6404/FATE: The Truth Is Out There

FATE: The Truth Is Out There
Date of Scene:	26 February 2019
Location:	Moraby Drydocks, Eorzea
Synopsis:	N'raha and Inga meet with a mysterious machinist and help put down a mysterious beast of mystery.
Cast of Characters:	N'raha Tia, Inga, 6926

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N'raha Tia has posed:
    FATE: The Truth Is Out There
    Type: Notorious Monster
    Location: Middle La Noscea
    Threat: Medium

    Middle La Noscea is abuzz following sightings of the Chupacabra-a dog-like creature rumored to drink the blood of virgins. Is the beast real, or just a legend!?

    The call goes out from the Yellowjackets, and local adventurers are being asked to come to the Moraby Drydocks to help handle a frightening situation. Apparently a local porter has shrugged off the pursuit of a monstrously large jackal, who's even now bearing down on the entrances of the Drydocks, and threatening anyone who gets close.

    For his part, Raha is sitting atop his chocobo at the gates of the Drydocks, just waiting for backup to arrive. He holds a spotting scope up to an eye, looking down into the valley where an angry bunch of mean looking feral doggos are milling about, busily chewing on some sheep that wandered away from their herd and too close to the pack. "I dunno Inga, I'm not sure if we just want to cast the big spells on them. We're awfully close to the town and we don't want to rile up... other things."

Inga has posed:
Inga is seated behind N'Raha, looking out toward the Drydocks with a crease between her brow and a slight frown upon her lips. She motions for the scope and takes a look through it, watching the monsters thoughtfully.

"I agree. I think perhaps we should try to lead them away before attacking," she comments, reaching over to give the chocobo a little pet. It's the strangest mount she's ever ridden, but it is actually pretty adorable...

Laina Reliah (6926) has posed:
     The Yellowjackets' call did not go unheard. A second Miqo'te joins the pair of adventurers, silently standing behind them and peering over at the pack of jackals. Dressed in baggy cloth and wearing a face-concealing gas mask and goggled, she quietly stares, analyzing the distant beasts as she quite rudely eavesdrops on the conversation going on in front of her.

     "Or set up traps and herd them into your minefield," Laina suddenly interjects. She simply stands behind the chocobo and watches the dogs, arms crossed. "Then finish off the survivors with magic. Minimize danger and maximize confusion for the beasts."

     Laina spoke as if she had been with the pair the whole time, apparently latching onto them for the time being. Kinda creepy, to be honest...

N'raha Tia has posed:
    The catman in the green suit looks back a bit to Inga, and murmurs. "Yeah, that's a good idea. I'd rather not get too frisky too close to the drydocks, and..."

    And then he's interrupted by a rather shady looking machinist or artificer or something. Someone cosplaying as a goblin at least. "Oh. Oh hello there. Nice to have some backup." He pokes himself in the chest. "I'm Raha, this is Inga. You've got traps then? Hmmmm." He pulls the reins on his lime green chocobo, who warks and shuffles a bit so he can look at the ladycat more easily. "That sounds promising too." A jerk of his head. "Lets at least head down there and say hello."
    He dismounts the bird, and holds out a hand for the seer. "You know me, I'm here to stick between the danger and the smart people."

Laina Reliah (6926) has posed:
     "Laina," comes the muffled response from the goblin wannabe. She reaches for her belt, pulling a few devious looking devices from her person and holding them up. At least one of these could be easily identified as a sort of leg trap. "I've got whatever you need."

     She stands aside as the pair of adventurers dismount, scanning the terrain. "I could set something up while you two go say hello, if you'd like. Though there's always the option of running in guns and swords blazing, if that's what you prefer. I have a preference, but..." She shrugs. "I'm not picky."

Inga has posed:
Inga raises an eyebrow at his choice of words, then chuckles.

Inga blinks and turns, looking toward the other Miqo'te in mild surprise. "Good day," she greets after Raha does the introductions. From the looks of her, she's definitly a mage of somekind. She wears a long cloak over a blue woolen dress, a staff tucked behind her in the saddle. "That sounds like a solid enough plan. We could attempt bait perhaps...I've a bit of raw meat in my pouch. That, or use the bird to herd them."

"And what of this Chupacabra? I hear it is drawn to the blood of virgins. That might be more difficult."

