1675/Assault on Goblin Mountain

Assault on Goblin Mountain
Date of Scene:	27 February 2015
Location:	Tenadran Lands
Synopsis:	Tshallandria enlists the aid of Kirito and his allies to deal with a growing threat...
Cast of Characters:	Kirito, 20, 73, 216, 584

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Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    As soon as you arrive within the Empire... ...You're greeted by a pair of harried looking functionaries that practially seem to be propelling everyone towards a nearby portal as if by magic. "Lady Kirito!" "Adventuress Kirito!" "Good to see you again!" "Yes. Good to see you again!" "But you're a bit late!" "Yes a bit late." The two look at each other and nod, before practically propelling him and the rest of you through the porthole.

    Once you make it through ... on your own or otherwise ... You end up outside a somewhat well appointed pavillion guarded by a pair of six winged, overly handsome looking archangels. The pair blink at Kirito, squint for a moment, then turn their gaze on Fredrica, Squint for a moment again, and then repeat the process yet again with Toph and Dastan, before they come to attention. "Lady Kirito, and party." The one of on the left salutes, before the one on the right opens the giant tent-errr... Pavillion, and gestures inside. "Lady Kirito and party have arrived, Lady Tshallandria!"

    There's a pause, before a man in red-platemail steps forward, and gestures you all inside. "C'mon. The Lady's waitin'. So is War and rest."

    For those that take a moment to look around before stepping inside, You're in the middle of a huge well provisioned army encampment, filled with just about every kind of race possible. Looking up, there's what could be a floating island about five miles above... ...It's sort of hard to see against the sunlight. (if you're looking to find something in specific, mention it in your pose.)

    If you look off in the distance, there's what appears to be a blighted mountain poking up over the tops of the tents, and heads of dragons, of this particular encampment.

    Toph would probably notice that the earth here feels kinda strange. Like it's way too solid for a good three miles in every direction around the camp ... and a bit beyond.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The people who decided to join Kirito for this mission seems like a colourful bunch... and one of them seems to be having a tough time keeping herself from laughing. Blind she might be, but Toph Beifong is more perceptive than many seeing people, mostly due to her unique way of seeing the world around her. And her seismic sense can easily tell that Kirito's Avatar is indeed male. And no, she isn't about to correct all the people who refer to him as a lady. Instead she seems to be biting the inside of her lower lip, only occasionally letting out a brief sound as if she's got something in her throat.

    No laughing now. She can do that later.

    As they make their way to the lady the earthbender does indeed notice the peculiar quality to the earth here. Why, she even stops and crouches, her fingers touching the ground as she narrows her eyes. Why is it like this? For now she keeps quiet about this fact. There is another thing she should alert the others about however.

    "I can feel something big moving underground in the distance... and there are also many of these goblins." Her expression is serious as she turns towards the others. "Too many to count."

Dastan (584) has posed:
    Dastan looks this way and that as he arrives, Farah too. They both seem quite unfamiliar with this place. "...Feel?" Dastan asks, "I'm not familiar with that kind of power. You're very odd, did you know that?" he notes, which earns him a slap upside the head from Farah. "Be kind, we don't know how many people there are in this place, or what kinds. You may be the odd one." she notes, as Dastan sighs. "Fine, fine." he says, "We'll help, where are the goblins?" he asks, his hand moving slightly in an almost ancient equivalent of a twitchy trigger-finger.

Kirito has posed:
    Kirito's not even going to BOTHER correcting everyone this time around. But the look on his face is a combination of bemused and aggravated. The boy's stress is building up thanks to this avatar. he's going to either explode it in some way on a friend with mischief or maybe in battle soon, hard to say...

    But through the porthole he goes with the others.

    Only when they reach the pavilion does he finally correct the locals. "By the way... I'm a guy!"

    The boy's face is broody indeed. He's not looking forward to this and now feels bad that he's brought people to something he's not really looking forward to. Especially someone reluctant like Toph. Should he have asked her not to come?

    Strategy and tactics is decent enough when it's a game, but with lots of consequences and possibly trauma in the future awaiting... He grits his teeth momentarily.

    But then Toph says something that gets him on edge. "Something big, UNDERGROUND?"

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Frederica is here because of Kirito. Only not BECAUSE of Kirito, because he's just a friend and all that and can surely take care of himself, but because of him nonetheless. Only he'd better not think she'd actually go out destroying monsters just for him! Because this is definitely NOT personal and she's so not here for Tshallandra either! She's here because she's willing to do what's needed, and that's all!

    With that all straightened out, everywhere but within Frederica's head anyways, she's actually here and ready. The little pyrokinetic woman is in her human form, apparently not dressed for combat. Skirt and boots, light blouse and hood thrown back. She looks more suited to a dance than a fight. But then again, by now she's probably well-known among Confederates, and easy enough to recognize even if Tshallandra has only met her not-in-the-flesh, as it were.

    "Let's go." Frederica says, gesturing ahead to Kirito. "Ladies first?" she teases, smirking. "Don't worry. I'm here to fight and I'll do... whatever is needed. I was considering, what if we were able to drive the Goblins out of their caves? Would that help?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Dastan's comment earns a little huff from Toph, though she doesn't look offended. "I'm not odd, I'm an earthbender. I can sense the earth. And the goblins are over there," she states firmly and points in the direction where she can feel all the movement.

    The suggestion from Frederica earns a nod from Toph. "Driving them out of their caves would probably make it easier for you guys to fight. For me it would be easier to go underground..." Unless those big things she feels can manipulate the earth as well, then it might not be a wise idea.

    "Yes. Underground. I can't pick up exactly what it is from this distance, but it should be clearer as we move closer," she explains. "Some of them are above ground too, but the big things are underneath."

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    Both of the archangels sort of blanche, "Ahhh... Errrmmm." The one of the left remarks coherently, the one on the right blinks, and gazes at Kirito again, "Oh. Oh. So you are. We apologize you just... ...Must have come into contact with a cursed item or something." He coughs and gestures inside.

    Tolmare the man in the red platemail just snorts. "You guys should be used to the androgynous adventurers by now. She's the patron of ALL of 'em you know?" He snorts and steps inside...

    And when you do, the first thing you'll probably notice is that it's a lot larger on the inside then it is on the outside, the second is that every square inch of it is covered in illusion, an image of a large, sickly looking mountain in the center of what looks to be a circle of green, and a battlefield between the two. ...In fact if you look at it, there are even a large number of green dots, surrounding the mountain at various points, like for instance, one command tent. Concentrating on any one point, causes it to zoom in on that area.

    Meanwhile, Tshallandria is talking with another ... important looking Archangel in platemail. "Our special forces are here now, War. It should make things a lot more efficient, with a lot less causualties. We still have a large number of reserve forces yet to apply and--" She pauses and looks at the group, "Welcome. Those who adventure here in my name." She tilts her head and continues, with a slightly amused expression on her face, "Though it be somewhat reluctantly."

    She pauses and looks at Frederica before she nods, "Yes. The majorities of our casualties are going to come from rooting them out of their caves, where they could ambush our forces, or bring down portions of the mountain on our army." She gestures at the scene, "We do appreciate this a great deal... Simply because those who die here will be put back in the cycle of reincarnation, doesn't make any deaths easier on their families."

    She gestures at the archangel, "Move over to the third front War and direct things from there. Tolmare, take the second and back up Ankarra. I'll speak with the adventurers alone. I'm sure they have more questions."

    Her lips pull into an involuntary smile, "I know I always did."

