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Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Arty Fox
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Charles Balderdash

“merci beaucoup.” Charles nodded politely and sorted the information away. “Bien que j’aimerais travailler avec Vatta, s’ils acceptent, car je pense que j’ai pu trouver quelques informations.” He paused and held up a finger. “Pardon me, I was speaking French for a second there.” He chuckled before starting again. “I was thinking I could work with Vata, whenever it is we get a free moment.”

He followed to where Rosalind had indicated to the man look slightly uncomfortable around the giant rock monster. No. Gargoyle, like the ones on old churches and buildings of grand design from around the 12th century. A small part of Charles mind chuckled at the thought of this gargoyle having a channel their spine for water to come shooting out their mouth if it were to rain.

“Name’s Charles, I work for TRIDENT as an information gatherer.” He reached out across the table to shake Vatas hand “So what I was thinking was if the two of us worked together at somepoint; You doing the deciphering and I getting a hold of anything we need to fill in the blanks, hopefully we might be able to turn up something of use. Sound good?”
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by cpldingo
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Wolfe chuckled a bit at Vaughtars question.
"He's a bit of an idiot, not that great at being interpersonal. But...." Wolfe said looking toward Hirsch, who was now sitting down, arms folded with a scowl on his face.
"His hearts in the right place, he just gets excited."
The room began to become crowded. Wolfe gave a polite nod to the Gargoyle and sat back down next to Hirsch.
"So...when's This thing over with? I'm getting friggin hungry," Hirsch said "I need real food, not these snacks, meat, potatoes and-"
"Check that, should be done soon, then we can get some chow, I know I am getting ansty as well, just tough it out for now."
The room was crowded, different types of people and creatures from different universes, and times. Wolfe was surpised as to how well they seemed to take to all this...culture shock if that could even be the right term.
Wolfe heard a loud, deep rumbling, looked around to see Hirsch grip his stomach, he was hungry.
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Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Viridity
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Glad to have something to distract himself from the strange winged creature, Vata took Charles' hand and shook it somewhat hesitantly. Although he was surprised by Charles slipping into a bizarre tongue completely unfamiliar with him, he had experienced it multiple times talking to people from his world who knew multiple languages, and he had done it a couple times himself while teaching a student.

"A pleasure to meet you, Charles. If I had any experience with this sort of thing, I would offer to attempt the translation myself, but I'll need another person with me that has some experience with this sort of thing. It's difficult to explain why, but I won't be of too much use other than complaining about the cold if I'm the only one working on translating the symbols there. Do you know if there's anyone that could help with that?"
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Fetzen
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Eating... Vaughtar sensed that he could be in danger of embarrassing himself when they would go eating. The problem was not that he couldn't eat, the problem he was afraid of was that, according to his experiences on Munimis, he had a tendency to eat more than the human beings around him approved of once he had warmed up. And it was consensus that his table manners were somewhere between strange and dreadful. His claws had not been designed to hold a fork, a spoon or a knife, but to impale things and slice them.

For now, trying to keep his worries below radar level, the gargoyle sat down again on the crate. Hopefully there was nothing valuable or otherwise important in there, because it was noticeably deformed by now.

'There ?' Vata likely hadn't directly intended it, but this single and seemlingly unimportant word was raising Vaughtar's hopes instantaneously. If he was talking about a 'there' and if he was talking about complaining about the cold, it could only mean that he intended to return to this castle. This... submarine... yes, Winston had called in that way, was dry and fairly silent, but what he would need on the long term was true freedom. So far he had not seen a single room that would have been large enough for him to spread his wings and start flying - he just couldn't stay like that for the rest of his life. He just had to try and join this mission, but he wouldn't blurt it out.

"Erm... So you want to go back there with a team ?" he asked to everybody around.
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Eyeris
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The Meeting

They mentioned being hungry. Zesiro was not usually very vocal in these meetings. However, he did NOT want to be sent out to get food the way he was always sent out to fetch coffee. He was an officer not an intern, right?

"Twian would be your best bet for that." Zesiro grumbled "He knows all that shit. As for going back... Did anyone else notice that we almost died? And some of us actually did" He shot a dark look at Rozalind. All the TRIDENT fatalities had been members of her team, TIGER.

"Fuck that." He put his hands on the table. "That dragon-thing might still be there ready to fry us, OR it is gone looking for food. Either way that is a problem."

"We also might actually have the drop on these guys. They didn't survive to report to their boss that we there. The boss might send someone else to see what the hell happened to their little magic experiment. I don't want to be there when they come back. They might already be there. I know they fucked up, but they are not amateurs."

He leaned back in his chair and put his boots on the table.

"Also. Why do you all speak English?" When Charles had decided to show off his French, Zesiro noticed that the others didn't understand.
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Fetzen
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The Meeting

"The strange tongue I'm feeling instinctively urged to speak in is called English ?" Vaughtar had noticed this strange circumstance before, but still his voice was full of surprise.

Having been met with a rebuff, the gargoyle wasn't sure if it would be wise to continue surging ahead with straightforward questions. He didn't want to negatively influence his reputation as far as one could use this term already in his case. He was really close to suggesting that just waiting for someone to return to the site would offer an opportunity to find out who could be held responsible for this, but instead Vaughtar asked more hesitantly: "So... what are we going to do now ?" Hopefully he wouldn't be stuck in this... submarine... for long.

