[IC] The Friestan Incident, a Fantasy Sci-Fi Fusion RP

[DracoLunaris]

Q-T Brackman

”Someone needs to supervise all the gear, so yes, if I’ll fit on I’m coming with” The bot insisted as she did some fussy last second triple checks on the dragon rider’s harness. You could never be too sure with these things after all. The last thing she wanted was the captain, who she noted had simply ignored her protest about this being dangerous she noted, falling off of the dragon to her death because her harness wasn’t configured properly.

If the bot wasn't in the midst of rushing around in the high intensity atmosphere of the improvised op, she might have considered the fact that a 300 year old woman in this line of work who took the kinds of risk she seemed to do without a hint of fear probably knew how to handle herself just fine. As it was, the stressed out Ai was instead a bundle of nerves, or circuitry rather, as she too climbed her way up over the dragon’s wings and onto her back.

Once there, she mentally fiddled with a few of the settings of the harness she and the captain were wearing. This caused a subtle change to their experience of gravity, both lessening the actual pull of it, and directing a new, secondary, pull towards the surface they were sitting or standing on. Atop the landed dragon, this didn't do much, but once they started moving, banking and being blown by the wind, it would prove invaluable when it came to anchoring them onto the dragon.

Speaking of the dragon, well. She was on one’s back now. That took a little bit to settle in, but once the bot was quite sure she and everyone else wasn’t going to fall off the moment they started moving, she got to take a moment to actually marvel at the majesty and absurdity of the situation. Her sensors drank in every inch of the fantastical creature, finding every inch a wonder and denial of biology all at the same time, and then she crouched down and touched the scales, ostensibly to better support herself when they took off, but also just to confirm that yes, this was, as far as she could tell, real.

This was happening.

”And yet I still can’t quite believe it is” she murmured to herself as they prepared to take off to the skies upon the dragoness’s back. All that remained were a few last second checks and orders, and then they would be skyward bound.

[Medili]

---

They managed to did it after all. Despite this being their first battle together as a party, they've actually taken down and killed a dragon. A young one, yes, but a dragon nonetheless. Most adventuring parties would be ecstatic and more than a little prideful of the fact, and it can be said that it was a well-deserved bragging right indeed.

Anki didn't feel such a thing. She was just glad that they've all managed to get through it. On the other hand, she didn't feel any guilt or remorse either. Killing the dragon, after all, was self-defense. She took one last brief look at the fallen dragon, and then turned around and focused her gaze at her party members instead to assess their conditions. Among them, Srikandi and Fei were both wounded, with Fei actually falling over although Anki noticed that it seemed more out of exhaustion than pain. After a brief consideration, Anki knew what her next task was.

She walked over to Srikandi as the dragon knight mentioned that the party should go on ahead without her. "No, that will not do, Ms. Srikandi. You're wounded, and I cannot in good conscience leave you behind. Besides, there is no need for such a course of action..." Anki briefly checked something, trying to gather some mana from the surrounding into her left palm. She soon found that the amount of available mana were still thinned, and her efficacy at condensing them was still reduced after the rapid firing she did during the battle, but a form of standard healing spell should still be within her capability to cast. "I will heal you first as your wound seemed the most significant among us. Then, I will also see to Mr. Fei. Please stand still." She began condensing the mana into her left hand, preparing the healing spell. "This will sting a bit, my apologies. And it will take a few minutes until the spell is finished. Healing Touch." Then she cast the spell as she laid her hand on Srikandi's stomach. Almost immediately, slowly and surely, the damage were starting to be healed. She continued channeling the spell for a few minutes as she had already mentioned, and by the end of it, Srikandi will find that most of the damage had been healed and the pain had subsided.

[ShiningSector]

Garret Zarubin

Mentions: @DracoLunaris and @Kumbaris

---

Garrett didn't need to defer to the HUD within his helmet to sense the many eyes of his squad leering toward him. He couldn't blame them as he himself felt the awkwardness churning his stomach by the Captain's remark. Had he been mistaken? He recalled the notification from the Head of Security herself explicitly requesting his team as the Captain's security detail for their operation. Bonnie's instructions were quite clear; perhaps there was a mistake in communication between her and the Captain? Garrett quickly shook off the thought and tried not to further think into it. Still, he and his squad, nervously, observed Galmira and Almira's interaction regarding their presence. Then, in an awesome display that even he couldn't fully comprehend, Garrett watched with wide eyes as Galmira, engulfed in a brief shimmer of light, morphed her entire human form into that of a large and genuine dragon. He himself was so marveled he nearly missed the gasps of his crew behind him, sharing the same amazement.

As soon as the transformation had finished, their eyes were set back to the Captain once more, who took her place upon the dragon's back and began giving orders. It was then that their attention was then focused on Q-T now, who the Captain had offered to ride along with her. It was also Q-T who would also determine if he and his team could go as well if Galmira couldn't handle her. Garrett couldn't hold back the gulp that when down his through as he watched their robotic crewmate assume their position. As luck would have it, Galmira didn't appear to show any sign of stress or discomfort with Q-T or the Captain sitting atop her. That said, Garrett did share a concern for Galmira as well and didn't want to become a further burden as his squad had unexpectedly become; something he would need to rectify in a moment.

"Suit up and make final checks!" he ordered his squad as he pulled his helmet over his head. After the mechanical 'click' between his suit and helmet resonated, indicating a secure connection, opened up a private channel to his team.

//Get your gravity harnesses booted up. Minimal setting; just to shed some weight off. Clear?//

//Copy.// his squad responded, notably faster and albeit tenser than he expected.

Technically, they had already checked their gear prior but Garrett wanted to briefly delay them from boarding for a quick minute as he made his way around Galmira's wing and towards the Captain's position.

"Ma'am, if I may," Garret began as he arrived, gesturing the need for a private conversation by leaning slightly forward, "I wish to clear up an apparent case of miscommunication. We were called in by Bonnie, at the request of Q-T, stating that you had requested an security detail. Were those not your instructions?"

[13org]

^{Interaction: Anki @Medili, Srikandi @Kumbaris, Zavim @Sanity43217 and Fei Bai Ho @Shirly Swad}

---

With the dragon now dazed, thanks to the explosive compound Catherine thrown at him, she watched, amused as Fei Bai Ho continued to fight. Not only his body was resisting remarkably well to the concentrated tonic she gave to him (and he ended drinking in one gulp), but even after his body was affected by both the tonic and the powerful sleeping poison, it seem to be breaking down. In fact, he seemed to be resisting remarkably well to it. No organ failure, no severe intoxication due to two completely different mixtures affecting his body at the same time... It was truly interesting. Although there weer a few hints that he wouldn't be able to keep up for too long...

"Truly remarkable. It seems I have found myself a very~ promising test subject." Catherine said, observing Fei Bai Ho with an amused expression.

"Oh~ There it is. He's not going to last for too long. It is still impressive that his body or his organs didn't fail after being affected by both the tonic and the sleeping poison though..." she mentioned as she watched him struggling to keep awake.