Dastan (584) has posed:
    "My condolences." the Prince says, "Losing family is... Difficult. Such is war however, I suppose. Brutal... Vicious... And for the hell we walk through all the more glorious." he says, clenching his fist. Looking back, he sees Farah facepalming. "You've seen too few wars then." she explains.

Kirito has posed:
    Kirito might just murder something at this rate. Thankfully no allies. He rubs his forehead and shakes his head but brushes off the issue quickly when he steps in with the others... he very quietly asides to Frederica, "Thanks, by the way... I really appreciate the help. Sorry for this."

    But that whispered apology over with, he's quickly awed with the strategic magic in use and quickly glances all around at the tactical map, quickly grasping how it works and glancing it over...

    But he's soon nodding to Tshallandria. "Reluctant sums it up. If there were a miracle answer for this I'd take it in a heartbeat." He solidly and unhappily declares. "... I'm doing this for a few reasons... top of the list being making sure the war didn't muddle with the Aincrad situation." For that he can smile a little, but it's brief.

    Yeah. To him this is paying back a debt.

    When the others start shuffling around, he folds his arms. "Plenty. For starters.... is there any reason you haven't just toppled the mountain? You're pretty earthshaking when you get a running start."

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Familiar with gaming and tactics and all that, Frederica gravitates to the illusion and spends some time familiarizing herself with it idly. Most of her attention's spent on the conversation however... the tactical map is more of a diversion. "I can't flame the entire insides of the mountain." she notes. Not even close. Not from outside, certainly. "We'll have to enter the tunnels, spring ambushes, endure traps." she says. What with Kirito and Toph though, she's not worried. Dastan and Farah however, she doesn't know. And Tshallandra... she doesn't trust.

    "I'm not going to hold my fire back once we're inside." Frederica warns. "I mean sure, I could avoid killing any of them and try to just drive them out, but they'd be just as surely killed by the soldiers. Trying to be merciful here will only increase the number of dead people. They'll have to fight some anyways of course. But ... well, not on my behalf." she concludes. Not looking happy at the conclusion, but at least resolute. She doesn't LIKE killing, but she doesn't avoid it either. It just doesn't leave her happy in herself.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    In they go, and Toph does look confused when they step inside. Her feet take in the surroundings, and she lets Kirito handle the talking for now as he is the leader of this mission thing. When they talk about rooting the goblins out of their caves, Toph can't help but snort. "Leave that to me. I can also prevent them bringing the mountain down," she informs Kirito and Tshallandria.

    Though she does look a bit distrusting of the latter, crossing her arms across her chest. "You know what's up with the earth here? It's different from normal earth."

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    Tolmare, the man in red plate mail snorts at Dastan as he walks out, War however, pauses and gazes at him for a moment, before he shrugs, "Everyone thinks that war and slaughter are glorious at first. Even I did when I was a mortal mercenary. Then-" He pauses, and shakes his head before walking out of the pavillion and taking to the air.

    Tshallandria looks at Kirito for a moment before she nods, "I could. If I wanted the area to be a molten wasteland, or a stormwracked mess for the next trio of decades or so. Doing so also increases the chance that such effects will get out of control, or wash over into other worlds and makes it harder to accomplish other things in the future."

    Her gaze travels to the mountain, "Do you remember what Snarl told you Kirito? The dead merchant chose to pay everyone's price. The goblins out there are being killed in my name, just as you are stepping forward in my name." Her expression is dead serious as she turns to look into Kirito's eyes, "That has it's own effect. It throws them into the cycle of reincarnation, and will give them a chance to make thier own choices in the future, whereas raining hellfire, flooding everything with lava, and turning the area into a blazing ruin... ...Just creates yet another swath of destruction."

    She nods to Fredrica, "You are absolutely correct. We're lancing a giant infected boil, so that limb won't have to be amputated." She frowns slightly, "Besides, I doubt you'd want to save a bunch of goblins who happen to enjoy raiding anything nearby and eating their captives."

    Her gaze travels to Toph and she smiles, "Because the area was riddled with caves, we were forced to ... improvise. So the earth was fused under the encampments and in a ring around the mountain. This should prevent there being escapees that create other such nests." She snorts, "Repeating this in a few hundred years would be expensive and irritating."

Dastan (584) has posed:
    "..." Dastan pauses. "...You're asking me to wipe these creatures out. Completely." he considers something. "...I should feel... Something other than a chill down my spine, right? Glorious battle and all the stories of wars with a complete rout." he notes, as he looks lost in thought. Farah places a hand on his shoulder as she looks up and says, "If you're asking for genocide... We'll have no part of it." to Tshallandria. Looking back to Dastan she then says, "Your heart's in the right place, even if your mind isn't. That feeling is proof enough."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    This doesn't really sound good. And it seems like Tshallandria is intent on having them /kill/ all the goblins. And Toph's distaste of slaughter should be clear on her face where she stands. No, this isn't something she likes. But there are so many of them... and as Toph listens intently to Tshallandria to her words and especially how she says them, the blind girl lets out a sigh. "If they are eating captives... then they will be the ones killing people," she points out to Dastan. Sure, Toph is idealistic, but she isn't naive. It's a harsh truth, and they might not like it. But having people be captured and eaten seems like the worse alternative here to Toph.

    There is something else she feels she needs to inform the one they are working for however... "The earth feels sickly in places too. I don't know just how you did that, but I don't like it."

    The blind girl turns to the others, a pensive look on her face. It might be best to just get this over with. Either way she isn't looking forward to being part of it, but...

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Frederica fixes Tshallandra with what's meant to be a haughty look, but the shadow behind her eyes robs the gaze of any true impact. "I'm not doing this in your name." she states. She's doing it for .... well... that's personal. "I'm doing it because it needs to be done." she finishes, the hauteur mostly drained before it's uttered.

    This is so like Alfheim Online. She can slaughter goblins by the hundreds there. Well, she's not good enough to do hundreds alone, but she's been part of parties that eliminated goblin nests for certain. But she doesn't withdraw. She doesn't glory in this sort of thing, but Tshallandra's right. She wouldn't leave these monsters here to attack farms and merchants and the like. "I don't expect to destroy every last being in the caves." she states. Genocide, even of monsters, sounds ugly. "Just enough so that they're not a threat. If that means coming back in a few hundred years, or even a few dozen, then that's the price of not being complete monsters ourselves!"

Kirito has posed:
    Kirito's gaze is hard but not too fierce while he listens. In the end he ends up nodding. "... To be honest... I figured it had to be something like that. You've always seemed pretty pragmatic!" Kirito exclaims, though there's no masking the reluctance gnawing at him.

    He turns a gloomy look to Farah and Dastan. "I'm not going to try convincing you, because I don't even feel glad about this. But I'll say this. There's nothing morally superior about sparing 3 million monsters who are actively killing everything in their path..." Then a more boyish bit of panic enters his tone and gaze. "If you have a better idea, please say it."

Dastan (584) has posed:
    "Well." Dastan says, "Let's get on with it, shall we?" he asks, drawing his sword as he heads off towards the goblins. "Can't be too hard, they're not exactly hulking battle-monsters of some kind now are they?" he notes, keeping his offhand close to the dagger of time. Farah likewise nocks an arrow and keeps her bow low and ready.

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    Tshallandria looks at Dastan for a moment, her eyes flickering a dull red, "So am I to leave them here to recover? To go back to raiding villages 'for meat', to leave them mollesting merchant caravans? To leave their mess of a mountain poisoning everything as it is right now?" Her gaze travels back to the map, and she gestures to the side, "There are two other goblin nations in this world. None of them have gone this far. Thus, we are leaving them alone. Genocide is a term that doesn't apply."

