her storm magic to fly toward the nearest zombie not being perforated by firearms, draws her longsword, and swiftly tries to chop it up with several vicious two-handed slashes.

    And then rolls into blasting lightning at another one.

    She pauses to stab one that's already down a few extra times, clearly releasing pent-up aggression. The Aztlan thing probably hit her very hard.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Zombies. Shirou really detests zombies. Each one is a life he would've wished to save. Putting them down might be a mercy, but it's cruel and wearying on his heart. Still, with the gruop pushing forward, is job is to take down whatever few get through the guns and other projectiles. He Is a cleaning screen against the stragglers and he lops apart zombies that get too close with swift and precise swordsmanship. Unlike when he's been using Zantetsuken, Wuyin's Jian, or the legendary sword of some knight or hero, Kanshou and Bakuya seem perfectly suited for him... or maybe him for them. Whatever the case, he's not struggling to keep up with the fighting style inherited fromt he blades. That, too, seems perfectly suited for his body type and proportions. Elegant slashes with little wasted motion, and sweeping swift footwork. The chinese shortswords shatter a few times, but Shirou quickly replaces them with new copies under a second after he loses one.

    "Thanks. This crazy trick's probably the only thing I'm good at!" He replies modestly, leaping over to Jimmy and dicing down through a zombie. As things start getting gorey he's increasingly quiet... casual talking during this seems inappropriate.

Inga has posed:
The undead are something she has learned to deal with, and now fall easily to her magic. Inga nods to Ainsley as she's set on her feet, already having drawn the knife from her belt. It's not a very large knife, one would think it wouldn't be very effective against zombies...

Which it isn't. Inga stabs herself with it. A quick slice to her inner arm and flood wells quickly. As the zombies run toward her the blood is flung from her wound, misting outward in a spray around her, blasting the undead monsters back, the blood burning them upon contact. If that doesn't take them down, Inga follows up with a channeled bolt of lightnight from her staff untill they've been taken care of.

This is just the warm up.

Inga's eyes move around the assembled company, checking others for injuries. So far, everyone seems to be fine. Seems Jimmy is also fond of guns--damned noisy things, but very useful.

The woman looks to Ainsley, still stabbing after the zombie is down. Well, she can understand that frustration. Inga waits for her to finish, then will hop back on so they can continue.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Wuyin, for his part, just shoots lightning at anything that gets close. It ricochets between several of them at once, adding to the short-(un)lived chaos. It really isn't a challenge getting through them, save for moments of surprise and depression getting to the assorted heroes. Don't worry; they'll be back!

Soan's sharp eyes spot a humanoid shape on the far side of the diner. It looks like one of the zombies is pressed against the door on the far side. There doesn't appear to be any movement inside...

The group reaches the road that runs along the shore. The wall of fog is more clearly visible here: it's a stark demarcation of territory, a towering shield of whirling greys between Kingsmouth proper and the point of no return. Shapes like some massive thing's tentacular silhouette writhe in the fog, only to be broken up when the wind hits it just right. Must be a trick of the eyes...

The silhouettes around the road and on the shore come into clarity. There are more zombies roaming up and down the street, trudging listlessly here and there with no destination in mind. On the dock, the humanoid figures have more mass, and the hulking forms of the blue-grey-skinned draug are easily made out. It's practically a toss-up as to whether they have an enormous spike for a forearm or a heavy, dragging club, but all of them are coated in barnacles and dark seaweed. They look a good deal like bloated, waterlogged corpses.

Wuyin points down the concrete pier. It's flanked by wooden docks, branching off into the currently-shallow bay. The draug appear to be largely staying around the shore and in the water, but there are a good number on the docks and the pier. "It's out there. I'm not certain what we'll find."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa l:takes her wepaon and is heading out with everyone else and she takes the ward she can't complain at this point. She should get a permanent one she thinks. She gives Shirou a glance for a moment then looks abck to Inga.

"Thank you, Inga."

She heads out then and keeps her weapin ready and she looks a bit conerned she has to agree with Emiyra's bit on the whole thing. Several Zombies go down due to Kotn'es shots as she moves with the group.

"Ugg I need to look into some Posidon firearms then and that's going to be permid hell givne Japan on Gunlaws then again The Amer Russio alliances is a lot less nuts on that."



"Good to have you with us Shirou."

She pauses at the horrors for a moment and she says to Wuyin.

"I'm certain we'll get more trouble..."

Jimmy Wen (606) has posed:
     Jimmy responds to Wuyin.

     "Signs don't point to anything good," he says. "I heard a few of you mention draug."

     The wizard makes a sidelong glance at Inga, then at the... figures out in the deeper parts of the water. "Is that draug as in the 'again-walkers?' Risen from the dead to guard some kind of treasure?"

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     The sight of the zombie by the Dinner's door almost comforts him. At least, that'll be something that will be taken care of and it's not some poor persons that are stuck inside of there. Too bad to the person that were a zombie. This town just continues to prove itself to be... incredibly troubling.

     The sheer variety of filthy flagrance the creatures upahead is sharp on Soan's perception. Not nearly as bad, yet they are distinct enough to know that they are something else than Zombies. The things on the docks provides themselves to be... something more fishy. Crabby? They smell like really bad crabs.
     "They look more like... some kind of native species, honestly." Soan mutters enough to be heard. I can go under the pier for an ambush. Set up a few traps for them." He comments.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    It's a hell of a grind through the zombies. Shirou's not at all happy about this. It's actually better to NOT think. He's thankfully good enough that, so long as he doesn't lose too many weapons, a few handfuls of zombies are really no threat. Sir Bedivere's training is definitely paying off, and Shirou's much better now at keeping his cool in a fight. So he efficiently dispatcheds Zombies all up until the group finally makes it to the water front properties... and there...

    There's the docks. Shirou, however, can sharpen his eyesight to several times the range of normal human vision without losing clarity, effectively seeing as a bird of prey might. So really, if he can pierce the fog at all, just what's out there...?

    "Glad to help! Especially if it keeps others safer. ... This palce ishell. Is one boat really behind it all? What could they have found out there?"