Much to Catherine's surprise, Fei Bai Ho still had more to show her, as he jumped towards the dragon, kicking him repeatedly with his feet in a wheel motion, making the dragon slam into the side of the mountain. Following that move, Fei Bai Ho used some type of martial arts ability, making his fists become engulfed in flames as he punched the dragon, making it roar in pain before it succumbed to it's wounds. After such a powerful attack, Fei was only able to raise his arms in commemoration and for some reason, bowing towards the dragon in respect before he fell down, unconscious.

Srikandi was the first to approach the dragon's body to confirm it was truly dead. After that, she mentioned that they should cover it's body with snow and go to the Table, in order to avoid further problems, just before Anki went to treat her wounds. Unfortunately for Srikandi, Catherine not only had completely ignored her words, but was going towards the dragon corpse with a dangerously excited expression.

"Out of my way~ Out of my waay~!" she said, singing and almost hopping as she got closer to the dragon.

"Now, where is it? It should be around here..." She began mumbling to herself as she went to the dragon's throat and began running her hands through it's scales, apparently searching for something.

"Ah~ Here it is! Good, no wounds. Hopefully it'll be undamaged." she said as she touched upon a distinct scale on the dragon's neck, the only scale that seemed to be on a different position than the others, the so called 'inverse scale'.

It took a few seconds until she was able to finally dig her nails under the scale and lift it enough for her to put her fingers underneath but the moment she did, she dug her feet into the ground and pulled it, suddenly tearing the scale off the dragon's throat, exposing the soft meat underneath. Using the very scale she tore from the dragon, she carefully made an incision and quickly grabbed a glass jar from inside her bag to store the blood that began flowing from the wound. It took a moment for the blood to stop flowing, filling two thirds of the jar when it finally did.

"Such high purity! Look at this vibrant crimson color!" she said, admiring the steady stream of blood that slowly filled up the jar.

The second the blood stopped flowing, without losing any more time, Catherine immediately rolled up her coat's sleeves before plunging her hand inside the dragon's throat. After a few minutes of carefully feeling around inside with a very concentrated expression, Catherine's face suddenly brightened up as she carefully pulled her hand from the wound, carefully holding what Srikandi would immediately recognize as the dragon's breathing gland.

"Luckily, a perfect extraction despite the lack of appropriate tools! It's undamaged as well, even after the beating the dragon took!" Catherine said, looking at the gland in her hand and admiring it almost as if she was looking at the most beautiful and expensive gem in the world.

"Hm... The blood crystal inside... Has a decent size but it's not particularly big. So this was a relatively young dragon then?" Catherine said as she very gently and carefully pressed the gland between her fingers, turning towards Srikandi as she asked the last part before she put the gland into the jar, together with the blood she had just gathered and put the lid on it, carefully resting it on the ground besides her.

"Should you need any help with the wounded, just call me. I still have a few potions that could help with internal injuries." Catherine said to Anki as she rolled up her other sleeve while looking at the dead dragon.

"Otherwise, I think I will be very~ busy here." she said with a rather grim smile on her face as she kneeled down and started taking off all the jars and vials she was keeping inside her bag, along with a small knife used to separate and cut ingredients with it's blade or even grind and crush them with the back of it's handle. In the end, there were about three other jars, not counting with the one she had just used.

"While I am not exactly an expert draconologist, I'm knowledgeable enough about it's anatomy to harvest the 'useful bits'..." Catherine said with a chuckle as she put the inverse scale she had used to cut the dragon's throat on top of the glass jar, both the scale and her own arm still completely covered in dragon blood.

[King Cosmos]

Sumiye King – Acting Chief Engineer

Adventurers, huh? Just when she was starting to get used to the idea of talking to a dragon their conversation was interrupted by news that the Fellowship was on the way to their mountain; not too surprisingly really, they must have made quite an entrance when they breached the atmosphere going a few thousand miles per hour. The only surprisingly part was how quickly this supposedly medieval world had put together a party and made it this far into the mountains.

Curious.

Of course, their captain wanted to immediately hop of the back of said dragon to go intercept them; if Sumiye didn’t know any better, and truth be told she really didn’t, she would think they Almira was enjoying all of this. “I’ll pass captain, if it’s all the same to you. I have duties back at the ship to return to.”

If they were going to have guests then she had better make sure they actually had power and running water by the time they arrived. And working guns… just in case. Their impromptu little weapons test earlier had gone well, but she had yet to check the data herself. “I can have someone look at the data from the rovers once you’re back if you want.”

@Kumbaris

[Kumbaris]

"Well, looks like this Dragon Rider Squad thing is a go then!"

@ShiningSector@DracoLunaris@King Cosmos

---

"Really?" Almira responded to Garrett's reply. She was kinda sure that she didn't request any type of escort. But, summoning Bonnie, and then hearing her clarification. The Captain quickly relented. "Ah, oh well, sorry for being a bit rude. I didn't expect that Bonnie were to request an escort for me."

She didn't have much time to look into the finer details of how her subordinates interpret her orders. But decided to go with the group consensus and brought Garrett and the rest. Fortunately Galmira responded with a shrug, and when pressed, she said that the weight on her back is 'not a problem', so that's good.

Just one little thing though.

"Sumiye. While you're fixing the ship and all that, can you inform me on that little Chang'e project thing and the feasibility of it? This would has particular properties that might potentially make such an effort possible, and I want your input on what's required in order to float the ship again. Hopefully we can use this world's uhh, magic for our uses."

"Alright then. Galmira, I trust your instincts. So don't be going all wild and everything with us in your back."

Galmira didn't so much as responded. She just took off, the sudden force exerted forced Almira's hand to grip tightly into whatever she can grip on her backside. Just some spiny scales by the looks of it, very very flimsy, but strong enough that her genetically enhanced hand kept her in place. She looked at her back and the rest of her crew were not looking all that much better. Practically everyone was hanging on for dear life as the Dragon made it's way into the area of the commotion.

Alright, I need to design some sort of saddle if I want to ride a dragon again. This is crazy!

---

--Continuing towards the Table--

@13org@Shirly Swad@Medili@Martian

If there's one particular adventurer that she knows who to rely on. It will always be the Princess of Oberia, Khaltesh Anki. Her wounds are healed to such an extent that she can walk again. And her body's strength has also been somewhat restored, not enough to perhaps wound/ kill another dragon perhaps. But if some Kobolds are in their way, then she should be able to make short work of them with some effort from her part.

Not particularly useful in some aspects, but she's not totally useless either. "Thanks Anki. I think I should say I owe you one, but remembering our last adventure, does that mean I owe you three times now?" She asked, semi-joking of course. But Anki is... very useful as an adventurer whenever she's around, she remembers the various monsters they slayed together in past adventures. And the many times she would've died had not Anki intervened on her behalf.

She just picked up Fei's limp body. Looking more knocked out than dead, and then was busy ordering the group to walk towards the table. "Alright, so the Table should be straight ahead, and if we make it there. I say we set up a camp just near the table, and then wait it out until we hit morning. Perhaps then we can inspect the site further, determine what we're dealing with and so on."