    Her eyes lose the red glow as she turns to Toph, "This strip of land is the only point of the earth that isn't exhausted. Corrputed." She gestures to the mountain on the map, "They're stripping the land. Exhausting it. Killing it slowly with their own overpopulation." She sighs, "The corruption you feel here, isn't my doing. The corruption you feel here is ... of two of my prime elements. I Can't think of any reason that I'd seek to poison myself, my neighbors, or my own people."

    "I can give you one reason why you should do it in my name." She straigthens and looks at Fredrica, looking her squarely in the eye, "If they die in my name, It gives me a claim to their existence. A claim that I can, and will use to force them into the cycle of reincarnation, rather then simple oblivion." She gestures to the side and points to the mountain, "The beggars in the poorest part of the empire live better lives then they do!" Her lips pull back in a snarl, "I can give them a life with free will. With real choices and a chance at something other then squalor." Her eyes narrow, "Will you take that from them? This is not just extermination. I am the ruler of the heavens, and the hells. If pain in their-" Her lips twich as she uses the term, "-lives- now is the price for a chance at tomorrow, isn't it my duty to give them that, rather then simple oblivion?"

    She frowns as she looks around the room, "Isn't it yours as adventurers?" She gestures at her army, "My people didn't come here to kill. They came here because they choose to be protectors. To stand in the way of harm directed at our people. To die, if death is required, so that their families, so that our people would not have the same price required of them."

    She sighs and gestures at a box of orbs in the corner, "That's an orb of earth and fire. You'd call them explosives. They can be used to collapse the supports of the mountain, and drive the goblins out. If you care not to kill them, then do us that service at least. My people came here willing to kill and to die. They made that choice, knowing the consequences of their actions and inactions. We are all prepared to do as is required of us, and to pay the price in the end, as is just. Make your choices now... For we move shortly."

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Frederica doesn't like it, but Tshallandria makes sense. She's also, reputedly, a relatively decent person. Frederica looks away, unable to meet the other woman's gaze. "Fine." she mutters. "But don't expect me to LIKE it." she says, her words low enough that they could be easily enough missed by anyone not paying attention.

Kirito has posed:
    Kirito wastes no time heading for the orbs and stuffing a bunch into his inventory... after making sure they have SOME form of timers, anyways.

    "Only if there's a really good reason will I use these. Better to have and not need than the opposite!"

    Nothing's shaking him out of the dull mood for what's coming up. but he gives Tshallandria a heavy look over his shoulder, frowning.

    "That's fair in my book. Not fun in the least, but... fair..." He doesn't LIKE calling it fair, either.

    "Next time, problems like these need to be suppressed before they get this bad. There isn't anything else like this out there, I hope! I'm ready to go. Search and destroy with a surprise attack. What are the goblins likely to do once we begin?"

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    Tshallandria stops at the doorway and sighs, "This problem predated our awareness of the region by at least a century. This isn't even part of the territories that we even marginally control. But..." She sighs, "Like Snarl told you Kirito. The merchant that they killed and ate, paid the price. For himself. His people. The goblins and even their old victims. He did no less then what he felt must be done. I will do no less to Honor his choices, those of my people and yours." She smiles slightly and looks back at everyone, "Even if I disagree with them. The demoness of free will, won't argue with those who excercise her greatest aspect. Especially when they take the time to understand their decisions first."

    She gestures, "We'll begin a large outside assault, It will be showy, slow moving, and a giant distraction. After they're distracted, some of our mages will teleport you inside, and well. You'll do what adventurers and heroes do. If any of you tries to slip away... ...Then I'll try and prevent your death as best I can. In fact there are teleport rings that will take you somewhere safe, that you will be expected to bring along with you."

    She gestures at another box nearby, this one filled with equipment, and wardrobe next to it. "This is not a suicide mission. I expect you all to remember that. While I am capable of reincarnating any of you, when you're seriously acting in my name ... getting the race right is often a bit of a challenge, and very imprecise." She smiles slightly, "Plus, it tends to irritate your own afterlives a bit and I'm sure it's unpleasant at points."

    She pauses in the doorway for a moment longer, "Is there anything else, or shall I leave you with the map to prepare?"

Frederica (73) has posed:
    The worst logic is the sort of logic you can't argue with. While Frederica hates the idea of working for a Fed, and of KILLING for a Fed, Tshall's got her boxed in. She can refuse, abandoning her friends in the process, or she can accept and do 'what adventurers and heroes do'. With ill grace, she accepts one of the transport rings and anything else utterly required for the mission. No weapons or armour though. She'll make do with who she is and what she's brought. It's both better than it appears, and well-suited for the task.

    That done, she waits with at least an outward attempt at grace and patience. It helps that she's not particularly eager. Maybe she'll pass the time by bantering with Toph, or by tormenting Kirito...

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    No, she can't say she likes this at all. But what choice do they have? Toph doesn't like the the fact that these goblins are corrupting the earth either. If this continues, then nothing will be able to live here...

    "I don't need any explosives," Toph snorts. "Nor should you. I can collapse the supports of the mountain far better than explosives can, not to mention with less risk to my friends." It doesn't sound like she is bragging either... Her expression is dead serious. "I will do this, but it doesn't mean I will have to like it." With that said the blind girl follows Frederica out. Like hell she plans on dying today, nor having to be teleported out. This is a mountain, which means it's going to be /her/ playground.

    "... if it wasn't for all the lives on the line I would have turned away right now," Toph mutters under her breath to the older girl, a sour look on her face.

Kirito has posed:
    nothing in this is giving Kirito's spirit any happier outlooks on this mess. Even if they win he's not gonna be happy, and worse the people who answered aren't the ones he was hoping for.

    Someone bloodthirsty and glory-mongery would've been fine. They won't be traumatized by what's to come.

    "I'm just ready to get this over with..."

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    Tshallandria leaves the doorway when it becomes apparent that there are no more questions. No more comments. "And if the price hadn't have been paid..." Wings of azure fire, trimmed with red extend from her back and she takes to the air, "...There would have only been ruin and death here." Six intricate magical circles flare around her, "I am bound by will. By no other." There's a sense of hunger in the air, "I am the Demon of Free Will." The first circle vanishes, "I am Goddess of Surpassing All Limitations." The second circle vanishes, "I am the Demon of Battle." The third circle vanishes, "I am the Goddess of Dominion." The fourth circle vanishes, and her wings begin to flare brighter, "I am the Queen of the Heavens." Weapons across the battlefield begin to glow a sullen hungry red as the fifth circle vanishes, "I am the Queen of Hell." The sixth circle vanishes, and the air across the battlefield to be, falls still as her peoples armor begins to flare with beautiful azure light.

    "My people." Her voice is quiet, but it echos across the battlefield with a crushing intensity, "I have no words to tell you how proud I am of you all. You've /chosen/ to come here to champion a cause that isn't your own. Not so that a people may die, but so that they may be reborn." The air above the mountain begins to shimmer and pulse, "So that they may know what you know. So that they may live as you live. I know that ... not all of you will return to our world alive--" She smiles softly, "--but you will return, and be reborn. Know that I will guard your futures and your souls, I will honor you, all of you, as you deserve for this. Let it begin, my people."

    Behind you the map erupts with light, as hundred of thousands of green dots stream towards the mountain, and the battlefield outside erupts with battlecries, cheers and ... less glorious sounds. Above the map in the pavillion, clouds can be seen forming.