N'raha Tia has posed:
"Well I'm not sure it exists, frankly. And a big pack of wild dogs is trouble enough." The catman is going to leave the comments about virginity and Inga well enough alone. He's smarter than that.
    Raha huffs a bit and conjures up the Bravura from his inventory, the massive axe slinging over his shoulder. "I'd appreciate that, Miss Laina. Just make sure you're not putting them right where we're going to walk. Though, I'm sure you know bombs and stuff, so." He taps his suit, the cloth somehow clanking a bit like armor. "Right, let's go say hi."

    And with a jaunt and a flick of his tail, the catman starts to head down the road, whistling merrily in order to draw maximum attention.

Inga has posed:
Inga isn't sure why she couldn't keep riding, but dismounts with the offered hand and follows after N'raha, leaning on her staff to offset her limp. She generally stays a bit behind anyway. "So, is the idea to get them to chase you? Because I think perhaps I can make that work," she says, reaching into the pouch at her side.

She pulls out a mysteriously fresh piece of raw goatmeat and just sort of....slaps it on Raha's shoulder. "Well, go and get them. I'll steer them toward the traps if there's any stragglers," she informs him with a smile, then waves bye bye.

Inga then finds a good vantage point, ready to cast her spells.

Laina Reliah (6926) has posed:
     "Just don't step between the bushes," Laina retorts as she calmly walks towards the bushes in question, quickly distancing herself from the other Miqo'te and his friend.

     Once she reaches her chosen area, she drops to one knee, keeping an eye on her current partners and their targets, counting the dogs in the pack. "Three leg traps... maybe two gas bombs?" she murmurs to herself. "I probably should have told them about these, but..." She glances at the pair in the distances again. "They'll be fine." The machinist goes about digging her holes and setting her traps. Once finished, she raises a hand, holding a thumb to the sky for the pair to see. They'd know where to lead the beasts if they needed her help.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Splat goes the meat, and Raha just looks to Inga with a flat sigh as the juices stain the suit a little bit. "Now I'm going to have to re-glamour this, you know." There's no actual grump in his voice though, just mild annoyance. That said, he gives a thumbs up to the girls, and approaches the dogs.

    And it's as he's approaching that The Howl starts up. One of them has spotted the cat that smells like dinner, and there's some excited yipping and snarling from the pack. Raha slaps his chest with his fist and yells. "That's right. DINNER. Come on you lot, come and eat me, you know you want to!" He swings the axe down in a swat, energy raking from the swing to harass and harry the front of the pack... which all start to amble down the road at the Warrior of Light, who hrks. "Ah. Damn, I think... oh." Now that he's close, they're actually a lot more of them than he thought. "Right, uh." Another swing, this time to knock down one of the first dogs to make it to him, and he yells. "Ah geez, Inga! Laina!" He turns on his feet, tail bristling out as he throws the meat at the first of the pack, and starts running for Laina's trapped position.

Inga has posed:
Inga raises her staff once the pack starts after Raha, not intending to let him be overwhelmed. Who do you think she is?! A bolt of lightning strikes down from the cloudless sky above, smashing into a couple of the beasts to give Raha a little breathing room as he runs, steering the creatures toward where Laina had marked.

Another bolt of lightning crashes down behind the pack, to keep them running instead of wandering off back toward the settlement. Once they're well away, they can stop worrying so much about collateral damage.

Laina Reliah (6926) has posed:
     Laina shakes her head as she watches the other Miqo'te work his magic. Well, she couldn't exactly say he wasn't doing what he said he was going to do. They were being led directly to her after all. Laina dropped to one knee at the edge of her trap zone, drawing a small revolver from her belt and resting it atop her thigh. She waited, patiently watching Raha close in on her position as Inga worked with him to herd the canines closer, until...

     "Dive!" she shouted at the man, raising and aiming her gun directly at one of the bombs she had laid. The moment she was sure he was clear and she heard one of her leg traps snap, she fired her gun. There were two quick /BANG/ noises as her bombs exploded, filling the area with a sickly yellow-looking gas. It stuck to everything, the plants, her clothes, and more importantly, the jackals... who looked like they were not having a good time. The gas singed and burned their fur and skin, slowing the beasts down significantly. Laina backpedaled, slipping out of the gassed zone. "All yours!" she shouted at her companions. "Clean 'em up!"