Well, unfortunately. Things have started to move a bit faster than Srikandi expected, as she heard the sudden flapping of a dragon nearby. This sounded... much heavier, it's flaps carrying more weight then before, it's like comparing the flapping sounds of a hummingbird to the majestic soar of a condor when it flaps it's wings to take flight.

It seems a like an older, a much older Dragon is heading their way. And Srikandi's face paled as she turned her head towards the team, her body couldn't move an inch, she tries to think her hardest on how to solve this particular problem, but... she can't see a cave opening, she can't see Anki recovering her mana supply that fast, and she cannot see herself fighting a Dragon of such stature on her lonesome.

She could only say one thing.

"I'm... I'm sorry..."

She said that as the Dragon landed right behind her, Galmira's head looking at the group. A very imposing, very elderly dragon looking at everyone. She could fry them all if she wanted to. But instead, she lowered her head, and allowed her 'cargo' to gently slide down instead.

---

She has no idea what to say.

She could only stare at the group.

They looked peculiar, all of them wearing clothes more resembling some dungeon adventuring party than an actual group of people.

There was a woman holding a staff. She... looks like a mage, hopefully they wouldn't attack her, the Dragon ride has been particularly short, and the rest of her team wouldn't be here at least for half an hour or so. There is also some woman holding vials and somesuch things, and also a... rogue elf?

Not deciding to stall any further, Almira decided to break the ice.

"Uhh, halo. Selamat sore semuanya!(Hello, good evening everyone)" Almira greeted in Indonesian, she reasoned that, due to Galmira's unusual fluency in the language, that some of the adventurers would be able to speak as well. "Apakah anda butuh bantuan? Kami tidak datang dengan kemauan membunuh." (Do you need help? We don't come with the intent to kill)

While waiting for their response, she ordered both the Q-T Unit and Garrett's team to stand back. "I need you all to step back for a bit. Garrett, Q-T, nonlethal pacification and only nonlethal pacification is allowed should things go south" She ordered sternly towards everyone. Before turning back to the adventuring party, her face trying to be as hospitable as possible.

There is a Dark Skinned woman, her head immediately turning in shock as she heard the language Almira spoke. Oh, perhaps a response from the group?

---

--First Contact--

Her sadnesss on her and the impending team's death were suddenly upturned, completely upturned. She immediately turned her face, her eyes still bawling out as someone spoke her language.

She wore strange clothes, and even stranger companions, but the language she spoke is Pataliputran. No doubt about it.

"Anki..." She turned towards the mage "Did you... hear the same thing I did?"

Not waiting for a response. The Ksatria Naga clenased her face from her tears as best she can, before bowing her head towards Almira. "Selamat Sore juga. Siapakah anda? Apakah anda juga Penjelajah yang sedang pergi ke Gunung Meja Besar? (Good evening to you to, who are you? Are you also adventurers going to the Great Table)"

She hoped that Anki and the rest knows a little bit of Pataliputran, or else she would have the dubious honor of being the translator.

She also wouldn't try mentioning the Dragon at any point and time, the Dragon seems... unusually calm for some reason, and she has no intention of breaking that Status Quo at any point.

[Medili]

---

"Owe?... Ah. No, please don't worry about it, Ms. Srikandi..." Anki seemed to have successfully missed the joke within Srikandi's spoken gratitude towards her as she finished using her magic to treat the knight's wounds. She then paused briefly as she once more focused on checking how much mana she can possibly gather in her current state. Upon being sure that she should be able to handle another healing spell, she followed Srikandi over to Fei as Srikandi picked him up. Without much preamble, she then started casting another Healing Touch spell to treat the sleeping fighter's wounds. It was as she were doing so while listening to Srikandi's order to the party that she soon noticed the pressure in the air.

The source of the pressure soon enough shown itself via the mighty flapping of her wings. ... Another dragon. Larger. Which means it is likely that is is also older and thus much more powerful. She mulled in her mind. Her lack of experiences once more became apparent in that unlike Srikandi who understood very well how powerful the new dragon that just arrived likely was and how it would very likely be impossible for the party to defeat it, Anki didn't show any concern or fear at all. Instead she merely stood beside Srikandi, relaxed while analyzing the large dragon passively. "Hmm..." The dragon soon lowered its head, revealing the ones that had been riding on it. A most unexpected development.

".....?" Anki tilted her head slightly to the left upon seeing them. These... people that were riding on the dragon looked like a single human female accompanied by several automatons. But the thing that the female human was wearing were unlike anything that Anki had ever seen before. These automatons too (In reality only one of them counted as an automaton, Q-T, although the armor that Garret and his squad were wearing also made them looked like automatons to Anki), Anki had never seen anything like them. Which was most unusual, because Oberia was at the forefront of the world when it came to the creation of automatons both sentient and non sentient. She soon arrived to the conclusion that these automatons must be some kind of new type of constructs resulting from an experiment she wasn't aware of. Perhaps this human woman that seemed to be the leader was some kind of wizard or alchemist then.

She continued silently looking at these 'dragon riders' with curiosity in her eyes, analyzing every details she can see and committing them into her memories. She nodded as Srikandi asked her the question. "Yes, Ms. Srikandi. She spoke. In Pataliputran." Anki wasn't really fluent in the language, but she had partial understanding of it. She wasn't feeling like talking however, content with letting Srikandi do it. Instead, she continued to observe the fascinating and foreign-looking people, especially the automatons behind her.

[13org]

^{Interaction: Anki @Medili, Srikandi @Kumbaris, Zavim @Sanity43217, Fei Bai Ho @Shirly Swad,
Almira and Galmira @Kumbaris, Sumiye @King Cosmos, Garret @ShiningSector, Q-T @DracoLunaris}

---

Staying true to her word, Catherine was completely absorbed in her work as she 'harvested' the organs and useful parts of de dead dragon's body. Fortunately, both for her and the others nearby, not only no one tried to stop her neither they seemed to need her help in healing the rest, thanks to Anki's healing magic and quick treatment of the wounded.

It was only after a good amount of time, when Srikandi was already fully healed and carrying Fei's unconscious body that Catherine finally finished butchering the dragon's body. Besides the now open carcass were many different jars, with many different organs and parts of the dragon inside, neatly organized besides Catherine, in a grim and bloody display of efficience.

"Hah! That was refreshing! It was quite a haul. These beauties will last me a good while!" Catherine said, looking at the initial results of her 'harvest' with a satisfied expression as she cleaned her arms and the knife she used to cut the dragon open with a small rag, tossing it aside soon after before she kneeled down and started putting all the jars back into her bag.

"Plus, if I ever wanted to get stuff as good as these back in a city, I would probably have to either blackmail, threaten or punch someone!" she said, laughing as she gave a small tap on the bag, making the jars inside clink against each other.

"Still... It's really a shame to leave so much behind... Sure, they're basically useless to an alchemist like me but scales, bones and fangs can fetch quite a high price on the market..." she said, looking at the dragon carcass in front of her before she looked back to the group.