Zesiro seemed rather relaxed about the topic: The way he was leaning back with the bottom of his feet facing towards the other participants didn't suggest that he was worrying about anything. If he could just do the same...
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Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Arty Fox
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Charles Balderdash


“nah, I’m sure we’ll be fine.” He brushed off Vata’s concern. “Although I suppose I could ask one or two people I know, hopefully they’re not too busy or anything.” Or if Charles were even allowed to bring on any more people on this case.

“To be honest I’m not the best with other languages, well I’m not the best with written other languages. Spoken I’m absolutely fantastic with which I suppose could be a blessing or a curse depending on where you’re standing. I have been known to go on a bit at times.” Charles gave a light hearted chuckled. “But, I am proud to say that it’s never endangered a mission.” He lied.

With the conversation towards what their next actions should Charles held his chin in thought. Personally he felt that they hadn’t gathered nearly enough intelligence or images of the area surrounding ‘ground zero’. But considering the threat that was still there Charles resigned himself to the fact that what they had is all the could use for now, simply couldn’t be helped until the site was deemed safe enough.

“That’s actually an interesting question.” Charles frowned and looked at the others. “Maybe it’s just a simple case of the same language in different places? But under different names or something along those lines?” He paused and spun to face the other direction for a moment. “No, actually, scratch that. Too coincidental in my books, just think about it; several beings, all of varying different origins, up-bringing’s and the like all happen to speak not just the same language but the one of where they end up?”

Charles tilted his head from side to side, letting the thoughts mull and slosh in his head for a moment.

“No. Frankly the chances of it happening by coincidence are zero to none.”
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Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Affili
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"Maybe it was something to do with that ritual. a predicted or unpredictable result of the magic that was used! Who really knows? All I know is I can understand all of you in this room so it's better in the long run that we are able to communicate is it not?" the monk interjected matter of factually. he paused to sip his coffee "I say we go back and do some more digging. Give these guys some weapons just in case force is needed and call up whatever scholars you have left in Trident's ranks to help interpret the symbols a little better."

Dayna had found her way back to the meeting, in less of a foul mood. She perked up at the monk's suggestion. It would mean that she would be free from this metal prison and hopefully more time with the elemental energies of Earth would enable her to connect wiht their forces.

"I agree with the monk!" she chimed as she hovered into the room "It will be good to feel the fresh air once more." She turned to Vaughtar and drifted closer to him and his crate "Besides, at best, this one looks like he can protect everyone anyway. At worse, he would do nicely at scaring other people away. I mean look at what he's done to his chair!" She circled him slowly, gazeing at his wings. "It looks like it would do you well to stretch those wings once more too!" she commented out loud.

Natasha

The striking red head brooded to herself at the sight of the dreadful submarine lurking below them once more. So dull, She had never grown fond of Trident's mobile bases and the submarine was one of the worse. A giant tin can, and everyone in it stuffed like sardines.

She looked across at the pilot and sighed "To think, I cut my vacation short to come to this pile of heaping dung. At least I'll be able to hang with some of the MOON operatives. That's about all that's motivating me to report here , plus I want to show off these sexy Tan lines and make them all jealous!" The capsulke pilot simply stated
"Well Actually, you would have been suspended if you refused Ma'am"
"Oh you're such a kill joy. If I didn't need you to pilot this capsule I would have tossed you overboard before we dove."
"Actually they would have also suspended you if you had refused my escort Ma'am! More so if you had tossed me overboard!"
The look she gave him burned him to silence and a few moments later, they were docking
"Have a good day Ma'am"
"Fuck you!" and a less than lady like gesture was all she offered as the airlock closed. he had known she hated being called Ma'am. After all she was only 33. if he had said it one more time, he would have been unconscious right now and she gained some satisfaction knowing that he knew that.
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Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Fetzen
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Vaughtar had a hard time following the ball of light dancing around him. His look was both curious and surprised at the same time and Dayna successfully distracted him from the language issue.

"My 'chair' ?" he asked confused, not getting the point. "What does this crate have to do with that ? And... I don't know if I would be a good fighter in this world. Me being strong relating to here so far is just an assumption." Damnit! Vaughtar started to realize that he was talking himself out of business with such sentences. But there were a few things in life that didn't come back: Life itself, a missed opportunity, an arrow shot and the spoken word!

"Erm... what do you think ? Would I be a valuable addition to such an endeavour ?" he asked to everyone in the room. The stone-grey color of his skin was doing a hell of a job to prevent him from blushing. And then the crate made things even worse. It had bore up against Vaughtar so far, but now the process of buckling abruptly and rapidly accelerated. In other words: The gargoyle was sitting flat on the floor and would likely have to continue attending the meeting while standing.

"Oh damn... Well... I'd be happy to spread my wings."
Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by cpldingo
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Wolfe sat back and took in the rest of their conversations, for he had no input. Until one of the others spoke up about going back, and giving out weapons.
"I"m all for that, it would be good to get back to the surface, investigate Whats going on."
He looked at Hirsch.
"Hirsch and I would like to get our gear back, we can provide security, we both have extensive combat experience"
"Plus with Goliath on our side, who the hell is gonna fuck with us? Bona-fide killer trio right here" he said throwing up some random gang sign.
"What my idiot friend means is our appearance-" he nodded towards Vaughtar "would be a pretty solid deterent."Wolfe said. Trtuh be told he was begging to feel claustrophobic, and anxious, he wanted to find out what is going on, get some action underway, and eat some food, maybe a full nights rest as well.