N'raha Tia has posed:
    The first bolts of lighting smash into the back of the pack, as Raha leads them down a road into the underbrush where those traps are set up. And he wisely swings wide of the bushes, which is good.
    The first lightning bolt swats at the back of the pack, there's anxious yelping and more movement, away from the bolts. And it's as he clears the first pack of bombs that the jackals start having a really rough day. It's just as bad as a Bane'd Bio, isn't it? The mez hits the pack who stagger and stop chasing Raha, milling about and trying to yip and roll around to get this awful thing to stop hurting them. One or two start to move out of the cloud though, and charge at the warrior. Raha adjusts his now bloodstained tie, and swings his axe down into one of them, swatting it to the dirt. The other one yelps, skids to a stop, and starts to run away, howling the whole way.

    Raha smiles, and straightens up, about to do a nice little victory pose, when the howl is returned. Only much louder and much deeper and much more discordant. And out from the trees emerges a jackal the size of several chocobos, teeth dripping with poison, gaunt and angles and muscles and bones and that's it.

    The Chupacabra.

    Raha's tail droops. "Ah hells." Because now it's charging him. The catman barely has time to get his proper guard up before he's knocked to the ground, a bite being taken out of his shoulder.

Inga has posed:
The gas is certainly a surprise. She's glad she's still at a distance! Perhaps the mask should have clued her in, but one never knows what the fashion is some places...

Inga pulls her cloak up over her mouth just in case a bit of the gas drifts her way, and continues casting. Is the gas, perhaps, flammable as well? Well, worth a shot. Making sure Raha isn't near the cloud, she sends a burst of flame into the area to see what happens.

But then it appears. The beast of the legend. The actual Chupacabra. It's big, it's ugly, and it's after N'raha.

Inga blinks quickly, looking toward N'raha in surprise "Seriously?" she says to herself, then tucks her staff into her elbow to draw her knife.

Until this point, she could have perhaps passed for a mage of this world, throwing elemental based attacks. Now, she brings her knife to her arm and slices through the skin, blood rising into the air and wooshing off toward N'raha as a shimmering cloud of crimson and gold. Healing spell.

Inga moves in, though she'll try to stay out of melee range. Hopefully Laina has some more tricks up her sleeve.

Laina Reliah (6926) has posed:
     Laina smirked as she watched the pack of jackals quickly fall apart under the trio's combined onslaught, giggling softly as the witch's fireball ignites her gas and lights the rest of the dogs aflame. That was easy! It was surprising how well the trio were synergizing. The job was over before it had begun.

     Then the a howl reminded her that the pack of little monsters was just a side-mission.

     She turned and cursed as she saw Raha get a chunk taken out of him, backpedaling once again to get some distance between her and the beast. Her momentum sends her to the ground, landing on her back as she draws yet another weapon from her back. The rectangle-on-a-stick unfolds, parts shifting and sliding until it reveals a much larger weapon than her dinky little revolver: a magitech rifle, complete with a scope. She lays on her back, propping the barrel of the gun up with her knee to help her aim at the Chupacabra. She fires a shot at its leg, more trying to distract it than anything else while she tries to think up a plan.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    "AAAAHHHHHHHHH!" That's N'raha who's being used as a chew toy. Not that there's a lot of damage being done just yet, because as that bite lands, the glamour on Raha's armor fails ,and what's left is a warrior of light in shining crimson armor, half his body in the jaws of the Chupacabra. He snarls and flails, the healing spell rousing him and warding off the poison, as he wheels around and starts to beat the doggo in the snout with his fist. "LET ME GO YOU MONGREL." Bap bap.

    The shot in the leg from Laina gets the giant jackal to yelp and drop its toy though, Raha falling to the ground with a crash as the beast circles a bit, trying to find whatever just stung him.
    That at least gives Raha a chance to rach up and smack at it properly with his axe, the flat headed swing blasting the Notorious Monster with a wave of energy, and building up Raha's ANGRY.

Inga has posed:
Inga looks toward Laina to see her switching weapons to a more sinister looking gun. While she doesn't really understand guns herself, she has come to have a very healthy respect for them, and that one looks wicked. "Good shot!" she calls to Laina.

Despite Raha's chew toy status, Inga is fairly certain they will have this well in hand soon enough. Especially now that Raha is free to use his axe. The Odin-fury has started to build.

Still bleeding, she figures why waste it? With a flick of her knife another cloud of blood goes rushing into the melee, this time toward the beast. This cloud does /not/ heal. Indeed, it burns terribly, like a corrosive acid. Hopefully this will not draw its anger entirely in her direction.

Laina Reliah (6926) has posed:
     "Shit shit shit shit shit." Laina scoots away from the monster as fast as her rear end could carry her, then rolls onto her belly and pushes herself to her feet. "Shit shit shit." She patted her belt looking for any one of her toys that could help against something so huge.