"Hm... I've heard that the meat from a dragon's tail, especially the thicker part of it, is quite a delicacy... Is anyone interested in eating some dragon tail steak for dinner? I'll need some help with the tail though, since I don't think this knife will be enough for a clean cut..." Catherine said as she looked to the dead dragon's tail with a rather voracious look in her face.

It was exactly at that moment that an ominous sound of wings beating interrupted them. Something was coming their way and by the sound of it, it was even bigger than the dragon that they had just fought... The realization that the situation was really hopeless only came to Catherine after she heard Srikandi apologizing herself and a huge dragon suddenly landed behind her. Everyone seemes to be far too tired and exhausted to fight and they both had no time nor a place to hide...

On that moment, Catherine's mind was racing with everything she had, thinking of any possibility for them to get away of that situation. She still had some reagents and could maybe do something to blind the dragon for a moment, but that wouldn't help them that much, as it would still be able to track them by their scent... Fighting against a dragon that big and that old wasn't an option... not on the state they were...

Strangely enough though, the dragon didn't use it's breath or even demanded anything from them. Instead, it simply lowered it's head as the unlikely passengers slowly slid down. What Catherine saw next thoroughly confused her. While she didn't recognize the technology, the automatons that came down could only be Oberian constructs, since there was nowhere else in Friestan where that type of technology was this advanced. That said, not only the clothes the woman was wearing were incredibly strange, but for some reason, she seemed to speak Pataliputran.

"Well, we aren't dead yet so that's a good thing." Catherine said to herself as she continued to watch the situation with extreme curiosity and amazement, but at the same time, still cautious.

For now, she would just gather information. It was highly unlikely that the dragon didn't smell the blood on her or the jars inside her bag, so the fact that she didn't have to fight against it meant that the dragon didn't seem to harbor any hostility towards her. Regarding the strangers who got down from the dragon, the first contact was still... cautious, from both parties so she was unable to say if they could be considered allies or if she had to be careful around them.

"So... I'll leave the diplomacy to you guys. For obvious reasons, I'm definitely not suited to this type of thing." she said with a mocking smirk, but sharp and observant eyes, looking at every movement the dragon or the strangers gave.

[DracoLunaris]

Q-T Brackman

”Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! We’re actually doing this!” Q-T babbled in half panic-half awe as the dragon they were all atop suddenly launched skywards. And then she clung on for dear life for a moment like the others before activating pads on her hands and feet which let her effectively stick to the surface (the design of which was lifted almost directly from the terrestrial gecko).

That let her stop focusing on keeping herself somewhat stable on the dragon back, and instead focus on keeping everyone else onboard instead. While monitoring their gravity harnesses and their grasp on their mounting points, the bot kept one of her arms free to grab anyone who looked like they were going to fall. She probably didn’t need to worry about the experienced captain and trained soldiers, but she did anyway, out of a mix of concern and astronaut arrogance.

Down below, the small shoal of skimmers chased after them, and though their instruments meant that they went flying blind despite the fog, the pace over the unfamiliar train was slower than the denizen of the land carrying the captain and her escort. Galmira raced across the skies and brought them swiftly to their first contact with the humans of this world.

What they found did not exactly leave a good first impression. While Q-T might have been curious about the biology of dragons and how on earth they ticked, she very much did not enjoy the fact that she got her wish by the manner of seeing one in the process of being carved up by the group of humans right out of a fantasy film.

She was both amazed and concerned that Galmira was so calm about this fact that one of her kind was laying half butchered on the ground. Q-T personally considered it a travesty, but she followed the Captain’s lead and didn't display any open hostility or dismay at this. Instead she slipped off of the dragon’s back and listened to her orders about being ready in case things got ugly, which she responded to with a saute as confirmation.

Feeling quite ill equipped for that, having foolishly not considered that it was the humans who might be the threat, carefully turned down the dials of the anti-megafauna launchers to as low a setting as they could go. Then she took up position with the troops and, in lieu of having anything else to do other than stand there in nervous readiness, started murmuring translations of the negotiation to the others to keep them abreast of what was going on.

[Kumbaris]

"Wait, what's Galmira doing? Oh shit oh fuck!"

@ShiningSector@DracoLunaris

---

Galmira looked at the group, analyzing intently on everything the adventurer party has in store. Of particular note however, was the dead dragon that a certain woman seemed to have looted it’s corpse from.

The dragoness transformed herself back into her human form, and stared at Catherine for a very long time. All the while Almira slowly noticed the sudden interest Galmira had towards a certain woman from the adventurer’s party. “Galmira?”

The dragoness didn’t respond. And she decided to only walk towards Catherine. All the while Almira could only freeze at the implication of Galmira burning all of these adventurer’s to the ground. “Galmira. We have megafauna pacification devices, you know?” Almira tried warning her. “Don’t do this Galmira. Please…”

She signaled her team to prepare the devices. “Make sure she doesn’t hurt anyone in case she tries something.” She ordered in English towards the rest of her team. While also slowly prepping her CQC stance in case shit hits the fan.

The Dragoness approached Catherine eventually though, Almira not really willing to take any sudden action in case of some bad reaction from the adventurer’s party, and the Dragoness opened her mouth.

“Did he die fighting?” She simply asked. “Did you defeat this Dragon in Combat?”

Galmira’s expression was dead serious when she asked that question, she gave no indication about any emotions other than intensity. “Answer truthfully. Your very lives depend on it.”

While Galmira spoke. Almira quietly requested Q-T to record and transcribe the language she’s speaking into the Universal translator. She is speaking an entirely different language now. Seems like a mixture of French, German, English and Russian by the sound of it. But she’s not sure. “Q-T, what did the translator say?” Almira whispered on her comms. “Did the translator manage to make things out?”

---

--A tense standoff--

@13org@Shirly Swad@Medili@Martian

Srikandi was nervous about the whole issue. And the question that this Dragoness posed towards Catherine, she has a sinking feeling that Catherine might screw up. And everyone will get roasted by the potentially angry dragoness.

Still, she fears interrupting the question might result in an even worse result for everyone. And with that in mind, she stares at Catherine, hoping that her eye movement and facial expression should be enough for Catherine to make the right decision.

C’mon Catherine. Don’t lie to the Dragoness, please please please… The last thing we need is a lie and a provocation right now.

[Martian]

The silver haired Pixie stood stiff, in complete fear as the other adventurers attacked the Dragon. It seemed that Dumas’ attempt to pay the toll had been completely ignored, as everyone threw everything they had at the lizard. This would culminate in the martial artist landing a death blow on the Dragon.

Dumas was shocked as the Dragon drooped along the snowy mountainside. Unfortunately so did the martial artist, who collapsed in exhaustion. It seemed that a good chunk of the group had been injured in the battle. Snapping out of his shock, Dumas immediately began rooting through his pockets, trying to find the right herbs for healing the wounds. But the Princess of Oberia beat him to it, healing the damage with a magic touch spell.

Seeing this, Dumas put the herbs back into his pockets, figuring that they could be of use at some other point. Plus it would make sense to keep a reserve as he would have to go back to the Pixie lands to get more. Then one of the other adventurers asked him his name.