*What coalition forces called the Taliban. Terry the Taliban.
**AO Area of Operation
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Arty Fox
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Charles Balderdash

Charles pursed his lips, somewhat annoyed that “”it was magic”” was the only explanation they had to go one for the non-existent language barriers. He much preferred to have a detailed explanation for something.

“Guess it’s pretty much unanimous then.” He spoke. “So, we’re all heading back to lovely, cold Russia for another holiday. Or at least I presume so?” Here he turned to face Zesiro for confirmation. “I mean, as long as there’s nothing else that we really need to consider. Other than the obvious things like equipment and supplies and the like.”

Concerns about the dragon had already been addressed so he felt no need to repeat it. He then clapped, and rubbed his hands together.

“But, either way no doubt the arrangements will take some time. So the question is; what should we do in the mean time?” Charles rolled his eyes and pondered. “Maybe afternoon tea? Never a bad time for tea. And I suppose quite a few of you want to stretch your legs a bit. Being cooped up in here, after a while anyone would start to go slightly batty.”
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Belwicket
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"You got that right." Ariel said, her eyes going to Charles. "Let's go grab what we need and work on finding a way home. I'll be happy to see my partner again." She stood and looked around, listening to the other replies. She looked back to the woman who had brought her here, as well as the man who had returned her clothes, wondering what parts they played in this. She was half-tempted the shift and start running, especially with everyone in the room, but decided against it, wanting to keep her secrets for now.
Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by jdh97
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Mallaidh

Something about the slender girl with green eyes, Dzel apparently, made the hairs on the back of Mallaidh’s neck rise. For such a young and tiny thing, her motions were like flowing quicksilver: effortless and graceful. Nonetheless, she appreciated that she’d get to lay eyes upon her sword after fearing it lost forever, so she bowed her head at Rozalind in thanks.

After that the conversation turned to magic, a topic that many present seemed to have a firm grasp in, whilst Mallaidh was completely at a loss. She shifted in her chair, wishing she could contribute in some way. In the stories magic was a work of the divine and the dreadful, but the people around her made it seem as though it was almost just a language to be learned, with talk of runes, and how they all spoke the same language, and other arcanery. Therefore, she kept quiet.

Even when the winged beast appeared with much commotion, Mallaidh held her tongue, even though her blood thrummed in her ears. She ran a hair through her fiery locks, and sighed deeply. The gravity of the situation was setting in, and she was ready for it, but she was no fool either. Strangers surrounded her. The room was small and an unfathomable distance underwater. That knowledge seemed to make the air cloying and thick. Yet, she was sure her tale would be an epic to be told for generations.

People then seemed to agree that they wanted to return to the land of ice and fire Mallaidh could only barely remember. They had lost men there it seemed, to the dragon no less, and at this Mallaidh’s hands clenched – that was her prize, her doorway to legend.

Herbert

“What was I thinking?” Hebert asked incredulously, “I did not intend on… on… well, experiencing whatever that was.” He took a gulp of dry air. The tea could only come too soon. His lips were parched and talking his dry throat.

“How long were you there? Did you see everything I saw?” Herbert rubbed his eyes, “I’ve had other experiences too, but I’d forget them quite quickly afterwards, I thought they were just dreams, but this most recent “dive” has burnt them into my mind. I’ve seen…” Herbert stopped in a painful splutter. Behind Twain stood, as beautiful as she had in life, Liza, with a finger pressed to her soft lips and her eyebrows arched. Slowly she shook her head, as if to say, “Not him, those secrets are ours”. Then, gradually, she faded, and Herbert stared into space. He was stunned.

He shook his head. His mind went about processing what that meant. Looking Twain in the eye, he said, “I’ve seen too many things.”

He licked his lips and tried to build up some moisture. “Is it foolish for me to be questioning my sanity right now?” Then he let out a mirthless laugh, “Does doing so mean I still am sane?”

He got up out of the bed and almost collapsed, but steadied himself on the wall, and then stood shakily. “A walk would do me good I feel.” He looked about the metal prison and sniffed, “I never much cared for submarines.”
Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Eyeris
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By the Water Cooler.

Dzel walked down the corridor of the submarine. She was a small figure, but, people made way for her passage... Over one shoulder she hefted a massive sword of Celtic origin. Under the other arm she carried a bag full of the other items recognized by the other-worlders. She walked at a quick pace. She stopped when she noticed something from the corner of her eye... Or rather, someone...

It was not a woman Dzel had ever met before, she had only seen her photograph. In fact, Dzel had been studying and seeking this particular woman a very long time. They had searched the globe for this woman. They had followed a trail of sparse clues and mysterious energy to an unyielding cold mountaintop where many had died searching for her...

"Natasha."

... The last place Dzel expected to find any member of MOON was at headquarters.