    A few minutes after the battle starts, a man in black robes walks inside, and bows to the group of you, "Heroes." His voice rasps, "Tell me when you're ready and I'll teleport you to the mountain."

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Fortunately for Toph, Frederica's not a huggy sort of person. And not one to reach out to someone first, for that matter. Because her comment, about being ready to turn away, is just asking for an armhug. As it is, Frederica smiles wistfully. "I know." she says. "I might have done the same." she agrees quietly. "But it's as Phoenix said to me... she asked me if my flame would be of destruction, or one of preservation. I made my choice."

    There was more to it, of course. A healing flame and a destructive flame are both in Frederica's hands, so to speak. But she walks that line carefully. Destruction only when required to preserve, never for the sake of destruction. So long as she can maintain that distinction, she'll never fall prey to despair. Regret, perhaps... but never despair.

    Of course if she knew what was in Kirito's mind, she might have said more on the subject. Assured him that she doesn't regret having agreed to come along. Instead she just shrugs. "I'll never be any readier." she loftily tells the black robe. "Let's get this over with."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "Then you're better than any firebender I know of," Toph responds to Frederica... and reaches out to punch her in the arm. No, no hugs. Hugs are only for special occasions and with a few select people. The blind earthbender mutters something under her breath again, though it's too low for even Frederica, who is standing next to her, to hear.

    Otherwise the girl remains quiet, listening as Tshallandria speaks to her troops. And when it is time to be teleported to the mountain she speaks to her allies. "I am ready whenever you guys are. Though with that many goblins there I won't be able to tell where you guys are if we get separated. So we should keep in contact by radio... just so I don't unintentionally call down the mountain on you guys." Because that is the last thing Toph wants.

    With all of them ready Toph offers a nod to the man in the black robes, crossing her arms over her chest. Let's get this over with.

Kirito has posed:
    And the operation begins. Kirito has little use for all of this dramatics. he's a guy on a dangerous mission and has to look out for his comrades during a slaughter he cares little for.

    But he stands quiet and respectful, gaze hard as the battle begins.

    So when the man arrives... he just nods to him. "Just do it." If he already has the teleport bracelet he ends up adjusting it on his wrist....

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    The Man in black robes blinks in surprise, "Really? The attack has only just..." He shakes his head then shrugs, his voice still raspy, "You would know best about how much of a distraction you need. So, as you wish." He sticks his staff in the ground and intones a few words, grimaces and intones a few more before a porthole to what looks to be a large cavern covered in ice opens. "There's a-" He pauses when he realizes his voice isn't rasping, coughs once, then starts rasping again, "There's a priest and a paladin there with a few ice devils. If you need healing..." He smiles, "Well. You know where they are. Have fun storming the cas-mountain!"

    He waves, and moves out of the way. ...But if you look back in his direction you'll probably see his robes vanish, and a very handsome looking incubus muttering to himself. In fact it sounds a lot like he just said 'Man I love that movie.'

    Meanwhile on the other side of the porhole, what looks to be a giant field of slime mold, fungus, and other unsavory things has been frozen mostly solid... Look at it too closely and you're pretty certain you can see them growing out of a floor of old bones. There's a very pure sensation from the ice itself, but the fungus and molds have that same sickly taint that Toph could feel outside. Only stronger. The two priests are in heavy plate mail, and they're carrying what could only be described as 'Bigass shields and bigass hammers'. The paladin is in lighter armor, but she has a pair of shortswords at her waist, and a glaive in her hands. "Yo. Heroes." She salutes. "Be careful where you step in this crap."
    She glances down and stamps on one of the fungus stalks shattering it. "They be feedin' it some--Look. Just don' go getin' eaten by it 'kay? Outside of here, this stuff be tryin' to actively kill you. Those bracelets? They be keeping this shit's spores out of your lungs, so don't be takin' em off unless you be teleportin' out." Three horned beings in plate mail, and wreathed with ice and frost nods at her worlds before one of them focuses on and rumbles at Toph, "Earth aspect. Good." His lips twitch and he shakes his head, sending tiny ice crystals everywhere, "We'll leave you to it."

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    In the far distance around the mountains you can hear screams, rumblings and the occasional explosion. Inside the mountain, you can hear what sounds like alarm gongs ringing throughout the caves, and what may be feet rushing everywhere.

Kirito has posed:
    "Thanks!" As if this will be fun! Kirito tries to smile a little for the well-wishing mage, but the moment he's through the portal with his fellows... EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

    Even across FullDive he can tell how much this thing REEKS. "So this is... their garbage dump?!"

    He offers the paladin a friendly wave... and immediately grimaces.

    "So don't remove the bracelets under any circumstance. Got it. You take care too. ... Toph, can you clear us a path through this gunk?"

Frederica (73) has posed:
    "Pff. Of course I'm better than any firebender." Frederica scoffs lightly. Now if only her arm wouldn't hurt. She's ... tough, in some few senses of the word, but in many others she's kind of fragile. And Toph has a punch on her, to be sure!

    The pyro wrinkles her nose at the smell, once they've teleported. Frowning, she considers incinerating the garbage in their way. Probably a bad move. It'd just add ash and smell to the mix, and it's not like they can be too sure of a reliable stream of fresh air. Relatively fresh, anyways. She's not about to waste air on incinerating anything that doesn't strictly need incinerating. "What a lovely place." she says, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I bet you feel right at home, Pebbles!" she adds. Possibly as vicious payback for her throbbing arm.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Is that a groan coming from Toph when the guy forgets to rasp? Possibly. Why, it even looks like she's trying to roll her eyes.

    Toph wastes no time getting through the portal, and she seems to make a face of disgust as she steps onto the floor. "Eeeeewwwwwww....!" Totally oogie! She even lifts a foot and shakes it, a desperate attempt to get the gunk off of her feet. "It's between my toes!" she complains. And the warning from the paladin? "You could have said that sooner!" But yeah, the horned being earns a grunt. "Of course I'm good." She is the greatest earthbender of all time, after all! Kirito earns a nod, and she touches her bracelet briefly. Getting gunk in her lungs is not something she wants. Frederica's comment earns a huff. "I like /clean/ caves, Duchess! Dirt, not gunk!" Besides, her current home is clean. Except the bath tub for when she decides to drag mud in.

    As for Kirito's request?

    "Do you even need to ask?" Immediately she raises her arms, drawing them back... and then she pushes forward with both hands all while she puts her right foot forward. In response the earth shifts, earthen plates turning up and around to clear a path for them all towards the pillar.

    And Toph continues stepping forward, clearing a path for them. "This place is /huge/...!" she states. "And there are so /many/ of them..." It's a good thing they are capable of taking care of themselves, huh? "Don't run off... some places here are really thin. An explosive in the wrong place could cause one hell of a massive cave in," she warns them. "Actually, there are four places here that carry most of the weight." Here the blind girl takes a break to point in certain directions. "There, there, there... and the main pillar that carries the mountain is over there."

    She sighs. "It's too bad that there are goblins practically everywhere here. And I can't bend them from here without risking burying all of us."

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    The Paladin salutes Kirito, "...Yeah. You could be callin' it their garbage dump though I think it be fairer to say that it's a-" She grimaces and you get the impression that she might be looking a little ill behind her helm, "-farm. It's what they be feeding it that be-" Her voice trails off and she shakes her head. "Nobody be comin' this deep into it, not and be comin' out. So we be safe here."