Inga has posed:
Inga sighs, then nods to Jimmy. "Yes. We don't yet know what has happened here...but we've gathered by now that my people were involved somehow," she informs him. "They're monsterously strong of course," she adds.
When they reach the pier, Inga will ask Ainsley to set her down. "Now is where it gets interesting--don't worry about me. Go inflict grievious harm," she says to Ainsley. They'll need to fight their way down, so Inga isn't too concerned with being left behind. She's quite sure this is the point at which her healing magics will be needed.

Staff in hand, ready to summon some elemental magics, Inga begins to make her way down the pier.

Before long however, she freezes. Her body shudders. Her lips part as her eyes roll back into her head, lids twitching frantically as she recieves the Buzzing's signal. As it often is with her prophecies, she becomes and open channel.

The fog parted as a freak show curtain, revealing a graveyard of ships. Rusty steel, ancient wood Dhows, Viking long-boats, modern frigates, oil tankers, and luxury cruise liners - they all dipped and bobbed in the same water - vessels from all times, all cultures, all covered in red. she says, in a voice not quite her own.

After a moment she shudders again, her eyes closing. It takes her a moment to open them again and shake herself out of it. Her grip on her staff is white-knuckled. She may need a moment.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
"Accurate," Wuyin replies to both Kotone and Jimmy at the same time. He addresses the wizard more after. "Consider the ship their treasure. They will not want us to go near it, or their... 'eggs.'"

Shirou can see a small building a ways up the pier, with some planks and boxes stacked against a side. Further along, at the very tip, a small fishing boat is docked. He can see the outline, but he can't make out anything else in the fog from this distance. It doesn't look very heavily guarded, if at all; there are some draug moving around, or what he presumes to be so, but none on the ship itself.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    For the duration of most of the trip there, Kyra's pretty quiet, still reeling from the embarassment of her stupid question. This does not last, especially as they start to come upon packs of undead.

    It quickly becomes clear that Kyra falls on the less-physical side of the house as she never allows a single zombie to get near her due to a combination of explosives, firearms, or strategically placing herself so that someone who can physically dismantle undead is already there. She isn't on edge as Soan is, happily beliving that Inga's warding will hold against the localized effect of the "Filth." It seems to be working for her at least, though a part of her does wonder what it would "feel" like if it wasn't. This was something that would have to be explored later.

    It takes a lot for Kyra not to immediately pull out some higher ordinance explosives. She seems discomforted with undead and, curiously, does not attempt to actually use magic on the way despite reportedly being a "white mage." "..please tell me I'm seeing things..." she mutters, trying to gesture to what she thinks are tentacles somewhere within the fog. Stepping forward, she passes Soan a few of the strange brick-like objects she had packed with her earlier.

    "If you're going to set up traps, take these explosives along. Don't worry about telling me where they are, I'll know."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "If they think the docks are important, I'm not seeing it!" Shirou alerts Wuyin. Although people here probably aren't aware of his sharpened eyesight... "There's a small warehouse or fishing shack further ahead and a docks. A small boat or two... only a handful of the Draug. They don't seem very busy with anything either..." He, however, sounds confused upon reporting all this... all the moreso when Inga begins speaking in that creepy manner the native heroes seem prone to. She's given a weirded out look, but it lasts only a short while.

    "...Some kind of curse from the sea...? 'Draug' is pretty foreign to here, but I heard that Vikings did make landfall in North America when they were around..." Would Inga even know about that? He's not sure...

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva is just trucking along. She doesn't stop for the diner. She seems very goal-oriented at the moment, which is an improvement over her usual wandering habits. If it's an undead, Riva shoots it and continued doing so until it's dead. She nods to Jimmy as they move on to the draug. "Yeah, something like that, but their whole life-cycle thing is really messed up. Go out to the oceanfront sometime with some binoculars and watch it sometime."

"Whatever you think will help, Soan. I'm planning on just sweeping the area. These aren't the big guys so they'll go don to focused firepower." Riva proceeds to just take point on it, apparently more confident with the guns she got from Adelaide. "Good question, Shirou! That's what we hope to find out!" She replies as she begins to move on to gunning down draug to clear a path to the ship proper.

Inga begins calling out her visionary interpretation of the communications from the keeper-spirits of Agartha. Riva is too busy shooting to listen to it properly, so perhaps the others will get more edification out of it.

Riva glances over as Kyra pipes up and looks over. "Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, that's a thing." Riva says simply. As Soan begins engaging in his creative trap maneuvers, Riva alters her pattern to fire upon the Draug from a distance and force them to move forward through whatever triggers Soan sets up. She stays at maximum distance, because if that's what she thinks it is, she doesn't want to be on top of it.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan grabs the explosives from Kyra, taking in the conversation between the wizards a bit carefully. A form of divination that he's not familiar with -- then again, nothing new on that department. There is a lot of new things around here, people, /things/. "Okay. I'll be right back, people."

     Then he vanishes. Not in the sense that he is no longer part of reality, but as far as most senses are concerned, ears, eyes, noses, that tingling sensation that someone is staring at you, the young tanned skinned man is simply gone after a few steps in. He makes his way underneath the piers, latching on with some creative use of climbing claws, secret thief bullshit as well as some body-lighting techniques that he,s supposed to not have at all.

     His lays a good section of the piers up, allowing Riva enough time to start gathering up the crabs, before slinking away, nicely. The explosives, whem primed, will glow, shuddering, thenunleashing upward a collum of burning flames, spiraling on itself, then blowing up in a controllera area. They are carefully calculated to /not/ hit others that are not hideous crab people.

     Soan didn't aim for the biggest parts of the piers -- a few others are going to stick there to cover for a nice escape.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is taking her shott as they get though the whole slog of the undead and she sighs before she ponders SOan's words.

"Well if they are .. native they really don't have a real place not with how they operate."

She seems to be concerned and very much on edge with these things.

"Watch for the water they can come from it. They did in my world but it was another location so far as we know. We got a lot of quesitons to ask."

Jimmy Wen (606) has posed:
     Eggs. Jimmy doesn't like that word when it's talking about something bigger than a goose or a chicken. "I'll be extra careful," he says to Wuyin.