Surprise flickered behind her green eyes, but she kept her mouth a firm line and kept her words within planned protocol.
"I am Dzel, of MERCY. It is our mission to find and rescue MOON team. Please report: Where is the rest of your team? Are there currently any casualties, injuries, or concussions?"

~~~
Herbert's Room

Twain shook his head in disbelif. "Unbelivable. A natural? So... You have no book? No lineage? No teacher? Not ever?" It was clear that Herbert had no idea what Twain was talking about.

"I understand why you might be questioning your sanity, but please, don't. What just happened was very real. You went into death. You didn't die. Don't be confused between the two... Ahem..."

"One of the magics I have mastered is called necromancy. The magic of death. You seem to have an... Affinity... for it." Twain wasn't using the right words, such 'talent' as displayed by Herbert troubled him. What Herbert did... Twain would have previously considered impossible without training. There was also the matter of the protective magics surrounding the submarine fleet. Herbert had also managed to circumvent several safety nets between life and death by accident.

The Rift was also considered impossible the day before yesterday. Was this so strange in the grand scheme?

"It is going to be really dangerous for us all if you just keep falling in and out of life and death like that." He gazed up at the florescent lights, wondering what the far-away-sky might look like. Was the sky blue? Overcast? A hurricane? Who knew. The deep fleet was unaffected by the events on the surface.

"Why don't I show you a few tricks. It will be scary but it will help you stay on the sunny side, If you know what I mean. I mean, you, could try to ignore it. But I think this whole rift-magic-thing has opened you up. It is hard to repress magical talent once it is discovered. Why not try it? Maybe you will like it."

~~
The Meeting Room

Rozalind sat in a chair pursing her lips. "Alright then. We will go to the surface and find a ground base. We need to discuss some contingency plans... You are all aliens to this world or this time. Some of you can pass more easily than others as a normal human. We can avoid people but only for so long. We need to plan for the worst. We need to make a plan for if one of you should get seperated or seen... We will need to give you some basic knowledge set about this world, we expect you will rely heavily on MERCY in this aspect, but a little information will go a long way. The teams will work together from now on."

She spun her chair toward the general assembly.

"Welcome to TRIDENT."

~~~

In Summary

Their team was called RIFT.

Relocated Interworld Field Team

RIFT would work with and be supervised by MERCY. (In the paperwork RIFT was actually defined as interns to MERCY, but, that was a bit odd to explain and all that paperwork junk is mostly a formality anyway.)

They were all brought to the surface and discretely transported to a remote ground base somewhere in "South East Asia" They were not told the exact location. They were given maps of the earth and lessons in general geography to kill time while they recovered and planned their first mission.

As official members of TRIDENT they were all issued a Siva-Cup Coffe-Co card. To those new to the concept, it was explained that Siva-Cup Coffee-Co was a global coffee distributor. The founder of Siva-Cup was a retired member of TRIDENT who still wanted to help out. The card would look completely inconspicuous if seen or found by anyone outside TRIDENT. In fact, many people on the earth, especially in 'developed nations' had their own Siva-Cup Coffee-Co card. What the members of TRIDENT had looked the same but was in fact much different. It was their identification card, and would also get them free food and drinks from any Siva-Cup Coffee-Co location.

The members of RIFT were outfitted with appropriate clothing. Any items that had been recovered by the RIFT as well as some (but not all) weapons or equipment they may have requested form the TRIDENT armory.

Twain and Rozalind argued about the best way to hide a gigantic gargoyle. The best plan seemed to be avoiding populated areas as much as possible. They had a large cloak-like outfit made for him so that from a distance he might seem like a really... really... really big guy...

Zesiro hollowed out some lanterns and flashlights, so that Danya could "pretend to be a lamp" in case they came across anyone unexpectedly.

Team RIFT was comprised thus:

Rozalind was appointed their leader. Her bandages were quickly shed. Her arm and her face still bore horrific scars but she seemed as strong and capable as ever. Her injured eye was forever pinked around the edges, and the color of the iris slightly paler than the other. It made her 'angry face' that much more intimidating. Once and awhile, this eye would drift, go out of focus, wink. Was this a lazy eye or a wandering one?

Natasha was appointed her second in command. After her awkward encounter with Dzel by the water cooler, they realized that Natasha had been on vacation for quite some time and had no idea what had happened to the rest of her team. Natasah, of course, was interested in joining the investigation and was of course allowed to do so.

The other members of RIFT were not, at first, given specific titles or appointments. Rozalind thought it would be detrimental to impose tasks or an unfamiliar structer upon the newcomers until their strenghts and weaknesses were better understood. However, Twain submitted some paperwork behind Rozalind's back...

The Grumpy Old Fart: Herbert was given time to recover his strenght, Twain would steel him from time for deep discussions about Necromancy, the nature of life and death, magic, and the light.

The Goliath: Vaughtar

Teen wolf: Ariel

I love Lamp: Danya

Vaughtar, Ariel and Danya had plenty of space to 'be themselves'. The ground base was very remote, and designed to repell unexpected visitors.

Braveheart: Mallaidh had her sword returned to her. She was also introduced to many other curious modern artifacts such as the 'fork'.

Guns: Wolfe

And Roses: Hirshe

The Thirteenth Warrior: XIII

Wolfe, Hirshe, and XIII were left mostly to their own devices. They didn't need 'modern-earth-lessons' like some of the others, and sometimes were charged with the teaching of these lessons when Rozlaind was too frustrated and Zesiro was too lazy.

Babelfish: Vata was lost somewhere between these two extremes. He wasn't 'strange looking' like Vaughtar or Danya, but did not have the knowledge that Ariel, XIII, Hirshe, and Wolfe had about the modern era. They struggled to understand exactly how his magic was going to work once they got to the mountain. Twain, carefree as ever, decided that they couldn't understand and therefore shouldn't worry about it until the moment arrived. That was that.

MERCY team was tacked back together as such: Twain, Charles, Zesiro, Dzel, Icarus.

Twain was still in charge of MERCY.