    At Toph's words the ice-devil that spoke earlier raises his left wrist, revealing a bracelet that looks uncommonly like the ones you were given earlier. "We've all got these." He rumbles in his deep voice, "Do you what you have to do. When the mountain starts coming down, we won't be here to be squashed into fungus food." The devil shakes his head again, showering the air with yet more ice crystals, "And remember. We only froze the stuff in here." He grunts and steps contenptously on one of the frozen stalks squashing it with a crunch.

    Toph can probably feel that there are a lot of bones ... and other things above the cave floor. She can probably also feel the toxic runoff from the fungal slurry. However, her plates push out through it, providing a clean path through this room and into the next-

    -Which happens to be filled with more of the gooey-slimy stuff except -- This stuff seems to be slowly oozing across the plates in your direction while slimy tendrils flicker across it's surface, and yellow highlights pulse underneath -- I'm pretty certain that I don't need to tell you what it intends. That said the walls open easily to Toph's gentle touches, and it doesn't take too long to get out of the farms, and into a corridor filled by about a hundred milling goblins, that are rushing towards one of the exits. ...They don't see you yet but...

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Toph gets a smile as her earthbending raises up something to walk on that's not nearly as bad as trudging through the scum and muck. It's a lot better, but it's still pretty disgusting. "I'll have to burn these boots when I get home." she complains. "And I like them." she adds in pure peevishness.

    "Lead the way, Kirito." Frederica directs, taking charge like she was actually the highest-ranked person here. This, Kirito might find familiar. "I'd appreciate it if you stopped any from getting to me. Toph directs us, and seals off anything that might let them come at us from behind. I'll burn dangerous-sized groups, and try to drive them away." she suggests. Or... well, not quite orders. "Toph? If we get to those places you mentioned, we can set the explosives to collapse the caves. Or if it's not too difficult, we can deal with them as they come and not do any harm to the caves... there's not much difference between burning them, slashing them, or having the caves fall in on them. Let's just do this and get out of here as soon as possible."

Kirito has posed:
    The only reason Kirito didn't give more of a descriptive bit of thought on the slime mold's nature is... didn't want Frika grossing out at him. She's hard enough to deal with in normal tsun mode. Don't need angry tsun.

    He casually returns the salute, then stares in awe at Toph's earthbending efforts. He starts crossing the place, but stays near Toph and Frika while listening.

    "Hard to believe that goblins could've dug it all out without causing at least SOME cave-ins. There's probably plenty. That's good to know, Toph. You've probably got a better sense of this place than the map."

    Although he did check over the map and so did Yui in his FullDive connection. So that's handy!

    "Right. And I'll handle anything that gets too close to us. Shouldn't be any problem!"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "I'm going to soak my feet in acid and soap for two weeks..." Toph mutters in response to Frederica. If Frederica likes her boots, then how much does Toph love her feet?

    It sounds like a good plan indeed, and Toph nods in agreement. "I'll focus on my bending, both in keeping tabs on what's going on around us, change the layout to our advantage and to keep us moving directly to the places we need to go." Like hell if they need to struggle to get through the various maze like hallways. As for maps? Toph snorts at the very idea. "I doubt a map could tell you guys just how big this place are. It's a lot to keep watch on, even for me!"

    As they arrive into the next room Toph blinks, and she bends the path for them higher, just to get them away from the slimy tendrils. No, no sense risking those things getting to them! The blind earthbending master keeps on making a path for them as they get out of the farms, though she holds out an arm for the others to wait. "Quickly and quietly!" she hisses, then throws her arms out, opening the opposide wall of the hallway. "They are coming from our left!" And only once she is certain that the others have gotten through will Toph close the wall behind them before she continues, bending her way through the walls towards the closest support pillar. Occasionally she will ask the others to wait, placing a hand on a wall and being quiet as she listens and concentrates, doing her best to get a clear sense of where all the goblins are. And preferably sneak them through to the support pillar without being found. Because there are certain to be goblins around that area... perhaps some of those large things she feels around the area too.

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    The goblins and slime below go streaming past Toph's hasitly and carefully errected barriers, and once again she keeps the group out of mischeif. And cookpots. And slime. And less savory things. Like the occasional pit trap. Boulder trap. And caustic slime trap. ...In fact curving slowly around and through the other tunnels is actually fairly easy given the effor that she's putting into things... ...Not that it's not leaving the occasional incredibly confused goblin in her wake.

    Several of which are gathered outside of one of her newly made tunels tapping at the wall in dismay. "Used to be path here?" "Yes. PATH! WHERE PATH?" "GRAAH! HOW WE GET OUT?!" "ME LOST!" "Wait. That goo-?" "--??" The group turns and stares at a tendril of the slimy goo from one of the other rooms that's managed to slowly circle behind them... ...And for the sake of everyone's appetites, we're going to fade that particular scene to black. Though you can probably hear the screaming.

    Meanwhile all around Toph's path you can hear the stomping and running of goblin feet throughout the mountain... ...It's only a matter of time before they break into the pathway on accident.

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Frederica's not really inclined to wait when Toph says to. It'd be just as easy, she figures, to fling fireballs. But no, that's unnecessary. It's not exactly on the path of preservation to brutally lash out with flame at the earliest possible moment.

    Still, this whole exercise is frustrating and disgusting. So when she hears a group of goblins begin screaming, she turns and stares. "Pebbles... open that path back up." she requests. Then, without waiting, she thrusts out a hand back the way they came and blasts out with a rushing column of incineration. It fills the corridor, and keeps going until it hits an unexpected wall or it consumes its targets.

    That is, of course, neither on the path of preservation nor strictly on the path of destruction. It's mercy, plain and simple. The creatures were going to die, but she had no interest in hearing them scream.

Kirito has posed:
    Again, ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

    Kirito does little to hide his wince. Between the screaming and Frika's efforts, it's all he can do to just keep navigating towards what he figured would be one of the smaller meeting areas. But the screaming is enough to get his gut churning.

    Monsters in SAO and ALO don't usually have serious death wails or screams. Maybe the occasional choking noise or a simple cry, but nothing like this!

    He hasn't even grabbed his weapon yet, but now that changes. He unholsters the beam saber but leaves it unignited. "Better get ready. We don't want them all getting up in arms and starting too much chaos!"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    For the most part Toph is quiet as she works, her expression one of pure concentration on her surroundings and her bending. Quick, simple, all to keep them moving as quickly as possible. If the goblins are focused on the walls and where the paths used to be, then they will be left behind. Getting a response from the earthbender might take an additional moment, though Frederica's request does make Toph turn her head slightly before she sighs. And then does an upward motion with her hand, the wall sliding upwards to open up so Frederica can launch some fire to end the suffering of the goblins. Even if they are going to kill them, it doesn't need to be done in a heartless manner. The wall is closed again, and Toph keeps them moving forward until she finally kicks the ground... and part of the floor lowers!

    Below them is another large hall of the mountain... and right next to them is the support pillar. "You guys better plant those things quickly!" Toph suggests.

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    The wall slides open, and the inferno comes ... But this time the screams are much shorter. Much shorter. ...Though it sounds like something may be still be burning back there as Toph slides the wall shut behind them.

    Meanwhile across that section of the mountain as Toph works her way up it, more and more goblins are getting lost in their own warren... ...Which is starting some fights, some rather enerergetic fights from the sound of things...

    ...And the room that Toph bursts into is fairly ... decorated ... in a sort of a barbaric term. Half eaten skins, tapestries, bones, little bits of shiny metals, furniture, and a goblin staring at the group of you while something in a bowl writhes and burns for a few moments... ...And then is revealed to be thoroughly inert greenish-yellow goo.