     In point of fact, Jimmy prefers to be the tactician in combat engagements. To that end, he forms up the rear with Inga. "I've got your back," he says. He's not a heavy hitter, at least, not in the same way Dresden is. He needs /time/, but give him that and he delivers tenfold. Then inga begins her prophecy shtick, and boy, does it weird Jimmy out. When she's finished, he starts fortifying their position.

     How? With traps of his own, of course. "Keep them off of me, if you please." Ever courteous, he begins making several micro-wards. This is not something he's done before, and thaumaturgy isn't exactly the fastest thing around, so each of the four wards takes at least four /minutes./ Yeah. But, the witch can at least detect that there's a /considerate/ amount of will being poured into each one.

     By the time he's finished, there is a miniature magical minefield around Inga and Jimmy.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Wuyin takes pause at Inga's exclamation. He goes silent, looking to Shirou with a quizzical expression while his jaw tenses. He must feel it, too, though perhaps not as keenly as Inga does. They've already imparted their knowledge here before; it would take a seer to see it again, and discover what it really means. (Fortunately, well, there she is.)

Riva goes off to be a great big distraction. Wuyin takes a step after her, but stops, frowning. He watches her basically run in like Leeroy Banari, firing in a frenzy that is normally associated with wasteful, wild shots but which is actually just sheer volume of fire for people with infinite magic bullets. A few of the draug get clipped, and a couple of their friends spot them, too. They start charging.

Right into the explosives. The spiralling fireballs rise to the sky, and they /definitely/ get the attention of the draug. The ones that trip them get roasted and blasted, pieces flying from here to kingdom come. The scattered few that actually make it past the impromptu minefield intact -- only two or three -- are already injured from the blast. Easy pickings with focused fire.

(The pier is also a hole-filled mess, but that hardly needs to be said.)

"Well... that will do it," Wuyin says, after a moment. He draws up a measure of Anima and starts flinging waves of ice into the feet of the few oncoming draug. They quickly become subjects meant for target practice by Hero Team. "I expected a much larger response," he thinks aloud. "Why are they less-concentrated here if the ship is what brought them...?"

Inga has posed:
Yes, well, wait until he's actually the subject of a vision. That's when the really weirdness begins.

Inga looks to Jimmy, nodding to him, her lips drawn in a thin line. She's still pulling herself back together, but is recovering.

The witch takes a deep breath and brings up her staff, the air crackling with the hum of electricity for a moment before she lines up her shot and fires off a powerful bolt of lightning toward one of the draug nearby. She glances over to watch the wizard though, observing. She can feel the amount of will he's using--it is considerable.

Then, explosions. For someone from the 8th century, this is very distressing. Inga reaches up to cover her ears, squinting her eyes shut. SUCH TERRIBLE NOISE!

Well all is over and done, Inga blinks several times before carefully moving on.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan comes back, dusting his hands off. Obviously, he is not looking at the result of his handiwork, confident in the knowledge that the rest of Hero Time will gladly take care of the remaining draugs, if any were left alive. Turns out, yes, there were. They were no trouble.

     "Are they, huh?" Soan lets out, sheathing his blade as he watches the rest taking care of the remaining people, carefully moving on. "Perhaps they changed their, ah. Their Nest, I suppose? Maybe this was not optimal for them and were searching for something that is near here, but underwater?"

     The thief rummages this in his mind. It would make sense, but he's missing a lot of information on this. "Whatever the case, it's worth still investigating further."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou's not going to hold back against the Draug. If a few get close, he'll hurl Kanshou and Bakuya at them - after packing the weapons with power. The swords explode like small grenades on impact and he has NO trouble projecting another set a few seconds later.

    That on top of what everyone else is already doing? Chances are NOTHING is going to get close to them.

    "If the ship was all they cared about, they wouldn't have set up... nests... on the beach. They used it to get here, but maybe it's not so useful to them now? It still might tell us what they want though. We should press on and find it!"

    He then goes on to say, "Actually, there's no way the Draug navigated ships into port. They rode in with someone else. They probably don't care about ships at all." It's only speculation, of course, but Shirou sounds FAIRLY convinced of this...

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Soan gets a big thumbs up as he plays along with being voluntold to emplace explosives. "I'll control when they go off so nobody has to worry about being accidentally caught in the blast. Much." Kyra grins toothily at the thought.

    She's pretty truthful about this. She does her best to wait until Riva isn't within range of the trap. Those here who are magically inclined will feel the magic Kyra uses to initiate the explosives-which isn't actually all that much, perhaps the magical equivalent of quickly blowing out a candle. Except via chemistry.

    Draug go flying. Kyra cheers, excited, "Woohooo! Take that, /drowned undead corpse-things/. Go back to eternal sleep!" Stragglers...are cleaned up by the other people neatly, it seems. Kyra doesn't even need to waste bullets, everyone else has it well in hand.

    "It sounds like Shirou has it." Kyra speaks up, digging through her small messenger bag to pull out another block of her fire-type explosive. "Maybe they just rode on the ships. You know, like clinging to the hull like remoras, and whoever sailed the ship had no idea."

Jimmy Wen (606) has posed:
Okay. So. That was combat wards. Not a bad idea, but extremely stressful. Still, it's definitely something he'll have to work on, because there's not always going to be a viking blood witch to back him up for... he counts the wards. Wow, he only got /two/ done. All four would have taken another eight minutes! Anyway, people are talking!

     "I agree," he says to Soan and Emiya. "Inga's prophecy would corroborate, in fact." For those that have heard Jimmy on the radio, this formality is a /serious/ departure from his usual tone. He holsters his M1911. "She said something about boats from multiple times, floating and covered in red. Personally, I'd take that to mean they have an enormous breeding ground located underneath or on top of a ship graveyard. Then..." He nods to Kyra. "They piggybacked."

     "Mr. Wuyin. Do you have any ideas about the fog and where it came from?"

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
The other trio of draug get felled by a combination of blades, bullets, and even more explosions. They groan and hit the ground, the bloated corpses landing with a definite 'thud.' They smell /awful/.