Charles (who received a promotion and became second in command of MERCY) worked closely with Rozalind to hash out the logistical and tactical details concerning their return to the mountain castle...

Zesiro, still the communications officer, taught the RIFT how to work with their radio system, how to use their Siva-Cards ("OK... Who is going to hold Danya's for her?"), and occasionally left the ground base to get food and provisions as needed.

Dzel, without any particular appointments, helped out with whatever was needed until they set out...

Icarus also had no particular importance. Instead of making himself helpful he made himself scarce. Perhaps he was patrolling the perimeter... Every so often, one might notice an unnatural fluctuation of color from the corner of their eyes. A trick of the light? Wayward magic? A ghost? Or was Icarus, the chameleon, close by? Was he watching for enemies or was he watching his new found 'friends'?

....

Just outside the ruins

They decided for a quiet aproach. In case the location was being watched or was already occupied. They were given proper snow-gear.

They now stood on a high mountain crest, they could see the castle in the distant. Jagged black stone jutting up through the white snow. There was no fire now. The stench of death had faded. The energetic impression from the devesating magical event had all but faded...

... That did not mean it was safe.
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Arty Fox
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Charles Balderdash

“Anybody up for a bit of skiing?” Charles asked light-heartedly.

Indeed, it was almost a perfect day for skiing; fresh powdery snow glistened in the late morning sun shining softly down from the clear blue sky.

His eyes scoured the ruins before them through his binoculars. From what he could see it seemed deserted and, if the pristine snow was anything to go by, there hadn’t been any visitors recently. A quick glance skywards also showed that the monster that had given them trouble beforehand wasn’t in sight either.

“Doesn’t look like there’s been anyone here since the incident.” Charles offered up the binoculars to anyone who want to use them. “Or at the very least since it last snowed so I would hazard a guess that we’re the only ones here.”

He repositioned his back so that it sat more comfortably on his back. Considering that they hadn’t been anticipating any combat situations on this mission Charles had requested a few more pieces of equipment for this visit. In Charles’ opinion the requisitions office may have overdone it slightly, his shoulders were really starting to ache under the weight of everything, having given him more equipment than he knew what to do with.

“Wonder if we’ll be able to get anything out of here for further study. I mean the cold would’ve preserved things fairly well, in theory anyway, suppose it just depends on what happened before the snow fell I think.”

Charles was no expert on how environments affected the preservation of things, but he’d read over enough reports to have at least a vague idea. Plus, the Discovery Channel had a few interesting documentaries about the bodies of ice climbers still on Mount Everest and how a few are actually used as landmarks.
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Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by cpldingo
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Ooc: collaboration between
fetzen
and myself

They were back on land, somewhere in south east Asia, Wolfe guessed Indonesia, or possibly Thailand. Either way they were both happy to be on solid ground under blue sky. They recieved uniforms, Wolfe and Hirsch were given sets of olive drab BDUs, and black BDUs.
Throughout the week they took turns giving classes on inter human relations in this version of modern earth.
Hirsch was no longer allowed to give classes after teaching some of the off worlders about strip clubs and brothels.
During some down time the two found themselves in the gym. After some weight training they decided to spar.
Hirsch is a power house, and definitely skilled. He spent most of his life wrestling, boxing, or practicing Brazilian ju jitsu. Wolfe knows a bit of many different martial arts, but was no where near a master in any way, yet he has never lost a fight to Hirsch, even though Hirsch can easily beat those that can beat Wolfe, for some unknown reason to Hirsch, he just cannot win. Wolfe likes to say, "it's because I'm smarter than you." to which Hirsch insults his face.
They stood six feet apart, Hirsch charges in, Wolfe used his momentum and tripped him up, while going down Wolfe wrapped his arm up. Once on the ground Wolfe had the armbar secure, Hirsch tapped.
"God damnit! Stop doing that dick head!" Hirsch yelled.
"Stop trying the same move everytime simple Jack." Wolfe said laughing.
That's when Hirsch noticed Vaughter walking by.
"Hey, YO Goliath wanna get in on some ass whipping?" he called over to the gargoyle.
"You do know he is twice you size...and more than that in weight right?"
"Yep."
"You realize his hand is the size of your head right?"
"Sure do!" Hirsch said stretching out.
"Then why the fuck do you want to fight him?"
"'Cuz" he said. Hirsch turned to Wolfe.
"As a marine, it is my duty to challenge any and all things bigger than me to a fight, becuase....reasons mother fucker."
"Your funeral," Wolfe shook his head and stood off to the side, inviting Vaugter in with a friendly nod.

Over the course of the last few days, Vaughtar had been quite busy. In fact, it had been the gargoyle's first experience with a schoolboy-teacher relationship - him being the boy and others, including Wolfe and Hirsch, the teachers. Earth was both a fascinating and horrible place: Fascinating because how congruent many aspects were with Munimis and how vastly advanced human society and technology was. The latter one was a thing that had come to an almost complete stop on his own homeworld. The more horrible things about earth were artificial light and huge cities. There wouldn't be many places for him to hide if it should become necessary... And there surely was no way for him to hide among people: He was just too tall, broad-shouldered and bulky for an effective disguise to exist. The by far most difficult thing for him however was the sun: He had never seen it before. A yellowish-white, glaring disk at the sky that made it very difficult for him to see when there were no clouds hiding it. The consequence was that Vaughtar was a night owl that preferred staying in his room until it was dark or he had to attend to another class.