“First off, I’m a Pixie. We’re not the same as Fairies. And second, I am Dumas, the Knight of the Deep Wood. But it is good to meet a fellow knight,” Dumas replied with a smile, “I have been dispatched from the hidden forest as I am skilled with a blade and a master of wild magic. I will assist any effort to learn about the meteor.”

After introducing himself, Dumas looked over the rest of the adventurers, taking stock of their current state. The healing magic had seemed to help those who were hurt by the Dragon, but what caught Dumas’ attention was the lady harvesting the Dragon’s body. It was a sight that he never thought that he would see as he never heard of a mortal taking down a Dragon, and even when they died naturally, their bodies are hidden from the eyes of the other races.

After he got over the novelty of the fallen Dragon, Dumas walked over to the woman, wanting to see what exactly she was taking from it. Dumas had heard that in ages past that Dragon’s fangs were worth a lot when ground up into an aphrodisiac. Dumas started to figure out how to properly ask for the woman to harvest some pieces for the Pixie, when something caught his attention from the corner of his eye.

Dumas turned to see that a much larger Dragon approaching the adventurers at a fast rate. Before he could do anything, the Dragon landed near Dumas. Now Dumas could see that there were several people riding on the back of the Dragon. Then the Dragon lowered its head, allowing the riders to slide down onto the mountain. The lady at the front of the group then began to speak. Dumas immediately recognized it as accented Pataliputran. Dumas was semi-fluent in the language, knowing all the common words and being able to speak in broken sentences.

The odd lady had greeted them then said something about not murdering anyone. But this statement did not help alleviate Dumas’ fears as the large Dragon stared at the Dragon corpse next to Dumas. Then the Dragon Knight replied in Pataliputran, also with a greeting and then asking if they were adventurers. If they were, they were some of the strangest that Dumas had ever seen. Their style of clothing was very different than Dumas had ever encountered in his travels.

Dumas took this brief distraction to slink away from the fallen Dragon, changing back into his one foot form. He felt a little bit bad over abandoning the lady who was harvesting the Dragon as the older Dragon transformed into a human form and approached her. The Dragoness then asked about how the other Dragon died, demanding the truth. As Dumas looked at the intense Dragoness, he got the feeling that she would be able to tell if the lady lied.

Dumas hoped that the alchemist would be truthful, and that the truth would be successful. Dumas highly doubted that the Gods would let them survive two Dragon encounters in one day. Instead Dumas turned to the Humans who had arrived with the Dragon. Hopefully they would be reasonable, but all Dumas could do was hope. His handle of the Pataliputran language wasn’t good enough to negotiate with these strangers.

@Kumbaris @13org @Shirly Swad @Medili

[13org]

^{Interaction: Anki @Medili, Srikandi @Kumbaris, Zavim @Sanity43217, Fei Bai Ho @Shirly Swad,
Almira and Galmira @Kumbaris, Sumiye @King Cosmos, Garret @ShiningSector, Q-T @DracoLunaris}

---

Catherine kept watching the dragon as she transformed into a human form. Even though the situation was incredibly dangerous, Catherine simply wasn't able to hide her amazement and curiosity. Her eyes glinting with an almost mad curiosity and inquisitiveness, even in the face of something which could easily kill her and seemed like definitely was holding itself not to do so. Truth be told, even though the dragon was clearly displaying it's hostility towards Catherine, she couldn't help but feel her skin shiver in amazement and excitement. Who knows how long did that dragon live? How did it's 'shapeshifting' worked? Was it a special organ? Magic?

Truly a reaction fitting of a mad genius like herself.

"Fascinating..." Catherine said to herself as the dragon approached her in human for, completely unfazed by it's hostility. It was the first time Catherine had even seen a dragon like that, capable even of transforming itself into a human form.

While she was undeniably entranced by having a dragon like that one, which was much older than one they killed, near her, she still kept paying close attention to both the dragon and her surroundings. The strange automatons and the woman that accompanied them didn't seem to agree with the dragon's sudden display of hostility. Some which were slowly getting into a fighting stance. While that was definitely a good thing, it wasn't like it would make much difference with the dragon standing so close to Catherine like she was right now.

Then it came the question. A question which honestly made Catherine confused and disappointed. The way she looked at the dragon was almost as if the reply to her question was simply obvious.

"Wait... That's it? That's the reason for your hostility? I am sure that you wouldn't care if the carcass laying right there wasn't a dragon's but our mangled, broken, burnt and possibly half eaten corpses..." Catherine asked, looking deep inside the dragon's eyes, almost as if she was hoping if she could see inside her head and how her body 'worked'.

"With that said, we did not come here specifically to hunt your kind nor we had any intention of starting a conflict... At least most of the group didn't want to, that is... We simply came to investigate the meteor. That dragon, that I presume it was much younger than yourself, after sending his kobold minions to harass us, came himself, mentioning that we were 'trespassing' on his territory demanding for the gold and treasures we do not carry, as we are an exploratory team..." Catherine began explaining as she shrugged.

"The only outcome for that situation was violence, as we couldn't really escape from him and our words and attempt to defuse the situation with diplomacy and words were fruitless. We fought and he lost. That's all that there is to it." Catherine said, shrugging.

"Besides... You can't possibly blame us for fighting to protect our lives and our things. The way I see it, it would be an insult if we simply left his body there to rot or to be eaten by wild animals. He would have simply died in vain... As his reason to fight us was honestly... well... Pathetic. Why would a dragon act like a petty robber? The least we can do is give him a purpose for his death. If we were the ones that died, he would probably feed on our corpses anyways... Such is the natural order." Catherine said, finishing her explanation as she looked to the dragon, who was still in her human form.

Catherine was a genius, yes. But she was also infamous for her terrible interpersonal skills.

[Medili]

---

Even as everything was going on, Anki continued with her administration of the Healing Touch to treat the unconscious Fei. Her head followed Galmira as the now in human form dragon walked over to speak to Catherine. Anki's gaze, unlike Srikandi's or Dumas', was not one of fear. It was one of curiosity and fascination. This dragon had brought with her a group of very peculiar individuals after all, and she have yet to become hostile unlike the dragon that they had slain. So curious she was, that she had forgotten to turn her body along with her head, and thus now had her head rotated a hundred and eighty degree.

Soon enough she was fully finished with her healing of Fei, putting her hand down after. And yet with her head remaining backward, Anki continued watching as Catherine answered Galmira's question, wondering what the dragon's response will be. As far as Anki was concerned, Catherine's answers were fully reasonable, as it was honest despite the added provocation.

I suppose we shall see if this dragon will be more reasonable than the last... Of course, Anki did not in reality pick up on the provocative nuance of Catherine's answer.

[DracoLunaris]

Q-T Brackman

Things did not seem to be going well. The first reason for that was because Galmira did not seem to be particularly pleased about the death of one of her kind at the hands of these adventurers and who could really blame her for that. Q-T certainly wouldn't, seeing as she was plenty upset about it herself.