    The goblin just stares at you all for a long moment, and maybe two short ones before it grabs it's bowl of glop, lobs it at Kirito and starts yelling. "SURFACERS! IN MY ROOM! ASSASSINS! ASSASSINS! WHERE MY GUARD!? GUARD!" ...It doesn't look like anyone's heard him yet...

Kirito has posed:
    "We weren't going to bring the place down! That'll force them all out into the--" Oh wait they just entered the HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING. or maybe Subchief.

    Kirito makes the most disgusted face at the decorations. He's seen this in games, but this isn't a game...

    And he's so distracted that he almost doesn't spot the bowl of burned glop. Only because of that yell-- "AUGH!"

    So he bats it away somewhat ineffectually, ending up with a gloppy sword arm and a bowl knocked to the ground. Ewwwwwwwww!

    That's now four ewwwwwws, isn't it?

    "Although bringing the whole mountain down seems like a better idea than slugging through this..."

    Facing the goblin he flicks a switch on the little metal cylinder. With a snap-hiss the purple beam blade extends, scorching the air. "Come on! I'll show you how the surfacers feel about you presence here!"

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Frederica has her fire ready, of course. It's always ready, requiring little in the way of coaxing to come to the surface. Kirito is in the lead however, and she can't just fire bolts right through him to hit the enemy. Well okay, she COULD, but that's not really something she thinks appropriate. Besides, she has faith in him. He's not going to lose to anything so silly as a Goblin King.

    "We're not going to bring the whole mountain down." she states dismissively. That would be as bad as what Tshallandria suggested she was unwilling to do. "Just, you know, collapse the warren." she explains. "You keep him busy. I'll figure out how to make things go boom~" Frederica states, almost cheery at the thought of the prospect of destruction... or perhaps at delegating a disgusting job to Kirito.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Damnit, one of them noticed already...?! Toph frowns, then nods at Frederica's suggestion, and she lets Kirito handle the goblin before she focuses on the doors leading into the room. Jumping down onto the floor she lands in a crouch, sending fissures running out all around her... and at the same time thick earthen walls near the doorways leading into the room. "I'll keep them out as long as I can, you guys work on the pillar!" Toph cries before she throws her arms out to bend more earth around the doorways that are now closed off. "I suggest we speed it up from now on, they will know we are here now!"

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    The Subchief pauses for a moment as he notices a certain lack of guards, and a certain presence of giant glowing sword in the hands of Kirito. ...A few thoughts run across his face and obviously collide before he makes a break for one of the nearby clubs on a wall, and then does the suidicadally stupid thing of charging at Kirito and trying to whack him in the kneecaps.

    Meanwhile Toph walls the room off.

    Pretty much putting paid to the idea of ANY of the guards getting in here anytime soon.

    In the far distance the sounds outside are more audible... ...it sounds a bit like something is booming along the outside of the mountain ... and the barest hint of the battles outside are sort of audible... ...But not quite as much as the goblins rushing around inside the mountain trying to get to the battle outside, or the ones that are beating the crap out of each other because someone is OBVIOUSLY at fault if they cant' find their way through this completely navigable and utterly understandable mountain maze of mayhem.

Kirito has posed:
    SO SLOW! The Goblin subchief's choice of weapon though, is so poor that Kirito doesn't even bother clashing with it. Instead... he drops down low, springs forward using one arm and goes swooping OVER the blow - a leg outstretched and all his force behind it to go slamming into the subchief with enough force to pick him right off his feet and go flying.

    Both of them, in fact, for a crashing impact with the throne!

Frederica (73) has posed:
    While Frederica WANTS to help Kirito, she makes no move to toss fire his way. It's less due to the fear of burning him, since she's quite confident of her control at this range. It's more that the people she most associates with Kirito in her past, Kyle and Ageha, would both have frowned on her interfering in a one on one fight as if they were too weak to handle it. Well, unless invited that is. Probably.

    Instead she starts to consider the cavern's load-bearing structures, trying to decide the best way to plant explosives. While she does have a slight education in demolitions thanks to the Union officer school, mostly she's just going by her own destructive talents. That, and careful observation of her surroundings.

    "What do you think, Toph?" Frederica asks. "Right here should work, right?" she suggests, tapping a spot. Observation of her surroundings suggests there's someone here who knows far more about collapsing tons of rock than she ever will. Of course Toph could just do it herself, but with the explosives they were given, there'd be a time delay.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    If you can't trust your comrades to be able to handle themselves, then why go into battle with them? Toph finishes reinforcing the walls she has bent in place to close off the room, and she lets Kirito fight the goblin as she turns slightly towards Frederica. Explosives she knows nothing about, so it's better that Frederica does handle that. But it doesn't mean that she can't help, right?

    The blind girl reaches out with both hands, then yanks them aside to open a spot in the pillar for the psy user to place the explosives in. Which is just where she suggested to place them. It seems like a good place as any to Toph. "I can bend them inside so they don't know what's going on until it's too late, we don't want them to interfere!" Toph suggests.

    And once Frederica has set the charge and prepared it, Toph closes up the pillar again, leaving it looking like it did before. "We have to get going to the next support pillar!"

    And with that the blind girl takes charge again, turning towards the direction of the next support pillar they need to blow up and starting to bend her way through the wall. "They are fighting up there, and the goblins are sure to notice us sooner or later with the walls I bended to keep them away from us!"

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    Whoosh. Kirito can fly! ...At least over dumbass goblins with clubs... Goblins can fly too. Especially when Kirito punts them into a nearby wall.

    The goblin subchief squeeaaalllllss as he goes flying, it's a high pitched noise that ranges somewhere between 'OH GOD WHY' and 'ALL OF THE DOGS JUST COMMITED SEPPUKU'... ...But it mercifully cuts off when he smacks into the wall with a loud thud.

     A moment later one of the chewed animal pelts falls off of the walll and lands on the goblin's head.

    ...Now however ... There are two smaller pillars one major pillar to go.

    How will our intrepid heroines (yes we're including you in that Kirito) reach them?! Stay tuned for the next scene ... starting now!

Kirito has posed:
    Whether the Goblin was silenced from being knocked out or slain, Kirito doesn't quite want to know the answer. He leaps back away from the impact zone and lands near Frika at the tail end of a stunning hair-swishing backflip.

    "Think we can take enough of the place down so we don't have to go through them one-by-one then?!"

Frederica (73) has posed:
    "Who knows?" Frika expresses with a perfectly casual shrug. "But I have no desire to find out. Assuming Pebbles can earthbend us safely to each in turn, I don't mind not incinerating goblins." she claims. Making it sound like, perhaps, she wouldn't mind incinerating them either.

    That voice though, it tells a lie... and her body language is enough to give that away to the astute. After a moment she looks away and shrugs uncomfortably, biting her lip. She doesn't LIKE killing. If it was just her well-hidden gentleness rising to the fore that'd be one thing. It's more than that though. She's afraid of killing. Of becoming someone who would too-easily use her power for destruction. It's too easy to do... but she resists that impulse with a rock-solid will. Better than any mere firebender indeed.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "Of course I can earthbound us safely to each, but we have to be quick about. And quiet so they don't notice us!" Toph urges, then kicks the floor and opens up a tunnel of her own. "I will have to go around their tunnels for the most part, so it will be a rough walk and a detour in places, but it's better than having to fight them all. Not to mention quicker..."