     She turns just in time to watch Inga's magic have a similar effect to her favorite gadgets. "Haha! Nice!" she shouts, finally palming a glass orb full of liquid at her belt. She could tell that the cloud was burning the creature, so she might as well help.

     Laina threw the glass orb. It shattered against the beast's side, letting free another cloud of thick yellow gas that stuck to the spots that Inga's spell burned, compounding the debilitating effect.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Another THWACK from the Warrior, as Raha shakes out his arm and glares up at the Monster Dog. "You, my friend, are ugly and unwanted. I don't think you're even a PROPER DOG." The words echo out from his helmet, as the visor goes down, the axe comes up, and Raha spins in the air to land a twirling chop at the flank of the Jackal.
    It's enough to distract the best from the sudden assault of Acid Blood and Turbo Poison. The corrosive substances seep into the creatures skin, peeling it away in bits and... and underneath is roiling angry bad stuff, raw black bile dripping in clumps from the wounds that are building on the creature. Raha notices it at least, and calls out. "Not a dog, it's a voidsent!" He takes two steps in, and places himself more firmly between the Chupacrabra and the ladies.
    Which is good, because it prevents the critter from making a charge at the two of them, Raha stumbling back as he levers his axe into the way of the Beast. "No. NO. BAD. STAY."

Inga has posed:
N'raha's announcement of the creature being a voidsent is met with a furrowed brow. That is a term she hasn't heard before, but she is fairly sure she can understand on context, especially as N'raha's protective instincts kick into overdrive. Void sent. Sent from the void. Sent from ....Outside.

Inga's eyes narrow. The air around her begins to crackle, her hair rising. The runes along her staff come to life, shining blue-white as she reaches to touch a hammer shaped amulet around her neck, whispering a prayer or an incantation.

The sky grows darker and thunder sounds. "By Thor's name be slain!" she cries, and the bolt of lightning that crashes down now makes the previous bolts look like static electricity, the anima charged lightning slamming straight into the dog-like creature.

Laina Reliah (6926) has posed:
     With the beast focused on the warrior, Laina drops to a knee and takes aim, grunting. "Right, because something that sucks blood isn't good enough. Instead, we have to deal with a voidling. Great. Fun. So much fun." Even through the gas mask, anyone who could hear her voice can hear the sarcasm dripping from every word.

     Laina closed her eyes, shielding her self from the brightness of the lightning strike. Only when the light faded did she open her eyes again, quickly searching for and finding the charred line where the electricity had traveled down its body and firing another shot right into the weakened area.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    If there's one thing that Warriors of Light and Chosen are good at, it's beating the piss out of Voidsent and Primals and other Otherwordly things. Which is good because this howling mad beast is rapidly being broken in half.

    The lightning strikes sizzle and crackle and deafen and stun the Chupacabra, the massive dog-thing snarling as it crumples to a knee and snaps annoyedly at Raha, desperately trying to score some hits from its weakened state. But it's no use, really.
    Not with the concentrated fire from the Machinist. Not from the brute force of the catman interposing himself with the beast. Not with the efforts of three trained adventurers.

    And with a howl, a mournful noise that carries on the wind, there's a critical moment where one of those bullets peforates the beast completely, a burst of white light and dark ichor flaring out of the other flank of the creature, when it crumples entirely, and starts to fade into ugly black haze.

    Raha staggers, and falls to a knee, breathing heavily. "....And that... is how... that works."

Inga has posed:
The electricity dispered, Inga lets out a heavy breath and watches as their combined effects destroy the voidsent, or send it back to where it came from. "Well done," she says to them both. Another blood-magic fueled healing spell is sent Raha's way before Inga looks to Laina, giving her a quick scan for injuries. Luckily, they both seem unharmed. Raha did his job well.

Inga then produces a waterskin, offering it to Raha once he's caught his breath. "Well, I guess it was real," she remarks. "What exactly is a voidsent, however?" she asks.

Laina Reliah (6926) has posed:
     The machinist lets out a soft, long breath, lowering her rifle. She folds up her gun again, shaking her head as she stands. "We were told about a giant jackal, not a voidsent," she murmurs. The Miqo'te walks forward, watching the blaze haze slowly dissipate in the air. "That's gonna jack the price up a bit."