The second reason it wasn't going well is because ‘seemed’ was the core part of the sentence, because the dragon had switched to another language which left them in the dark as to what was going on, something that was basically Q-T’s fault because she had not even considered bringing the translator with them. It was presently hurtling towards them strapped to Neilsy’s jet bike, but it’d be minutes till it arrived and if things were going to go wrong, they were going to go wrong fast.

Especially because what Q-T could pick up from the mix and mash language using her own, modern language, translation routines was that Galmira had said, ”Something about ‘die fighting’?”

”Sorry captain, trying to signal box, even when get, will be slow. Will try to do what can,” the bot, who had started wiggling her antenna around to try and get a signal back to her friend and the box, said. She had had to scrap most of the grammar in her sentence because one of the native humans, a blond and very pleasant to look at woman who seemed to be ‘armed’ with a plethora of vials of colored liquid (possibly acids or chemical explosives or something more esoteric) began to respond at length.

”She’s… confused? Disappointed and dismissive?” Q-T began with something she could translate easily, which was tone and body language, something that might be redundant but the fact that this was the person’s attitude did not really make sense to the robot. It also worried her, so she felt she had to air it before moving on to hacking together a translation mostly based on individual recognized words.

”They were here for the meteor, us I think, and then there is mention of trespassing and demands for gold. They tried to talk? Then violence happened anyway… I’m fairly sure she’s just insulting the dead dragon now” Q-T said, getting the gist of what happened but missing/failing to pull out much of the nuance of the situation and similarly failing to grasp Catherine’s philosophical waxing that went along with it. The latter was likely for the best, considering how abhorrent the child of the age of peace would have found the alchemist's outlook had she been able to grasp it at all.

What was clear though, was that ”I don’t think she’s much of a diplomat captain, so this, ah, might not end well”

[Kumbaris]

"I really don't like where this is going"

@ShiningSector@DracoLunaris@13org

---

Galmira looked at the Alchemist woman. Her eyes not paving away from her one bit as she explained how the group managed to kill the dragon, she explained how they have to kill the dragon in self defense, how she thinks it would be a waste to let the dragon rot in the wild and be prey to vultures, and how the young dragon is demanding payment because they’re ‘trespassing’ his territory.

In the end of it all. Galmira could only conjure up a sigh and looked at the Dragon Knight of Pataliputra. “You, Dragonborn.” She called her. “It seems that this alchemist in your party is particularly incompetent when it comes to the art of conversation. Nonetheless, you have defeated this young dragon in honorable combat. In line with the Dragon's Code, I won't kill you for slaying one of our own.”

She then turned towards Catherine. A visible look of disdain coming from her as she sees the vials storing a variety of Dragon body parts, like some trinkets in a shop. “Next time, treat a corpse with respect. He might be in the wrong, but that is no reason for you to loot his body like that.” Finishing her sentence, she went back towards Almira’s group, addressing a much concerned Almira and her team.

“Do not worry Almira. It is part of the Dragon’s Code that a Dragon fighting a human must win, yield when all evidence points to the dragon's defeat, or die in Honorable combat, should any lesser creature use treachery and deceit to kill the Dragon. Then it is the duty of all dragons to hunt down the individual. This group of particular adventurers did kill the Dragon in honorable combat. And as such, has the rights to the Dragon’s body.”

“Although if you want my opinion. You might want to ensure that the Alchemist over there.” She pointed her hand towards Catherine. “Does not gain access to your wares and tinker with it. Only the two gods know what she’ll do if she were to know what you people are truly capable of, and they do not approve of it.”

With that being said. Galmira went back towards Almira's group, sitting down in a lotus position and squarely observed the potential interaction between the two teams.

“Uhh, alright then.” Almira replied after the fact, now totally unsure where to continue. “All of you over there. Would you like to uhh, introduce yourselves perhaps?” She said in Pataliputran. “My name is Almira Gunnarsson Budiman, and I am the… leader of this team of mine. Who are you?”

The Captain then turned towards Q-T shortly after introducing herself asking her yet another question. "ETA on the translator arriving here? We need that thing ASAP now that discussions are about to start."

---

--Introductions--

@Shirly Swad@Medili@Martian

For a good little while. All Srikandi could do is just wait anxiously as Catherine make a not too convincing argument on her part, all she could do is just wait as the Dragoness would blast all of her teammates into oblivion.

And then Galmira addressed herself.

“You, Dragonborn. It seems that this alchemist in your party is particularly incompetent when it comes to the art of conversation. Nonetheless, you have defeated this young dragon in honorable combat. In line with the Dragon's Code, I won't kill you for slaying one of our own.”

The Ksatria visibly sighed as Galmira walked back towards the group she unloaded, learning something new about Draconic conduct concerning combat was not how she thinks this day would be, but she doesn't seem to mind it either way. The woman noticed that Galmira is talking with the other adventurer party, seemingly a little back on forth by the looks of it. In the end, the woman wearing the big hat and the coat. Seemingly the leader of the group, introduced herself and asked the rest of Srikandi’s group to do the same.

Turning towards the team. Srikandi conveyed what the woman said. “Alright alright. So that woman with the white clothes wants us to introduce ourselves, perhaps to break the tension of the situation and make all of us on favourable terms with each other. So who wants to introduce themselves? I’ll translate whatever you say into Pataliputran in case she doesn’t understand."

[Medili]

---

All things considered, the standoff ended rather well. The dragon, while still not pleased with what Catherine had done to the body of her kin, did not turn hostile. Anki watched it all in silence until it was over. For the most part, she didn't thought of anything much out of it. Although she did wonder about a particular point, and not seeing anything wrong with it, mentioned it openly to Srikandi beside her. "I do not understand what the dragon meant by treating the corpse with respect. What is the difference between letting the body rot and be consumed into naught but bones by nature, and harvesting its body so that it might be used for useful scientific or magical purposes? In the end, it will be the same. Rotten flesh, and then bones, and then nothingness." Her expression as she asked the question was one of true curiosity. Earnest innocence without the slightest bit of sarcasm.

Anki then turned to look at Almira and her crews again as the strangers from beyond the stars approached the party. It seemed that it was finally time for proper introductions, and thus Anki proceeded to do just that. Her Pataliputran was half-baked however, and thus she kept her own introduction simple. Very simple.

"Khaltesh Anki du Oberia. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." Then her gaze flicked over to the armored security crews and the one actual robot also with them, her own artificial eyes brimming with curiosity. Anki seemed to scrutinize them for a full minute, looking over the details, the shape, and the materials of their armors. Then, she turned to look at Almira again. "You made these automatons? You, alchemist? Wizard?"