When he entered to gym, it was rather by accident, but the two marines did immediately grab his attention. These were definitely some moves he wasn't familiar with. Fighting werewolves and the like had always been a show of pure brutality and nothing advanced, or at least that was the way Vaughtar was used to go. However that was no reason for him to deny Hirsch's request. The man seemed experienced, he had to know what he was doing and turning somebody down was something the gargoyle didn't like. The marine wanted a challenge ? He would get it!
"I hope that I won't be held entirely responsible if something goes terribly wrong. Should I cover these with something soft and thick or is it sufficient if I try not to hit you with them ?" He held his claws into the centre of Hirsch's view. They were sharp and, like pretty much everything else around Vaughtar, really big. His experience and recently acquired knowledge about human relationships told him that it would be a good thing if he didn't stop there: "What about my wings ?"

Somewhere back in his mind, if he was really honest, Hirsch became associated with madness. Another part of his thinking was contradicting: Underestimating an enemy was one of the biggest mistakes one could do. Perhaps there was something up his sleeve that he would put into action when the time was right ? Hirsch seemed to be a really sturdy, very heavy man, but so was he himself - by gargoyle standards, if such a thing existed.

The gargoyle regarded his razor sharp claws. Claws that'll make a kodiaks class look like pocket knives.
"Oh yea, fuck yea, you me full bore, no restrictions." Hirsch said with a violent grin. He wanted to take the beast on as he is,no handicap.
Wolfe didn't like that idea.
"Negative on that Hirsch," Wolfe said arms folded standing off to the side.
"No way man, this is my moment, my Everest!"
"Negative, and what if you get impaled or gutted? Huh? Where that leave me? Alone, no teammate."
"I got this dude, I got this," Hirsch said, pride blinding any common sense.
Wolfe hated to do this.
"Lance Corporal Hirsch, You will not engage this individual without proper ppe, you get me?"
Hirsch turned slowly, he looked hurt, insulted.
"- the fuck?"
"Aye corporal or some shit" Wolfe said.
"You are seriously pulling rank on me??" Hirsch asked bewildered. Wolfe met him with a steel eye. Hirsch sighed and his shoulders sagged.
"At corporal," he said then muttered "or some shit."
Wolfe ignored the last part and walked over to Vaughtar, inspected his claws than moved to the other side of the gym. He pulled two punching pads and a roll of duct tape.
Cutting the pads into strips Wolfe returned and began wrapping Vaughtars claws. After each wrap he placed a strip of tape. After about ten minutes the gargoyles bladed fingers were completely encased.
"How's that feel?" he asked Vaughtar.

Vaughtar moved his 'fingers', checking out how things felt like. "A bit strange, but that won't disturb me. Thank you." The gargoyle tried to be calm and friendly, but speaking with a voice that did not feel like a tremor if one was standing right next to him was something he couldn't really achieve. One thing less two worry though, but this fight likely still was dangerous enough.
"Hirsch ? Everything's pointing towards me not being able to leave this world in a foreseeable amount of time. Your mountain won't run away." One could interpret this as a hidden carte blanche for future fights. In fact, Vaughtar wanted to deliver both this message and some reassuring words that this most likely would not be the first and last opportunity to do what they were up to do right now, so there was no need to rush things.

The 'mountain' - both Vaughtar's skin color and his stature perfectly suited that word in the figurative sense - was almost completely naked. The only things he was wearing were his shorts and the girdle with the strange metal emblem on it. Aside from that: A ming-boggling amount of muscle covering a frame that was... Well. If one's hand was as big as another one's head, how thick did one's bones have to be ? However the idea was hanging around in his mind that this could be his major disadvantage. Agility really wasn't his business. From Vaughtar's point of view it would highly depend on how innovative and flexible Hirsch was, but of course he didn't tell him that.

The gargoyle made a few steps back to have a bit of distance to begin with. He made a single, slow flap with his wings, then folded them together tight enough that they weren't protruding that much from behind his shoulders. The creature stared at Hirsch with his legs wide apart, the brunt of his weight on his left foot and his arms and fists protecting his upper body in what appeared to be some sort of stance. "I am ready.

Vaughtar steadied himself, taking on a defensive posture. Wolfe watched Hirsch, he was bouncing on his heels shaking out his arms. He stopped and cracked his neck, then assumed a combat stance. He advanced slowly, reading his opponent. Hirsch knew the Gargoyle would best him in strength, thats why he had to to choose his targets. Hirsch scanned the beast, making mental notes of soft areas of flesh. Neck. Armpits. Backs of the knees. Inner thigh.
In a flash Hirsch bolted for the creature. Hirsch dodged Vaughtars first swing, as a result, Hirsch placed a hard kick on the inside of Vaughtars thigh, on the softer flesh. Using the momentum of his kick he pushed up, off the leg, and placed a hard left accross the beasts face. That was before Hirsch was caught with a glancing blow from the Gargoyle. The blow only glanced off his shoulder but was more than enough to sumble him back. Losing his focus he sprinted for the animal again, this time trying to rush all his weight to the beast in an attempt to take him to the ground. Even though Hirsch knew how to tackle someone, Vaughtar was built like a wall, and did noot move one bit.
'crap' Hirsch thought