"I suppose. There were a greater number near the Orochi encampment to the north," Wuyin observes. "I expected... hmm. Something more significant, here. I /know/ there's something; I can feel it in my bones." This is not an expression Wuyin usually uses. It may be that he's being a little awkwardly literal.

Wuyin starts forward, carefully moving down the cracked and burned concrete pier. The wooden docks suffered the most in the blasts; the big pier itself is still mostly intact. At least, they shouldn't have a problem moving up it. "I think that something was found inside this ship graveyard, and it attracted them like a beacon. There is not enough room on that ship for an infestation of this size to piggyback on it, nor was there enough time if it was merely a few clinging to the hull."

The ship is just ahead. It's a line vessel, with what looks like a straight crane or winch or something sticking out from the raised cabin at an angle and rising above the short mast. There are lobster traps on the deck, abandoned and empty, and a double-door hatch is set into the deck. The words 'LADY MARGARET' are clearly visible along the side of the hull... and the edges of the vessel, the rails and ropes and mast all, are covered in red seaweed.

Riva Banari has posed:
"Well, let's look over the ship and find out why, huh?" Riva says, seemingly perfectl fine with the fact that they put a bunch of holes in the dock. She begins moving towards the ship to secure it for the people with a more delicate touch to look over. Like the rogue, he probably has a good Perception score. Riva hops up onto the ship and begins watching carefully for draug interference.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Normally, by now people are complaining at Kyra over collateral damage. This has yet to happen which brings a smile to Kyra's face. "I could really get used to partying with you guys." she remarks, seemingly out of the blue. Casually, she passes Soan another one of her magical explosive bricks in case he elects to scout forward again.

    She eyes Wuyin warily, pointing out that, "Are you basically saying 'there should be more of them here'? Because if you say stuff like that, it pretty much guarentees we'll suddenly run into a giant mob in the very near future, you know." As Kyra says this, she looks around warily and removes a flask that looks like it contains a squirming and flickering bolt of lightning from one of her bandoliers.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan avoids the nice holes he made on the pier. There is no, /no/ regrets. Living around and adventuring with Kyra Hyral often means you have to develop either a love for explosive, or at least not be bothered by them. He grins toward the alchemist, moving onward to give the ship a closer look, eyes squinting at whe he sees on the hull of the poor vessel, most of his attention already diverting toward spotting... unusual things.

     Now, admittedly, boats aren't his specialty there. Still, he has an helping tool that he can't share about: his nose. The stench of this place is attrocious, even worse than outside. This is why he remains silent, having to concentrate on this while having to be subjected to this smell... it takes quite some energy.

     "Or perhaps, they were made here." He mumbles, following Riva's lead.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "Red seaweed over the whole ship?! ... It couldn't have grown this quickly... err, how long was the ship even here? Maybe it could. But the color matches Inga's... vision." He's not sure what word to use. He even scratches his head as he navigates the damaged pier and examines the ship.

    he even walks right up next to it and puts a hand on the hull - granted, he's running a LOT of prana through it, in case the seaweed turns out to be some kind of magical poisonous WEIRD THING. he tries not to touch it. All he needs is a finger on the hull anyways...

    "Trace, on..."

    Mystic senses will feel some minor amount of his prana flowing through the structure in circuit-like trace lines. He's just trying to ascertain... what condition is the hull on. Is the ship just a ship? Anything weird?

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is keeping her wits about her a she looks about it's clear the young lady is on edge here then again it's a living horror movie but then again theya re far smarter than most characters who would show up in such fiction.

"...it was just a means to get here like a stolen car, they ditched it when it was done."

Shge makes sure there are no more at this point.

"I'll take a look at the systems on board, I may be able to find something of use there so long as I can jack into it. IT's veyr possible most popele think magic is fictional they wouldn't ... and hum it seems right. They gound osmething best left burried I suspe.

"No it doesn't look right."

She's going to try to get moving on to the ship thead for hte bridge now. "..."

Jimmy Wen (606) has posed:
Jimmy has an Idea. It's a good one, and it doesn't involve using his Sight! He checks his salt supply--yep, still got another two shakers. "I think I can get us the answers to our questions," he says, wearing a confident smile.

     The wizard produces the deck of cards before, and begins shuffling them. "Just give me a few minutes and I'll have an eye witness," he says. If that doesn't imply what he's doing, the circle of salt he makes as soon as he boards the ship should give onlookers an idea. He begins pouring will into the circle, cutting it off from everything else, sterilizing it. This area of the ship's deck is slowly becoming the magical equivalent of an operating table.

     "Miss Kotone," he asks politely. "Would you be a dear and see if you can find a crew manifest? I'd rather not just reach my hand into the barrel, as it were."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou can only barely figure out what Jimmy's up to. he spots the circle of salt, feels the change in the air - which isn't hard, given how Awful this place otherwise feels - and remarks in a voice full of curiosity, "A boundary field?"

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Riva can see draug out in the water, somewhat distant. They seem to be gradually gathering, but not nearby. Maybe it's just some kind of draug /thing/. It's not like their life-cycle is terribly well-known beyond birth and death, and the cause of death is most commonly 'anima from a gun.'

Soan's senses mostly pick up lingering corruption and the scent of the sea. He doesn't /see/ anything out of the ordinary, and he doesn't detect any traps about to kill them all, either. Shirou finds that the ship has apparently taken a beating, but it doesn't feel like anything he'd associate with damage that the sea itself couldn't cause. A storm seems likely. There are also no signs of suspicious gouges in the hull or anything, though there /is/ something inside the hold. Barrels, maybe?

Kotone has to force the door to get into the cabin, but she finds that the instruments are all long dead. Nothing electronic in here appears to function. A couple of the lower-tech ones are potentially working, but she can't move the ship to find out. The crew manifest is here, but it's mostly ruined, and of the few legible names -- Joe Slater, Larry and Derrick Creed, and Gustaf Johansen -- only the last one is listed as 'lost at sea.'

Wuyin looks back at Kyra, staring at her for a long moment. "It is very unfortunate," he says, "that that is too often the truth."

Inga has posed:
Inga looks troubled, which is only unstandable considering the horror of this place. She'd have expected more draug, but perhaps the fishing boat is no longer important to them. But just because it isn't particularly important for the draug does not mean it isn't important for them.