[13org]

^{Interaction: Anki @Medili, Srikandi @Kumbaris, Zavim @Sanity43217, Fei Bai Ho @Shirly Swad,
Almira and Galmira @Kumbaris, Sumiye @King Cosmos, Garret @ShiningSector, Q-T @DracoLunaris}

---

Catherine couldn't help but to shrug, letting out a mischievous smirk as she heard the dragon mentioning that she was 'incompetent' regarding conversation, both completely unfazed and unsurprised by such words, as she herself had said before that she wasn't exactly an expert at diplomacy. While it was true that Catherine wasn't exactly known for her interpersonal skills, most of that was thanks to the fact that Catherine, had no qualms or even hesitated in simply stating the logical truth, no matter how cold or harsh it was. For her, feelings and the such were irrelevant details when compared to logic and truth.

What did surprise Catherine though was the strange logic that the dragon, Galmira, seemed to have as she mentioned Catherine's act of using the dead dragon's corpse as something 'disrespectful' and continued elaborating on it, saying that the 'code of dragons' wouldn't accept 'treacherous' means of combat and so on.

"Exactly Anki! Her logic does not make sense... at all... After all, I am quite certain that dragon wouldn't have any qualms in feeding on our dead corpses..." Catherine said, agreeing with Anki whom also seemed to be as confused as Catherine herself after hearing Galmira's words.

"There is no such thing as 'honorable combat' on nature. Predators will use of any means they have to secure their meals and the prey will do whatever they can in order to survive. Such is the fight for survival, the cycle of life..." she said, finding it extremely difficult to understand Galmira's words and the whole thing about the dragons' 'code of honor'.

"What could be considered unnatural was if we refused to make use of his body, despite having killed him... Or even if we willingly put ourselves in a disadvantage to try and fight with him instead of using every means we can in order to win... That would be akin to a rabbit to willingly jump inside a wolf's jaws..." she finished, shrugging, apparently giving up on understanding Galmira.

"So... I suppose I should give up on the idea of eating dragon tail steak tonight... right?" Catherine asked towards Anki, Srkiandi and Dumas in a low tone as Galmira turned to the other strange individuals that came with her.

"Talking about food... Someone should wake Fei Bai Ho up. He will probably still be feeling like crap, but at least there won't be any permanent damage to his nerves or organs." Catherine said as she fetched a small vial from inside her pockets with a clear liquid inside.

"Just open it and make Fei Bai Ho smell it. He should wake up right away." Catherine said, handing the vial to whomever might take it.

Just as Catherine finished saying that though, she noticed the dragon pointing towards her as she spoke to it's strange companions and the automaton and waved back at them with a smile, barely being able to hide her curiosity about them, including their origins, equipment their physiologies and even the strange automatons that they had brought with them. Fortunately, unlike the dragon, they didn't seem to display any particular hostility towards her or the group.

With possible conflict with the dragon woman not being a threat anymore, the same human that the dragon had talked with, approached the group, as she began to say something in Pataliputran. Which, unfortunately, wasn't one of the languages Catherine was very good at. She was able to read, write and even understand Pataliputran decently well, but she her pronounciation was simply terrible.

"Perfect! I can write, read and even understand some Pataliputran, but I always had trouble with speaking it." Catherine said, with a satisfied smile towards Srikandi, when she said she would translate their introductions to Almira.

"I'm Catherine Blackwood, an alchemist." Catherine said, in an extremely simple and straightforward introduction.

"Now, to the actual questions... I believe I overheard the dragon over there saying something about your 'wares'... Would you care to elaborate on that?" Catherine asked, looking to Srikandi and then to Almira with her eyes shining with curiosity and excitement.

"Was that meteor some kind of vehicle of yours? These automatons... are notably different from the ones the Kingdom of Oberia makes... the materials also seem to be quite unique! It seems to have some sort of artificial muscle fibers... Incredibly advanced ones at that as well!" she said, looking towards the red automaton, analyzing her with her eyes as she quickly approached her and began walking around Q-T, her curious eyes sweeping every centimeter of the automaton before she turned her attention back to Almira.

"Would you mind giving me a small sample of blood and maybe take part in some small tests? If we assume that you came from outside our planet, the fact that your physiology seems to be, at least superficially, identical to ours is quite intriguing to say the least!" Catherine continued, doing exactly the same of what she had done with Q-T but with Almira this time.

The endless stream of questions Catherine was throwing towards Almira and the strange automatons was already enough to make anyone dizzy, especially seeing how Catherine seemed to jump from one subject to another, and unfortunately, judging by the look on Catherine's expression, she was far from over with the questions and would definitely continue doing so, unless someone interrupted her.

[Shirly Swad]

Fei Bai Ho

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After such a victorious battle, Fei Bai Ho was glad that he could finally rest after such an intense fight to the death with a dragon. He had never fought a dragon before, but when his master taught him about them, he couldn't wait to just fight one already. Defeating a dragon is a warrior's true test of strength that Fei had always strived for. Fei could only dream merrily knowing the dragon they defeated won’t be getting back up to hurt them. The group has done an exceptional job of working together and Fei couldn’t help but feel glad that he met them. Maybe now he’ll finally get that meal he so desperately has been craving since the start of their interaction. Nothing beats a delicious meal right after a hard fought battle.

While Fei Bai Ho was unconscious, he could feel a very pleasant tingling on the wounds and bruises he had amassed while in battle with the dragon. They wouldn't be completely healed but at least the excruciating pain would subside and he could finally rest in peace knowing the group will probably treat him well. Adventurers are usually very selfish from Fei's experience, but these guys were well organized and calm when fighting the dragon. Common adventurers tend to be weak as well, but the people he had just fought with seem to be the types to hold their own in fights making them interesting enough to follow. He doesn't have much of a purpose at the moment since he was only going to the meteor out of curiosity and what felt like fate pulling him towards it.

He could still feel the pain from the fight as well as all the different things that were mixed in his body such as the energy tonic and the gas that was thrown earlier. Cultivating somewhere in rich energy would probably be his next course of action so that he can circulate the different mixtures out of his body as soon as possible. There was also no time to rest as his instincts were starting to feel the presence of yet another more powerful creature than before approaching the group of adventurers. This feeling caused him to fidget a bit as he tried to force himself to wake up so that he could respond and not just sit around unconscious. His eyes began to flicker open but he was still only half asleep, barely awake enough to see and hear their current situation. It seemed like an older dragon had arrived and it doesn't seem like it will like the idea that another one of their own is laying not too far dead.

Fei's vision was still blurry and his hearing was still impaired, but he could just make out the new group that had arrived speaking in a somewhat familiar language. He didn't speak much Pataliputran, only enough to get around from place to place and complete a couple requests here and there. There was never a point in Fei's life where he enjoyed learning, except martial arts, he'd spend vast amounts of time doing that. So he just continued to stay somewhat unconscious since nobody was fighting. It appears that the other group is just looking to talk so he decided to close his eyes and rest a bit more. He might be able to wake up but Fei's sure that the group can handle the diplomacy, he'll just continue to snooze until something importa...

When Catherine mentioned food, Fei immediately jumped up suddenly with stars dazzling in his eyes and his stomach roaring for its prey. He didn't think about the possibility of eating the dragon they had just defeated, now he won't be able to get it out of his head until he tries it. Dragon meat sounded delicious, Fei has always been able to eat just about anything he could get his hands on. His body was still hurting especially from suddenly moving around after just being healed but he must get his hands on dragon meat. There was no telling when he would be able to have such an experience again so of course he wouldn't miss it for the world. They worked hard so they deserved at least that much, not even the other dragon will keep him from getting hands on that mysterious meat.