    The reaction in Frederica isn't missed, and Toph narrows her eyes slightly. It's not so weird that the older girl doesn't like killing goblins, really. None of them are in this for the sake of killing. All of them have a severe dislike for it, it seems. All of them are fighting to save lives.

    The blind earthbender begins bending her way through the mountain, this time taking a longer route to avoid the goblin tunnels as much as possible, which means that they sometimes have to go up and down, though at least Toph is able to bend steps for them as she makes a path through the rock and earth for them, headed straight for the second pillar. Hopefully they can get there without anything happening...

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    And the walking XP Pinatas ... Err ... The Goblins appreciate that no killing attitude. Or they would if they knew about it, as much as creatures like they are able at least... But that's the price for standing up for what you believe in, occasionally goblins try to kill you. Or eat you. Or kill you and eat you. Or eat you and kill you. Whatever.

    Toph's passageway is weird, and winding, forcing her to shore up some walls, and block off tunnels seemingly at random to the others. Fortunately, they seem to trust the blind earthbender, because in truth she does know where she's going. Even if a lot of goblins are left confused.

    Unfortionately, when she finally breaks through to the second pillar the air is filled with a thick acrid herbal smoke, on the other hand, the three fur-dressed goblins in the room seem really really out of it as they stare into a bowl filled with incense, herbs and other things ... The pillar is right there.

    "Brrraaaahhhhrrrr..." The first of them looks at Toph, "...A vision of things to come..." The second nods and looks blearily at Kirito, "Must warn the chiefs that adventurers are going invade the mountain!"

Kirito has posed:
    "....Yeah." Kirito agrees with very few words indeed. No, the ords he speaks don't do it justice. The grim expresion he's wearing and lost-sounding tone he's using speak much more readily of how deeply he agrees that, if they can solve this by just collapsing most of the big areas, it's far preferable to doing it the hard way.

    Then the group comes across.... the weirdest-smelling place Kirito's ever been!

    "What the... is this a drug den?!" As before, he's not taking the goblins too seriously... but he distastefully ignites the beam saber again. "Sorry. You'll have to get past us to do that."

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Frederica blinkblinks at the sight of the goblin shamans in their herb-induced vision quest. Then she coughs. Ugh. Holding her hand over her mouth, she shakes her head. "Why bother?" she says. Then wonders how to explain her thought in a way that won't lead to immediate explosions of one kind or another.

    It probably wouldn't work, but these goblins are so stoned they think the adventuring party is a vision. There's probably no end to the things Frederica could say and be believed. Worth a try. "By the time we show up and these goblins know we're here, it'll be TOO LATE for them to warn ANYONE!" she says, nudging Kirito hard from behind. "We can just keep on stealing their... their valuables and stuff! You know, like we've ALREADY BEEN DOING!"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    As she works Toph does her best to get them through quickly, all to decrease the risk of them actually being noticed. Though she also makes sure to make it as easy for Kirito and Frederica to follow her as well. Sadly this means that the space will be small too, and perhaps a bit claustrophic at times. And perhaps rather dark too for somebody who relies on sight. Good thing that Kirito has a sword and Frederica can manipulate fire to give off some light...

    Once Toph breaks through the wall she lands on her feet, and she immediately works on bending the doorways to this room closed as well before the three can run off, throwing her arms forward. And she will leave it to Kirito and Frederica to deal with the goblins while she works.

    And again she also reaches a hand out towards the pillar, bending a hole into it so Frederica can set some charges once they are done dealing with the three goblins.

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    The third stares blearily at Kirito, and then turns to stare at Fredrica, before he starts her words, about ... ten seconds after she says them, "...OH TO THE DEAD GOD! THEY'RE GOING TO STEAL OUR STUFF!" The other two stare at each other, "No! They can't take the holy herbs!" The second blinks at the bowl several times, then grabs it, and shoves it under a nearby bed. "Now! We're ready for the adventurers! We-" The first blinks and stares at the now smoking bed, before he runs up to it and faces the entrance to the room in a ready stance, "We're ready for any adventurers now!" The second nods after a few moments, then the third pipes up and makes gestures in your direction, "G-get out of here you stupid visions!" "YEAH!" "We've gotta get ready for the real yous!"

Kirito has posed:
    Unfortunately Kirito missed the purpose of the 'drug den' and outfits. Usually he's pretty alert, but the mood he's in right now is downright depressing enough to dull his wits.

    That takes a HECK of a lot. he shakes his head,r ealizing Frika's right, and could all but mentally kick himself. "Sorry," He mumbles back to her... and flicks off the saber.

    "...We're just visions, what good would your herbs do us?" He jokes out at them, trying to play along and buy some time. Then he points at the bed. "Especially if it's on fire."

    Really simple, but they're stoned, they'll buy it, right?

    Especially when there's some truth to it.

    "Right. on with the 'looting.' Elsewhere."

    Code for 'let's just set the bombs and move on, this is nuts.'

Frederica (73) has posed:
    If it's on fire? That sounds like Frederica's cue. And while she could be overt and just fireball the bed, or be subtle and sneak a flame over there by sending it in a roundabout out-of-sight manner, she's Frederica. She lowers a hand to the ground, summoning an egg-shaped flame sprite no bigger than an actual egg. Any guesses where it heads?

    The tiny flame sprite stomps quietly over to the bed before jumping up and getting comfy. It doesn't need to... it's actually costing Frederica some mental effort to animate it in such an overt way. But if you're going to do something, you should do it with style! And with that done, planting the explosives and getting out of the room ought to be little trouble indeed... particularly if the goblins end up noticing their bed afire.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    ... just what the crud are they smoking...?

    They are clearly not all there, and when they dismiss them as visions Toph snorts and turns to Frederica. "Just put in the charges and I'll take us to the sentral pillar. Preferably above it, I can bend a shaft down there so we can get out easier and get on top of the mountain... and then we can slide to safety."

    Slide to safety...? Just what does Toph mean by that? They will just have to wait and see as Toph begins on making another tunnel for them to head through while the bed catches fire. And she makes damn sure to close it after them lest the fire spread and chase them through the mountain. That's the last thing they need in an already rough situation. Again they head through the darkness, and Toph does her best to get them to above the central pillar. And as they head upwards she makes sure the shift the earth all around them... and it might feel like they are on an elevator in places as Toph brings her arms up and around in rough movements. That in itself might feel rather unsettling... But at least somebody who claims to be the greatest earthbender ever should be able to do it safely, and Toph obviously takes great care to do this right.

    As they ascend, Toph takes a breath and opens up the wall to the area right above the pillar...

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    You could say that the shaman stare at Kirito, and then Toph and finally Frederica in a sort of a drug induced haze for a bit before Kiritos words register... ...And of course the burning sprite has had time to get comfy, just as the bowl of burning material under the bed has had it's chance to work things through ... You could definitely say that...

    As one the three goblins turn to stare at the bed just as it bursts into a smoky fire, "AUGH!" "NOOOO!" "OUR HOLY HERBS!" "WHY DIDN'T THE VISION WARN US OF THIS?!" "Wait! Brothers! Maybe the vision is warning us of this!" The other two stare blankly for a moment, before the first continues, "We just need to close our eyes and think happy thoughts for a little and when we open our eyes again---"

    Meanwhile Toph has already left the room, and sealed the wall behind her -- and the last thing you hear from them is "OH GOD I'M ON FIRE!"

    There's yet another large room above the main pillar, this one could be called a garbage dump, if you were a mildly successfull adventurer. ...It could also be called the chief's treasure room if you were a goblin. There are piles of tattered gear everywhere, corroded coins, damaged weapons, and things that could loosely be called treasure. Maybe. If you were desperate.