     She turns to face Inga, pondering the question for a moment, then shrugs. "To tell the truth, I'm not an expert. I just know they're bad and Black Mages tend to have more run-ins with them than others. I think. Not one hundred percent sure."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Raha shuffles a bit, rolls his neck under that helmet... and with a flash of energy, that tie and jacket is back. He sighs, and adjusts said tie. "Hnnnn. Pretty much what it says on the outside. Stuff that's conjured up from outside of the star. Favored tools of some of the nasties out there like the Ascians and whatever garbage the Allagans leave behind."
    With a huff, he sinks down to a squat and looks up at Inga and then... Laina. There's a mild casting of his gaze up and down the girl, but it's hard to judge too much under that outfit of hers. Or the gas mask. "Nice to see fellow miq's taking up the adventuring banner."

Inga has posed:
Inga frowns, nodding. "I guessed as much. I wonder who called it, if that is the case. Unless they occasionally just come to call randomly," she says, leaning on her staff lightly.

"I don't know that you'll be able to convince them to pay more, but you may have my share if you wish," she offers with a shrug.

Laina Reliah (6926) has posed:
     "Mm." Laina grunts at the woman, leaving her answer intentionally vague as to whether she would take her share or not. She nods at her, then at Raha. "It pays for my food. I'd lie around and eat nothing but bread if I feasably could, but there's no money to be made there." She shrugs as she walks back into the bushes, carefully collecting the tools of her trade. "But the help is always appreciated. Not sure if any of us could have done that ourselves."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Raha grumbles a bit at Laina. "Man, I get THAT. Food and money is... well. You can be happy without them, but they do solve lots of promlems, don't they?" He sighs, and bounces a bit in his squat a moment, before rising up again, and popping his back with a feline stretch. "And... well. Inga, you've tangentally met one of the Ascians, so you know what they're capable of."
    A look to Laina though, and he thumbs up. "I mean ,I MIGHT have been able to but that's because I cheat at things." A little sly grin, and a swish of his tail.

Inga has posed:
Inga nods her understanding. "Well, I think we worked pretty well together, all considered. Perhaps we should stay in touch. We can take on bigger issues together," she proposes.

Inga nods to Raha, pursing her lips. She's sure they'll hear from the Ascians again. That's not a problem that is likely to just go away.

"Heh, he might have been able to but then he'd need me to put him back together again," she teases.

She's going to leave the blood of a virgin thing alone. For now.

Laina Reliah (6926) has posed:
     "Who doesn't cheat?" she mutters, turning to Inga as the woman speaks. "Agreed. We may be able to call on each other sometime in the future. I wouldn't mind having a few compatriots to help out."

     Laina takes a longer look at Raha, staring from behind her mask, then nods. "Mm. I think he would need more than just a few spells to put him back together. He was a chew toy for a few moments there."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    "Well, maybe." A smile again at Laina, before Raha whistles for his big green chocobo again. "Then again, Hydaelyn looks after her own, so." A shrug. "Who's to say on that one. I am very grateful you were here though. You helped make short work of everything. I'll put in a good word with the Jackets."
    The big green menace warks up to Raha and Inga, and the catman holds out a hand to help his seer friend up and into the saddle.

Inga has posed:
Inga laughs lightly. "Well, my healing spells are pretty robust--and he's tougher than he looks," she adds with a chuckle.

She takes the offered hand and clambors a bit awkwardly into the saddle behind him. "Shall we go collect our payment?" she suggests. That's how it works, right?

Laina Reliah (6926) has posed:
     "Right." Laina put her traps on her belt, nodding. "I still say we negotiate for more, considering the inherent and unknown danger we just faced. Then again, we are dealing with the Yellowjackets. That might not go anywhere we want it to..." She looks to Raha. "What do you think?"

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Raha laughs, and nods. "To Limsa, then. We'll go harass the Admiral then. I think she'd honestly be... anxious to hear about a voidsent so close to the Drydocks."
    A look to Inga as she hops on, and he saddles up as well. "We'll meet you there, I've got to handle some stuff here?"

Inga has posed:
Inga raises a brow and gives a small shrug. "Yes, we'll meet you there. It's been a pleasure meeting you Laina," she adds, reaching over to pet the pretty green chocobo. She wants one, that's plain. "Who's a pretty bird, oh yes its you," she says quietly.

Laina Reliah (6926) has posed:
     Laina nods as she starts on her own way, simply walking towards the city with her own two feet. Like a savage. "I will meet you there. Hopefully before negotiations for our pay have begun. I don't think my preferred method of arguing would endear me to the Admiral." She nods at Inga, a slight smirk carrying in her voice. "A pleasure to meet the pair of you as well. It was a joy to see how well we synergized."