"Dragon tail steak sounds delicious, in fact I think we should cook it right away," Fei said excitedly! He quickly looked around and didn't see the huge dragon that was around earlier, not realizing that it had turned into its human form. Fei looked at the woman who was able to turn into a dragon and couldn't help but feel an uneasy and heavy pressure coming from her. He ignored the feeling since she was here with the group of strangers that looked funny and came up with an idea. They also seem to speak a different language so he can't really introduce himself so he turns back towards Srikandi and her group.

"Go ahead and tell them that I am Fei Bai Ho, greatest martial artist alive," Fei says gallantly hiding the pain he was feeling within himself behind a smile.

"There is also the matter that you guys did an amazing job with that dragon earlier and I'm grateful for the assistance and healing," said Fei while bowing his head towards everybody in the group. Fighting dragons is no easy feat, only hearing about it on occasion in taverns he would visit for homemade cooked meals.

"Also, let's get started with that dragon steak, I've got impurities in my body that I need to circulate out of my body and cultivating is best with a full stomach," Fei said happily while stretching his arms, "We even got new friends here with us too."
He had just noticed the fairy joining them and everyone else was looking anxious as Catherine went on and on questioning the new group of strangers.

"HA HA HA, it seems quite lively here," Fei says laughing out loud at the situation they were currently in.

[Martian]

The Pixie grimaced as the alchemist as she attempted to explain herself to the transformed Dragon. To Dumas she seemed very blunt, an approach that Dumas himself would agree with in most situations, but not with a Dragon. It had been instilled in Dumas since he was a child to avoid the bigger races, as Pixies were naturally only a foot tall. Using magic, Dumas was now able to transform into the relative height of a Human, and as such was not fearful of anyone of that height. But the giant creatures were still beyond him. The usually gung ho Dumas was still hesitant in the face of things like Gryphons, Chimeras, and Dragons.

Dumas hoped that the explanation of the dead Dragon provoking the fight was good enough for this new elder Dragon. As he waited, Dumas noticed that there was some kind of construct among the other group. While Dumas was familiar with constructs, as he hailed from Oberia, this one was of a completely different design. Instead of artificial skin, it’s outside was very clearly metal. Also it had four arms. Dumas stared at the artificial being as it spoke in an unfamiliar language to its comrades.

But Dumas’ interest was immediately overtaken by the Dragon speaking. Apparently what the adventurers had done was in line with Dragon Code and as such would have no repercussions. Dumas had heard talk of the Dragon Code before, but assumed it was folklore as he had never heard of a mortal killing a Dragon, at least not a trustworthy account.

The Dragon then walked back to the group she arrived with and took a mediative position. Then the apparent leader of the others began speaking in Pataliputran, introducing herself as Almira Gunnarsson Budiman. It was a strange name to Dumas, but then again he never really learned about Pataliputran naming practices, so perhaps it could just be a more rare name. Almira then asked for their names before turning to the construct, asking it something in a mysterious language.

The Dragon knight then offered to translate any introductions into Pataliputran. But the Princess of Oberia spoke in Pataliputran herself introducing herself and asking something about the construct. But as Dumas also wondered about the construct, the alchemist, Catherine, introduced herself before asking a whole lot of questions. She brought up the possibility that the meteor was some kind of advanced vehicle. This hadn’t occurred to Dumas before. He had heard talk of airships before, but this meteor had come from the stars, making it some kind of starship. The notion seemed incredibly unlikely to Dumas, but as he looked at the four armed construct Dumas slowly realized how much more advanced these people were.

But what was not advanced was the martial artist popping back up from unconsciousness at the mention of Dragon tail steak. This primal reaction to the mention of delicious food was not lost on Dumas as he too wondered what that kind of meat would taste like. The newly conscious man the introduced himself as Fei Bai Ho, the greatest martial artist alive. Dumas could easily say that he had never heard of him.

With everyone else done speaking, the Pixie transformed back into his Human size form and spoke himself in Pataliputran, “My name is Dumas.”

But before he could expand on that, he realized he did not know how to say his full title in that language. So instead he turned to Srikandi, and began speaking in a more familiar language.

“Could you them that I’m the Knight of Deep Woods?” Dumas asked the Dragon knight, “Also mention that I’m a Pixie. Whoever these people are, I don’t think they’ve ever seen a Pixie before.”

Sure enough, Dumas had no clue who these people were. The Pixie believed that he had traveled across enough of the world to know most attires. But the garb of these people threw him off. Again he thought of the advanced vehicle theory, which could mean they had come from the stars. But the stars were the realm of gods and other celestial beings, and these newcomers, save the construct, all appeared Human. The many thoughts continued to puzzle Dumas as he waited for Srikandi to translate what he said.

@Kumbaris @Shirly Swad @Medili @ShiningSector @DracoLunaris @13org

[DracoLunaris]

Q-T Brackman

Q-T was as confused by this bizarre turn of logic regarding honorable death as the captain was. She was quite sure she did not like the fact that this world involved such brutal arrangements however, as it did not bode well for the prospects of peace.

She didn't have much time to contemplate that however, because she was swiftly put upon by the captain to figure out when the translator would get here.

”Sorry captain, ground force is still a bit a ways away but I’m trying to-” she was apologizing when she suddenly got a return ping from her frantic unidirectional signaling and her expression brightened ”Ah ha. I’ve got a signal from the vanguard captain! Just give me a few moments more and I can set something up”

N: You read? Everything ok?

Q: All clear. We’re safe. Just need the translator here

Q: Or hooked up to this signal, that’d be better

N: I’ll signal the rest of the cavalry that we aren't needed then, and try to find somewhere where we can get a signal. Also glad to not be rushing. This place is a nightmare to ride around in.

N: Also glad you're safe!

Q: thanks Neilsy : )

The shoddy data link signal improved over a few seconds from something that could take their text to something that could take a full data upload, something Q-T immediately rammed the entire recording of her translation down the throat of.

”I’ve started feeding data to the translator, we should start getting results soon” She happily informed the captain as the upload hummed away, before adding ”do you have any orders for the cavalry now that I’ve got them on the line?”

Fortunately, the locals seemed to be meeting them halfway anyway by using the dialect the captain already understood, though it was clearly not their own primary one, so the urgency of the initial standoff wasn't quite there anymore. Although things did get a bit more of a personal bent as she started getting examined by several of the adventurers, and getting talked about rather than too which was a bit rude. Then again she hadn’t made any indication that they knew the language of communication. So she decided to enlighten them to that fact.

”Hello. I am Q-T Brackman, a person,” It felt a bit weird to add that, but it was probably best to make it clear right off the bat in her opinion rather than worry about any confusion or biases they might have regarding her artificial nature ”I can answer questions regarding me… if that is permissible captain?” she said in near perfect medieval Indonesian/Pataliputran.