Inga needs to get closer.

She blinks, looking back toward Jimmy as he says he'll have an eye witness in a moment. Her eyes widen. "Ah! You mean to summon a spirit? Why hadn't I thought of that...well..hmm, it might be difficult though, as the people....they do not stay dead," she comments, frowning then. Still, could be worth a try.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
THE LADY MARGARET is a fishing boat at the end of the now-damaged pier in Fletcher Bay. The most prominent features of it are the lack of a crew, the draug that mill around it at a distance, and the red seaweed all over the rails and rigging. Presumably, there is more to it than that; Wuyin at least believes it is somehow more connected to this fog than its simple appearance otherwise indicates.

There is no immediate danger here, but the threat of the draug closing in from nearly all sides is ever-present. They don't move close; they simply do whatever they do out in the shallow waters of the cove, their humanoid shapes distinct in the lingering, clinging fog that seems to thicken into a wall further out to sea.

There was also, as previously mentioned, an abandoned diner on the street leading up to the docks.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "I think..." Kyra belatedly replies to Wuyin as she adjusts one of the bandoliers strapped over her shoulders. "...that part of it is jixing it to happen." Her movements are slow, as if to not attract attention to herself given a mob attack is a very serious possibility-if the draug ever leave the shallows, that is.

    She eyes the diner from afar and nudges Soan. "We should check it out." she mutters to him, "...with the others. I don't think we should split up."

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan's eyes have been mostly over the place, taking note of where would be a good place to stick in a trap, or some sort of spikes that he could use against the roaming, jaywalking crabmen around them that are subtly gathering up. He's prudent enough to suspect that they are mustering their forces. "Jinxing is just coencidence, because we know patterns." Soan says quietly as he squints around. He blinks a bit out of his reverie, looking toward the Dinner at Kyra's prompt.

     He thinks on it. "It's worth a try." He says. "Maybe there's something that leads from the dinner into things. Let's comb this place first, then let's go." He looks toward Wuyin, who is still nearby. "Where DID this ship come from, anyway?"

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley has stopped to regard the boat with a critical gaze. She doesn't pay much attention to the others, because this is yet another instance of her being the reckless one in the group who unthinkingly aggros the baddies. She floats up off her feet, and hovers across the dock to reach the Lady Margaret.

    Almost weightlessly, she hovers up and over the railing. She tries to judge whether the boat itself is safe or not to land on, frowning skeptically at the vehicle. Her eyes scan for anything of note, like evidence of whatever the boat brought back with it.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "The ship's probably just a vector, not special by itself." Shirou decides he's agreeing with this idea. And splitting up is bad! So he decides, "Unless you'd like to come over the whole thing, we should go where the sailors would've gone. The diner makes sense! I'd've wanted some good food after being out fishing."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa shoulders her rifle now and makes for the ship.

"As I said I sghould head for the bridge see what I can pull from the computers up there."

OR knowing her luck it's going to be analoig /again/ seriously that was one of the most trippy parts of the multiverse for her all the oldass tech.

"The ship? It was a fishing vessel this is it's home port..."

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Wuyin is playing with his smartphone, apparently. He's on the pier with them, though. He gives Kyra a sort of tip of the head as an acknowledgement, but doesn't have anything else to add on the subject of jinxes.

"Here," he says to Soan. "This is her home port. From what I have gathered, she went to sea with a full crew. There was a storm. They came back, and..." Wuyin trails off. He looks up from his phone, out to the fog. There's a pause before he finishes, "...then the fog followed them back."

The boat is perfectly safe. It's probably sea-worthy, or would be if it wasn't damaged from the aforementioned storm, and if all its electronics weren't dead as doornails. Watch out for red seaweed.

Jimmy Wen (606) has posed:
     "By all means," says Jimmy to Kotone. "If you can't find me any names, well... I suppose I'll have to make do." He's good at that. For the time being, he just focuses on getting his barrier set up. Ghosts aren't usually that strong--hell, they have to be pretty powerful to even affect the physical plane. But it just doesn't do to go through all the trouble of calling one up just to have him fly away on you.

     Not that Jimmy plans on being /anything/ but respectful. Honey over vinegar, and all that!

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    "The basic troubleshooting principle: Things do not just happen mysteriously. Something had to have changed, on the part of the crew or the ship. If they were a fishing vessel..." Ainsley furrows her brow, combing through her memory on stories of these types. She floats away from the boat and sets down near the man, looking aside at him. "They would be dragging things out of the ocean all the time. Bits of old ships, objects people have thrown overboard, garbage... what if they found something out there, something that shouldn't have been found?"

    "That is what the Bees have whispered to us so far, I think," she hypothesizes. "This fog is powerful, but it's... odd. I cannot recall many legends that involve fog rolling in like this, almost like the manifestation of a fear sailors have. The only cloud-related entities I can think of besides that are..." She trails off, shaking her head. She doesn't want to think about it. Then she turns to walk toward that diner, drawing the longsword again, prepared to stab another zombie or three in the skull if she has to.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva is not actually all that brilliant. She just exemplifies the modern behavior of 'if you don't know something, look it up on the giant network that contains most of human knowledge'. She has dots in Google. And when she can't Google something, she pokes at things until she finds something out.

Hey, it's always worked before.

This is why she's not providing a whole lot of direction at this point, having basically been standing atop the Lady Margaret with her guns out, hunched forward and looking over the situation with extreme anti-draug prejudice. "So, what, there we just an evil fog waiting out there?" Riva asks. "Did it just pick this ship because it blundered into it? Or was it something else?"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Yeah, ship first, then that diner place." Kyra agrees, curiously watching Jimmy Wen for a few moments before stepping back outside of the ship cabin. She reaches into her bandolier, producing a set of tweezers and an empty vial. While ghosts are being addressed, Kyra leans over and carefully plucks some of the red seaweed off of the ship. The sample is placed inside the glass vial and carefully and thoroughly sealed.