What did bruises on stone-grey skin look like ? Everyone being in touch with Vaughtar would soon find out. The gargoyle wasn't immune to such things, and given the pain emanating from his thigh and his face, these hits had been effective. He could feel a warm liquid seeping down one of his nostrils, it would soon start dripping from his face. Hirsch definitely knew where to hit.
On the other hand however, the marine seemed to be either in some sort of frenzy or he was really bad at estimating and had not read Vaughtar's file. Otherwise he possibly would have avoided wasting energy by ramming his 220 pounds into Vaughtar's near 1,000. Now he knew, but now it was too late. There was no need for the gargoyle to search and aim for weak spots: From his point of view and in this situation the entire human body was one big weak spot. He grabbed Hirsch's right shoulder with his left hand, making use of his larger reach by pushing him out of range, holding him in place there until the flat side of his right fist came slamming down onto his left shoulder. This wasn't standard practice for the creature. If it had been a real fight for life and death, he would have tried to smash Hirsch's skull right away. However if this had been a real fight for life and death, the marine probably would have found out what an excellent and easy-to-hit target Vaughtar's hulking body was for any kind of firearm.
Hirsch's legs gave way to the impact, and when he was flat on the ground, he received a kick in his butt that sent him skidding along the floor. There were no obstacles, but friction made sure there was visible damage to Hirsch's skin - aside from what the impact sites on his body probably felt like now. The gargoyle accelerated in order to catch up with his prey before it would be back on its feet. His own back now was facing towards Wolfe.

The fight started off surprisingly well. Hirsch moved fast and struck the target in a soft spot to distract the creature, then an upper cut that actually drew blood. Wolfe was impressed, until Hirsch jumped back.
'Oh you dumb....simple boy' he thought to himself. To no surpise to Wolfe, Hirsch rushed the Gargoyle, as if he were still a linebacker in school.
A linebacker who just ran into a light pole.
Thats when the creature took advantage, Hirsch didn't see it coming, the blunt force to his shoulder, his legs buckling and he drop hard, he grunted in pain and was kicked accross the padded floor, Vaughtar had surpising speed given his side, he quickly caught up before Hirsch stopped sliding. Only to pinned to the ground again he had one arm free, using all his leverage he gator rolled out of the creatures grasp, temporarily, he was hemmed up again just seconds later but not before delivering an elbow to the creatures nose. Vaughtar dropped Hirsch then booted him in the chest, he crumpled to the ground, the Gargoyle was on top of him, a knee to the chest, Hirsch wasn't going anywhere. The creature began raining solid blows down. Hirsch may have had his arms up and blocked every one, but it didn't matter, the sheer force felt as if he were being repeatedly hit by a truck.
Wolfe got a bad feeling real quick, this went from entertaining to dangerous fast. The hair on the back of his neck stood, his gut rumbled, his body became alive with nerves, as if he could feel the slitghtedy change in the air.
He reached. He broke into a sprint, directly to the rear of the creature. Ten feet away Wolfe jumped six feet to his left and forward to the side of the creature, using that momentum he sprung into the air closing the remaing four feet, as Vaughtar just caught a glimpse of the very knee that hit him squarly in the face, he went back and fell.
Wolfe landed but stumbled, "Oh, fuck, like kicking a tree!" he yelled as he hobbled over to Hirsch.
Hirsch groaned, rolled, and spat blood on the mat.
"Why'd you break it up?" he spat more blood "had 'em right where I wanted him."
"The hell you did, What'd I tell you bout using the same moves over and over?" Wolfe helped Hirsch up.
"Yea, that was dumb. Lesson learned," Hirsch grunted.
Wolfe hit Vaughtar hard, but he knew all it would have done is stun the large creature for a few moments, though he seems to understand.
Hirsch limped over and held out his hand.
"You're a mean sumbitch, sloppy, but effective, I'd be honored to stomp some mud holes with ya."

Vaughtar's blood was dark, but one could still see that it was based on hemoglobin, or at least something that gave a reddish color combined with the smell of iron, too. His nose wasn't exactly the sturdiest body part, so now, after the recent two hits, things were leaking badly.
"Your knee will be visible for days on my face." he grinned towards Wolfe, still lying on the ground. Vaughtar checked his teeth with his tongue, everything still in place being the result. Given the circumstances, Hirsch seemed to be okay, though he had gone from perfectly healthy to limping and spitting blood in a matter of seconds and despite the fact he had protected himself the best he could. Vaughtar sluggishly got up to his feet. "I think I should apologize... I've never been good at judging my own strength, and where I come from it's all about life and death." he said to the marines. The gargoyle went for some paper towels and plugged his nose before he started to clean up the traces and stains they had left on the mat. "Is fighting with creatures coming out of the rift allowed or should we think about some cover stories for our injuries ? I could pretend that I had an accident while flying. So many light poles and masts around..." His tone was a bit impish. "Speaking of which... would you accept it as an apology if I invited both of you to a trip into the air ? Give me a few minutes to see if my headache goes away or not."