    Toph chose her path well, as there's no one here in this room... ...Though you can hear some voices in a room to the far right. A number of female voices.

Kirito has posed:
    "Geeze. What the heck are we doing." Kirito mutters. The Goblins are so stupid! But the more he goes through here the less and less he likes this.

    It would be better if they couldn't talk.

    Better not to think about it.

    Following along with Toph, he makes a dark face. Dang, the two girls are doing all the work. What's he doing? Just blundering around and kicking a dude into a wall...

    Onwards though. Into the treasure room and...

    "... don't tell me it's one of those situations...." He mumbles under his breath.

    No, he's not going to voice his thoughts.

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Frederica mutters something under her breath. Probably something someone would be shocked to learn she knows. Then again, Kirito knows what kind of girl she is... and Toph doesn't shock easily. Either way, she doesn't like the idea of killing goblin women any better than killing goblin men. It has to be done, and it makes sense, but it doesn't mean she has to like it.

    "Let's just plant the bomb and keep going." the pyro girl mutters. "It could probably go anywhere on the pillar. I hope." she adds. Hey, she's guessing here! But pillars seem obvious enough after all.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Delicate is hardly a word that describes Toph. So no, she is not shocked at hearing what Frederica mutters under her breath. As for the area to their right, Toph sighs and whispers for the two of them. "I dunno about you, but... well, it's not only humans who are oogie," she says and makes a slight face at the thought. Ew.

    Either way, Toph points to the floor. "If you place it there I can bend it down and into the pillar itself so it goes off underneath the floor. This entire place is carrying a lot of the weight of the mountain, and the floor here is thick. So we need to get it down." Which is easily done for an earthbender. "Kirito, be ready while Duchess sets the bomb and I bend it down, I can't do that and something else without disturbing the entire area, this will require precision. For that matter... how long do we have until the charges go off?"

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    The bombs are ... somewhat easily placed in the pillar. The whole thing is about 30 feet thick. So it does probably require a bit of climbing inside if you're actually trying to get to the center. Which ... isn't too hard really.

    In the distance you hear sounds of oog-No wait.

    In the distance above the mountain you hear sounds of massive rolling waves of thunder, and the occsional tremble as the mountain reacts to it's battering... ...As for how long you have left.

    Once the last spehere is placed, they start blinking. Slowly at first, then slowly faster. Until a voice comes from your bracelet. "So." A cough, then the voice becomes raspy, "So. Are you people going to teleport out before they detonate?"

Kirito has posed:
    "That's the plan!" Kirito exclaims after realizing the voice is coming from his bracelet! "Unless Toph has a better one." What more can he really say about that?

    "...The idea of just storming through all the chambers leaving a trail of dead goblins everywhere isn't quite how this is going." He mutters next, unsure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Frederica claps her hand over her own bracelet as it begins to speak. There's VOICES nearby! Not that the goblins can really reach them right now, but old habits die hard. Besides they're done, right? She's put the last of the bombs in the right place, Toph has worked her power, and they can just use the teleport thingys to get away.

    "So. How do we teleport?" Frederica asks, only sliiiiightly nervous. Maybe she wasn't entirely paying attention when they discussed that sort of thing. Magic isn't her forte. Then again, it's not really anyone's forte here.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The hell? Toph blinks at the voice coming from the bracelets, and she frowns a bit. And she is about to speak up when Frederica asks the important question.

    Kirito's comment makes her point up. "It's not too far to the surface. I could bend us up there and then slide us down the side of the mountain on a slab of rock. They would never be able to catch up with us." And by the looks of it the blind girl is ready to do her bending unless they get teleported soon!

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    The bracelets on the trios arms all pulse in unison, before the scrachy voice remarks amusedly, "Bah. Silly adventurers. Override sequence, Incubus 4991867. Recall Adventures. Mission Completed."

    A moment later, there's a flare of light before ... You find yourself back in the same pavillion as before, standing over the map, with the black robed man grinning at all of you. "How do you think you invoke any magical item?" He rasps, "You will it into doing whatever. Or you trick it into doing it's job."

    A moment later there's a distant booming noise ... followed by what sounds a few small avalances ... then a giant crashing noise ... followed by another, then another then another then another ... until all that remains is a lot of coughing and the sounds of the battle outside.

Kirito has posed:
    Kirito is discombobulated by the sudden change in location! but he shakes his arms out and offers the mage a sheepish grin of sorts. Not that it lasts long. And he quickly makes sure that Frika and Toph are with him...

    "So we used the explosives to collapse the place. Sorry. I'm not subjecting everyone to a hell like carving a bloody path through every tunnel... also, the Mountain was so honeycombed with tunnels and mined out it couldn't possibly be valuable real estate to anyone. I wouldn't even have tried standing on it."

Frederica (73) has posed:
    There's about to be a lot of dead goblins in a few moments. Even if Frederica only killed the barest few she could, those deaths are still something she's responsible for. Necessary, but she still doesn't like killing.

    So of course, her reaction is to make someone ELSE upset. "We don't know magic like you do!" she says, annoyed. "You don't know the first thing about psychic power, I bet. Otherwise you'd know, the best way to get a pyrokinetic to light someone on fire is TO ANNOY HER." she glares. She wouldn't, of course. She might threaten and bluster with flame, but she'd never light someone on fire out of pique. Kick them, sure, but not burn them. Either way, it's better to snap than to show regret at doing an unpleasant but thoroughly necessary deed.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Oh n--

    Toph blinks when she realizes they are getting teleported, and she subconsciously holds her breath, looking rather disturbed as everything changes and she finds herself and the two others back where they were before they stepped through the portal. Letting out her breath she gasps and leans forward, resting her hands on her knees. "Ugh...!"

    Luckily she recovers quickly, and she takes a deep breath before she speaks up. "So we're done then...?" This is enough murder for the day. Unlike Frederica she doesn't speak up, but it's clear that her mood is not great. And she is sorely tempted to snark back.

    Instead she turns and heads for the door. "I'm going home."

Tshallandria (216) has posed:
    The incubus nods, and shifts over to a more handsome form. Something ... bishie. With really long hair. He makes it worse by smiling at Kirito. "...Yes, you apparently made the top of the mountain sort of ... collapse inward." He points at the map, and the expanding dustcloud. "The rest is just going to be cleanup."

    He glances at Toph then over to Frederica, and Kirito. "Alright then, if you'd prefer to leave, that's understandable. Just tell the bracelet to take you to the warpgate." He pauses, "And remember. You three have the Lady's favor. If you require something visit us, or ask her for it directly."

    He shakes his head and chuckles as the dust on the map just sort of instantly dissapates after a few moments, "You've save a number of lives, and redeemed a large number more. Thank you. All of you."

Kirito has posed:
    Seeing what the Incubus is changing into, Kirito... skitters a few feet away. NOT gonna comment about that change!

    Instead of speaking much he gives Toph and Frederica both a solemn, apologetic look. But of course that probably won't mean much to Toph...

    How is he supposed to apologize for this later? How?

    Maybe going it alone would've been better.

    The boy shakes slightly, irritated and vaguely nauseated. "In a bit I will." He states gloomily, hands stuffing into both pockets.

Frederica (73) has posed:
    Fortunately Frederica doesn't like bishie. Much. Yes, she doesn't even like Kirito's new pretty VR body... much. She sighs, then nods. "Let's get going. Something around here is making me feel ill." she says, acting like it's really the incubus.