Inga has posed:
Inga shakes her head slightly as Ainsley takes off over to the boat alone, floating, even. The nerve! "Ainsley, are you perhaps able to use that trick for others?" she calls. Inga has a feeling she needs to get closer to the vessel. Often, her visions are triggered by certain locations--of course she isn't exactly looking forward to visions of this, but it might be the only way for them to find out what has happened.

To Jimmy, she offers, "If you'd like help, let me know," she offers.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan looks over at the map Wuyin shows him. Admittedly, it don't tell him much: Earth says little to him, but it's good to know in case that becomes relevent. "So /something/ followed. Allright." He says, also listening to AInsley. Bees whispered to them? Hm. Well, he can't pretend he really, fully knows what that mean. If it was something strange or unusual, they'd say so.

     "Or maybe because of someone, or it was at the wrong place, at the wrong time." Soan hazards, taking the time to strap some plates on the side of the ship, just in case. Some paralyzing zap traps are never a bad thing to have if you need to stop a mob in a hurry, after all.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley hesitates when Inga asks about the flight magic... the lizard girl stops seeming so determined to solve this puzzle, her grip on the longsword relaxing. Her tail sways behind her when she turns her gaze to look at Inga, blinking a couple of times in owlish surprise. "Uhh..." She shakes her head slowly, hesitantly answering, "Nnnooo... No I have never tried to do that. It would require a level of control that is beyond me right now. Besides that, I think my flight is more... instinctual, anyways."

    She smiles at Inga in an apologetic manner.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa has mange her way in to the bridge and found that just about everything but the older tech stuff on board is a loss she does find a ruined crew manafist however and calls out.

"Hey I got a partial crew list."

She calls out the names.

"Joe Slater, Larry and Derrick Creed, and Gustaf Johansen The last one's he's listed as lost at sea...that's about all I think we're going to get out of this hulk, well that gives you who to look for right?"

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
"There's something here that they want us to hear," Wuyin murmurs, perhaps catching Ainsley's comment about the bees and whispering. He hops onto the deck, looking around in puzzlement. Then, he walks to the bow of the ship, getting in front of the small, cramped cabin and jumping/pulling himself up on top of it. He slowly moves towards the seaweed-covered mast, looking this way and that like he was searching for something.

"We don't know that something -- as in a creature -- followed them. We know that the fog did. We do not know what the fog is, or what may have created it." He's conversational, considering he's taking a roundabout way to upper parts of the ship.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou's watching over Kotone for now! He's no serious investigator so all he can do is try and think, while watching over the others. And he's not the smartest person around either, so he has to think very hard. It's not his forte, and it rarely ever has been. But Bedivere's forced him to pay more and more attention. So even if he's not the smartest, he will find a way to manage.

    He will stay alert.

    "We could go ask the survivors if they're about, or anyone ran into them! ...After we check the diner."

Jimmy Wen (606) has posed:
     "Thank you, that should do nicely." Ho-hum. A middle name is too much to hope for. Well, that's the ward out of the way, in any case. The wizard takes a moment to look around from his vantage point on the ship's deck. He then reaches into his pocket and retrieves his deck of playing cards, shuffling them with one hand in a dextrous display.

     We'll start with Joe Slater. "Wayward soul who lost his life aboard the Lady Margaret, I have need of you. Thrice I call your name, and done! Joe Slater. Joe Slater. Joe Slater." Will pours out from Jimmy, searching for something. His containment ward becomes unto a beacon. Who... or what... will be drawn to it?

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "I might be able to tell what it is if I had a sample. I can do some field tests but anything more comprehensive we'd have to wait on. With that fog that is." Kyra notes, placing the seaweed sample into one of the leather loops on her bandolier. "Not sure how much that can help us with hearing whatever 'they' want us to hear."

    Stepping quickly, Kyra's fast to rejoin Soan. It seems she's not all that comfortable venturing too far away from him-or away from the other people here in general. Falling silent, she watches Jimmy Wen with curiosity.

Inga has posed:
Inga sighs, waves a hand to Ainsley. "Very well, let me know what you find," she says.

Kotone finds a list of passengers and lists the men. Inga memorizes the names, eyeing the gangplank with pursed lips and a drawn brow. Well, what is the worst thing that would happen? She falls? So what? Inga sighs heavily, then slowly crosses to the boat. "Yes...yes there is definitely something here," she says once she gets onto the fishing boat, a shiver running cold fingers up her spine.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan follows along the 'party leader' in this case, being Wuyin Tsai, letting Kyra do her things around the ship until she meet up with him. The smell is still assaulting him, sure, but at least it's something that he's slowly getting 'used' to. It's still awful, but at least he's not threatened to gag everytime he opens his mouth anymore. What DOES bother him, is that... mage trying to do a divination. Is he summoning a ghost?

     Whatever the case, he gives a look around the cabine with a sharp eye, as well as the other intermediary room they walk pass by on the bow of the ship.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Wuyin gets up to the ropes. He tugs on them experimentally, and then climbs, scaling the relatively short mast. There isn't an actual sail -- it's a safe bet it has an engine in there somewhere -- and it's apparently tricky to get up. He is not a particularly skilled climber, but he manages it all the same.

Jimmy, meanwhile, tries to call the spirit of Joe Slater. He gets a strange feeling. It's kind of like he's in an echo chamber, and the call he's sending is bouncing all around. He's resonating with something -- maybe something/s/. He gets the odd impression that the man by this name lost his life aboard this ship, but that he isn't necessarily dead, either.

Wuyin looks off to the sea. "I --" He stops. He looks down. There's a sound from the cabin, the noise of a radio turning on and tuning itself. The phone in his pocket suddenly buzzes, vibrating loudly despite the fabric barrier between it and the open air. Radios, phones and more mystical devices that serve the same purpose all over the ship start to go off, speaking in a buzzing cacophony of voices that overlap and intermingle and, if you bend your ear just right, if you listen just so...!

It goes on for long minutes. The voices are patient and caring and excited and concerned and utterly inhuman. When it passes, silence reigns, a deafening sound after the sweet and terrible noise.