Wolfe and Hirsch accepted Vaughtars apology. They agreed to his terms one flight for each at a later date. After cleaning up a bit, Wolfe, and Hirsch spend a couple of hours showing Vaughtar various moves he could do being as large as he is, as well as some effective defensive techniques. Blocking, countering. Locks and holds( at least enough to better restrain someone closer to Vaughtars size).
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Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Fetzen
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Vaughtar


Basically the gargoyle's whole ascent up the mountain could be summarized in a single outcry he never spoke out: Arrgh, that damn sun! As long as it was still morning and not past noon, he would become weaker - and he already was. Vaughtar felt like a sick man, a humongous sick man, breathing heavily and trailing behind when it went uphill. Additionally, even though he was wearing an impressive set of sunglasses, the combination of cloudless sky, fresh, reflective snow and cold, dry and clean air was overloading his eyes with brightness. It hurt, and if these glasses would drop right here he would be almost blind. At least he was proficient about covering his footsteps, smudging them by halfway dragging his feet through the deep snow. He had been told to do so, because nowadays virtually everyone had a camera in his pocket, and there was Youtube and other platforms. 'DINOSAURS NOT EXTINCT ? LOOK AT THESE CLAWS' or 'Chernobyl aftermath ? Giant wolves prowling in russian wilderness' were no fun media events to deal with.

The good thing was however: The castle was at a distant location. When they would have arrived there, it would possibly already be much later in the day and he would feel better, no longer having to feel like a burden for the rest of the team. The gargoyle let himself drop onto a bulge in the snow cover that appeared to be hiding a smooth rock beneath it. "We have to get rid of the snow without damaging any evidence first. Do we have shovels ? And we need to get there first, hopefully there really isn't anyone around anymore." Vaughtar asked, not speaking towards anyone in particular. There was still the bloodshot imprint of Wolfe's knee across his face, but at least the one on that enormous trunk that his thigh was couldn't be seen, being hidden beneath his cloak. The creature was wondering if anybody would ask where he had acquired this new... facial expression.

"Should we wait or get there as soon as possible ?" A major part of Vaughtar was hoping that they had not climbed this mountain just to have a good view through the binoculars and then go down again.
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Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by cpldingo
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Wolfe and Hirsch were not with the normal group. In fact they were further up the mountain than the rest of the group. On a ledge facing the catlse both marines laid in between some rocks and bales of snow, concealed. Both marines were wearing white BDUs with patches of browns and blacks. They were looking toward the castle.
They were getting recon of the area. Wolfe and Hirsch were happy to be wearing their armor, and had their weapons back. Hirsch had his M249 SAW and Wolfe with his M4 with M203 attatchment. Wolfe was using a 10x monocular, Hirsch looking through the optic on his weapon, and L-can 4.5 x scope designed for machine guns.
The area was quite, no movement, Wolfe felt fine. No gut feeling. Wolfe pressed the comm button on his radio.
"Omega this is Alpha how copy?" Wolfe said into the Mic.
"Send traffic Alpha," the radio chirped.
"Roger, we are located at grid Zulu papa wun niner ate to break," he gave a two second pause and continued, "niner ate sevun six, no movement, clear to manuaver, holding firm, will advise if the sit rep changes, Alpha out."
They maintained their position, there wasn't much talking back and forth. Hirsch, being the jokester he is, understands mission professionalism, and kept his head about him. They stayed in their prone positions until the group made its way up closer to the castle.

(ooc: wun niner ate to niner ate sevun six, is radio speak for 1 9 8 2 9 8 7 6. An 8 digit grid, used when dealing with terrain maps. Accurate up to ten meters. Its spoken like that to make sure numbers are separate and clarified, radio transmission can be really staticky or quiet).)
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Viridity
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Vata looked over the ruins, trying not to remember the gruesome things he saw while stuck in there. At least this time he was dressed for the weather. The winter garments of this world were incredible, made of materials lighter and more insulating than anything conceivable in the world he was from. He would need to ask what this "polyester" stuff was sometime, since it seemed to be listed on the tags of many of the garments provided to them. Then Charles started talking to the group, joking a bit, and commenting on the way the ruins looked now. After taking a quick look through the binoculars, and fumbling slightly with the controls, he agreed with Charles' assessment of the ruins. He couldn't see any signs of recent activity, and the ruins just seemed like ordinary ruins now. Despite the uneasiness he felt, there was a sort of beauty to the scene in front of the group, with the pristine now and the silence provided from the snow that covered everything around them.

Handing the binoculars back to Charles, Vata sighed. Despite the beauty of the place, it was marred by the memory of lives lost from a gruesome ritual of some unknown purpose. Unfortunately, it also seemed to be the only potential source of information regarding the bizarre event that brought them here.

"Even if nothing has been here recently, I don't like the feel of this place. Hopefully it won't take too long for us to find something useful here, I don't think we should stay here any longer than we need to."
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Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Eyeris
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Zesiro was on the other end of the radio.

"Alpha... um... Whatever. Yeah." It wasn't that he couldn't keep up with the army ligno. He just didn't care to. It was just them on top of the mountain. Who the hell would care?

Rozalind was with the main clutch of the team. She nodded to Charles. "Wolfe Hirsh and Icaus have the perimeter. Let's go in. When we get there Vata, Twain and Herbert should find the runes and start deciphering it. The rest of us will comb the ground for anything that might be left behind."

The team moved toward the castle

~~~ The castle ~~~

The fires had gone out, the white chalk was scattered. Rosalind walked the perimeter looking suspiciously at their surroundings. Sometimes her eyes would fall upon Mallaidh or Natasha, and linger there just a bit too long... Then they went back to their work. Looking for clues, looking for danger.

Dzel was shifting through the snow with her small hands. "I think I see some of the markings here... The chalk is blown away but there what was written in blood is still here." She touched the reddened stone with a frown. Such senseless violence... What kind of power were they trying to trade for a human life?

Zesiro had a snow-shovel and was picking at some ice that had crusted over the alter in the middle.
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