A 'thump' follows. Wuyin lands on his back on the deck, apparently insensate.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa was happy to give Jimmy, Inga and anyone else hte names of the crew maybe they could ahem disturb teir rest to get some info. She suspects they might be happy to help if only to stop this madness. Then comes the Beers she pauses holding her head a bit as she's getting not only adutio but the text of what's being sed flashes before her eyes over her cybercom's hud and she just kinda of skinks to her knees. She gets one thing as it abates, Joe is alive and they need to /find/ him. Find him asap ap but on the other hand she's just ... letting the rest sink in and she's hugging her self she's dug deep she can't go back she can't walk away from this yet? She's terrife of what may lay in wait for them all.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan had his ChocoPad during all this. WHen the Buzzing began, the young thief picked it up, cautiously lifting it to his ears. He listens to all of the story given out, his eyebrows increasing creasing as the weird words came through.

     Then, when it is over, he looks at it.

     A minute later, he shakes his head. "Chatty."

Inga has posed:
Eyes roll back. Inga's body grows stiff as if someone has pulled her up on invisible strings.

Even as everyone's radios begin to transmit the Buzzing's signal, Inga lips part, adding one more voice to the mad chorus, speaking perfectly in time.

"--draug-draug-draug-draug-draug!" she yells, falling to her knees and wretching. Inga flops onto her side then, shaking violently, curling in on herself as she raves. "The sword the sword the sword--singing, I hear the song--I remember the name..." the rest is lost in shivers, the Seer shutting her eyes tightly, trying to block out the horror that has settled in her soul.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    A number of things on Kyra's person start to buzz and vibrate-a tablet, a phone, and a small earpiece serving as her radio to the Union channels. A cringe registers on her face that only deepens with each passing moment. Her already-pale complexion turns even more pale with each passing word to downright wintergreen. It looks like at any moment she's going to run and vomit over the side of the boat.

    But she does not. As an aspiring medical professional it wouldn't do for her to have such a weak stomach. "...'sea cucumber discharges' are three words that should not be put together." she murmurs, stiffening as she sees Inga writhing on the ground. Immediately, the teenager runs to her and kneels beside her. "Hey...hey...shh.." One hand reaches to gently touch in Inga's shoulders while the other...well it's reaching for what's probably a tranquilizer.

Jimmy Wen (606) has posed:
     The White Council wizard's sunglasses vibrate ever so slightly, buzzing into his face and his temples like the Bees (captial B, he notes.) It's a lot to digest, however unfortunate a word choice that may be, but there is at least one positive point to all of this. Now he can mark off 'have Gilligan's Island sung to me by cosmic bees' from his bucket list.

     He hovers his foot over the salt line which forms his containment ward. Joe Slater is definitely not alive... but he's not entirely dead, either. Wen brushes the circle out. Although the salt doesn't move, it seems somehow different after the wizard breaks the circle. Inert. Unspecial.

     As Kyra assists Inga, Jimmy moves over to assist Wuyin. He places his playing cards back into the pocket of his slacks, then crouches. "Rise and shine, Mr. Wuyin. ...not that I'd imply you've been sleeping on the job."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley fixated on something very, very specific in that message. Her eyes were alit.

    "Innsmouth Academy?" she wondered aloud, wondering if she had passed the place when she was exploring the town earlier.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    OH GOOD LORD.

    This got utterly creepy awfully fast. Shirou is normally very hard to rattle, but with the strange voices from nowhere going full tilt rather than the little bits and pieces that've been spat out before... and the increasingly disturbing story, he actually starts backing away with slow, erratic steps. Juuuuust a few of them. The redhead's face turns especially pale and disgusted by the end. A wave of nausea ripples through him, visibly shaking his attempts to hold a serious expression to pieces...

    "What... the hell... is that?!"

    He's silently agreeing with Kyra's opinion on this matter...

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva has no choice. The Bees will not be denied when they give their honeylike knowledge. She stares out into the middle distance for some time, tntranced as her eyes seek out what she is given by the enigmatic beings.

Unlike Wuyin and Inga, however, she seems to remain sensate and capable once it finishes, the Templar shuddering. "Holy /crap/." Riva spares a hand to massage one temple and wipe some blood away from her nose. "You knock hard, Jimmy. But there we have it. That's the story. That was super visceral. I kind of want to paint now..."

Riva frowns. "But what does it mean?"

She looks over to the others, and then jumps down to amble over to Wuyin. "Hey." She shakes his shoulder. "Hey Wu! Wake up!" She nods to Jimmy as he does the same thing.

Inga has posed:
Inga slowly begins to calm down--without tranquilizers. Her breathing grows deeper, more steady. She hasn't yet moved though, still hugging herself, practically curled into a fetal position, her body trembling.

"He's in the sewer...Joe Slater. He's in the sewers...in the dark," she says quietly.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Wuyin lies totally still for about fifteen, twenty seconds before he makes a sound: a pained grunt, followed by a motion like he was trying to lift his non-shaken shoulder and then thought better of it. He turns his head a little both ways, and utters, quietly, "Ow."

Gradually, Wu sits up. He puts a hand against his back, wincing, and gets to a sitting position, looking around to reorient himself. He looks up at the spot he was perched on, high enough that that fall probably did him no favors. "Hard to get two winks out here," he says, a little hoarse, "nevermind twenty."

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan helpfully give a tissue toward Riva, for her bloody nose ambling over to the others that were down. Why did this hit them as much as it did? The question's answer is not particularly revelent at this point in time. Ainsley's comment does make sense, from what the could make of the whole disturbing message: that academy seems like the next best step to visit.

     "So." He says, once people... calmed and recovered. "I take it that cryptic messaging is a thing that happen, here. Quite nice of it to explain it's crypticness afterwards."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa takes a moment as she gets up and reches for inga as well whom has it worse than she does she looks to her.

"Inga it's over...for now it's all right."

She pauses at that name.

"...Should have expected more lovecraft around here."

She muses darkly before turning back to Inga and Jimmy gets a slight glance she's happy for a lot of the new help like him, Soan and Kyra.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva accepts the tissue. "Thanks." She says, and holds the tissue up, cleaning away the blood as she tips her head back to deal with the rest. "Well, if he's in the sewer and he's not dead, let's go down there and look for him. Maybe he'll know what's up."

Ainsley asks about Innsmouth Academy, and Riva adds, "Um... Yeah. There's an academy here. It's not in the Kingsmouth area, but in another part of the island."

She pauses. "It's a big island."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "ughh..... we need to deal with all of the Draug, but I bet that Artifact they found has a lot to do with the infestation. There's no turning them back when they get like this though, is there?" Shirou regretfully announces. Now that he knows how it happened...

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Inga becomes lucid enough that Kyra decides against giving her tranquilizers. She backs off but offers Inga a hand up as the seer exposits more about this Joe person, who has obviously become a living coral reef if the Bees were correct (and they probably were).

    "From what was lovingly described as his condition, I thing reversing Joe to his original self would be difficult, if not impossible. It may be, at this point, more humane to offer him death for remaining conscious as one's body is torn to shreds by a developing marine microbiome sounds very unpleasant. I think we need to head to the sewers to find him."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley's head turns when she is, for the first time, really reminded that the part of the island they have actually been poking around is actually fairly small. The lizard girl stares at Riva for a while, as if this were not a terribly fun thing to realize.

    "...perfect," she grouses, putting one hand on her hip. "Figures it would be worse than originally presented." She looks off into the ocean, and at the draug, frowning at the fog pointedly. "The Artifact... If we find that, maybe we can reverse this whole crisis. Finally, something tangible we can focus on..." /That/ she somehow doesn't seem too relieved about, as if the idea of the threat's source being found only worried her more.

Jimmy Wen (606) has posed:
     Jimmy shrugs. "We all have our talents, Miss Banari," he humbly replies. It'd certainly be nice to think all of that was the result of his knocking! And, hey, maybe it was. "However hard I knocked, I can't take credit for someone else answering the door. We'll call it good fortune." He offers her a lopsided smile as he stands up straight once more.

     "We can certainly /look/ for Mr. Slater." He thrusts his hands into his pockets. "But there's no guarantee we'd like what we found," he says, nodding to Kyra. "There are... poorly defined lines here, and I'd rather stay far away from them than risk getting dirty." If there's anything of Slater left in whatever god-awful husk is serving as his body, then using magic on him to try and fix him, no matter how well-intentioned, could be a violation of the Laws of Magic. And that's not /even/ getting into the issues inherent to reversing a process which he knows nothing about.

Inga has posed:
As Inga sits up it is clear her nose is also bleeding. She wipes it on her cloak, her hands still trembling. She nods to Kyra and Kotone, both are trying to help. "I will be fine...it will pass," she assures them.

A few deep breaths are taken before Inga reaches for her staff, and with Kyra's aid gets to her feet. Inga looks toward Riva, nodding. "I have seen it...I think I know where to go," she says.

Her gaze turns next to Shirou. "The artifact? I'd think you'd know it. Caledfwlch," she says quietly. "But it seems people have taken to calling it Excalibur."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "Excalibur?! ... that's what that name means?!" Shirou turns gapey pretty fast, eyes also wide! Yeah, he knows what 'Excalibur' is.

    Although he's yet to lay eyes on the one from his world...

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan is lost in his thoughts. This opens up quite a few avenue that they can take to explore. He's new here, yet this mystery is starting to intruige him.

     His attention perks up at the mention of Excalibur. "The sword?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is recovering a bit and she nods in agreement to Emiya then she looks back to Ainsley and then to Johnny.

"I say we do look for him one way oranother we need to find out if he can help we need it. IF he's befallen a ... horrible fate we can't leave him to suffer, right?"

There are other people who might be able to help Joe if he's still home as it were but that's for the likes of Loros or Iianor.

"...Wait Excalibur?! The blade of Arthur Pendragon the one true King of the British Isles?!"

She looks to Soan for a moment.

"Yes, it's a legendary weapon whose story has endured for over a thousand years... on a large number of earths from what I know."

Jimmy Wen (606) has posed:
     "I find it hard to believe that King Arthur's sword could have /anything/ to do with... well, this." He gestures a hand to the hellish deadscape that is Kingsmouth. "Then again..." He rubs his chin. "I might need to brush up on my mythology, but didn't Arthur lose the sword because he let Camelot disintegrate, in a sense?"

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
"The Buzzing," Wuyin starts, and then stops. He takes hold of the railing and pulls himself to his feet. "It... they," he says, "are an entity or entities that collect knowledge. They choose to sometimes impart portions of it upon us. Their methods are not very gentle." He peels seaweed off of him in a couple places, tossing it over the side. "I suspect they have a hard time understanding people."

He looks around at the group. "There are numerous sewer accesses on the street. The road near the Agartha portal leads towards the Academy, though it's a bit of a hike. Excalibur..." He trails off. Wuyin looks to Riva. "...sounds more like a Templar object to keep track of, doesn't it?"

Inga has posed:
Inga leans on her staff, hands folded at the top of the sturdy oak. "Initiate the Caledfwlch frequency" she repeats. "That is the name of the sword wielded by King Arthur--that is what it was called in my time. An artifact found...yes, Excalibur," she replies. Shirou and Inga sure will have a story for Bedivere and Saber now.

Another deep breath. "It is not likely that he can be save...but we can at least try to put him out of his misery," she says, she is quite sure at this point that it would be a kindness.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    This is a somewhat awkward subject for Shirou but he answers Jimmy, "I don't know about this world, but the story I know says that after the battle of Camlann, the dying Arthur entrusted Sir Bedivere with the task of returning Excalibur to the Lady in the Lake. The sword's a treasure of the fairies... a great holy sword. There's no way it would be responsible for this! ... There's got to be more to it than that..."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Well, Shirou, it could work differently here." Kyra points out, slightly hesitant, "Fairies aren't exactly the /nicest/ bunch. Maybe they put a curse on the sword to make people that steal it turn into walking sea life." She adds after a moment of thought, "Or maybe we're reading the words of the bees wrong at that moment..? They do get kind of confusing."

Inga has posed:
"We have learned much today, but there is still much to unravel," she replies. "The sword has something to do with this--what, we do not yet know. We must speak to Joe Slater...we must visit this Academy...but first, I think, perhaps we should rest," she says with a sigh.