Warpland Fantasy

[Soru]

"...Huh?" Scarlet snaps out of her trance when Kayin nudged her a bit. "Oh, right. Yeah, lets get the hell out of here. For all we know there's more mummy beasts in the walls." She said as she gathers the small bits of metal and the gem and follows them back up to the surface. "Also, I vote we for avoiding any more underground explorations for a bit." As they walk up she glances at the gem every once in a while, something telling her that there's more to this gem than she thought.

[Taria]

The party makes it back up the stairs with no further incident, and as stated by Crake, there's no more sounds or visuals of any Sand Shark activity. Mitch takes a look at the "loot" they have brought up from the dungeon, his gaze lingering on Nova's exposed tits briefly before he sourly mutters, "Yeah, I don't wanna fuckin know..." and finished getting his own things together for the final leg of their journey. Crake politely offers to carry some more of the groups items with Kayin's and Nova's hands full. Slowly the smooth endless sands of the desert start to transition to the signs of more rugged rock and dirt, and eventually clay as they finally reach the river. Mitch calls out for the group to halt as he squints at something in the distance, pulling out a pair of old-era-tech electric binoculars to get a closer look at something. He even calls Kayin over and tell her to take a look at the thing somewhat gruffly, eying the strange device she caries with her somewhat skeptically. It seems like some kind of gray leathery llama-shaped creature? Either way it wanders off without much further incident leaving the narrowest and slowest section of the river bank clear, and they safely make it to the forested side. with nothing more than wet shins.

Riverside Camp Established

"We can set up here for now I reckin'" Mitch growls as he takes a bite out of some kind of dry preserved meat snack he's brought with him. Setting down his pack of things in a relatively flat and clear looking area. "Keep track of the landmarks around this spot so we can reliably find our way back to it... Living on the river can be a risky proposition however, as you are more liable to get critters coming through... Not that anyone really asked my advice. If you're tired find a dry spot and try to sleep on the ground best use the daylight once you got it though. Survival's all about making efficient use of your time." With that little speech as he's setting out his things, Mitch lays out on a bedroll and prepares to sleep. Crake finds a spot to sit for now and looks over everyone else to casually check how they're doing. Finally though the mystery woman who has been getting carried by Nova starts to stir once again, thrashing weakly in a brief panic as she tries to get to her feet and figure out what's going on with her environment.

[jondude]

As they continue on their journey it is mercifully uneventful, no sand sharks or anything else to bother them. In fact the only notable thing that really seems to happen is how Crake's gaze seems to get stuck on her tits every time he's doing a perimeter scan, his staring obvious even despite his gas mask. Such was only natural for a guy though, and given the unique circumstances they were in whenever Nova catches him looking she gives him a smile and a wink, in response to which just act all flustered and mumble something or other before going back to doing what he was doing. It killed the time a little at least.

Finally after more hours of walking they seem to leave the desert, sand making way to a rockier landscape now dotted with the odd shrub, greenery slowly becoming prominent the further they went. The flat terrain though was kind of dull, but it at least gave them good opportunities to catch anything long before it could surprise them... hopefully, baring any... rock sharks or something. A little while later and they seem to get to a river without incident, and at this point Nova surely hopes the Hinterland Woods would not be much further. When everyone goes about making camp she looks for a softer spot of ground to put the mystery woman so she might go about trying to get some meager fuel for a fire or assess the river to see if they might be able to catch fish in it somehow. Before she even takes a few steps though the girl in her arms seems to come too, then starts to immediately panic. An understandable reaction.

"Woah hey! Easy! Easy.", Nova tells the girl, slipping an arm down slowly and letting the girl plant her feet on the ground. Once she was on the ground though she'd try to hold the girl's shoulders gently, enough so to hopefully not feel threatening, but keep her close that she could probably snatch the girl up if she tried to bolt. "It's okay! Your safe, your safe...", she continues, keeping her tone soft. "Do you understand me?", she then asks, not even knowing if the girl knew the same language as they did. (Bid: 2 social)

[Kuragari]

Kayin follows along with everyone, dutifully carrying the filtration device thing with her as they did so. When Mitch asks her to come check out some creature or other, she hums but notes she doesn't recognize it, save that it reminds her of pictures of llama's... minus the fur coat. Still, once they reach their current destination, or at least someplace that seems close enough, she settles by the water with her device. Intellectual curiosity getting the better of her as she decides its high time to see just what this thing can do.

Setting the device down by the water, she begins working to pour some water into the device and crank or power it by hand if its able to do so, or find a switch or some such on it. "Let's see what you do..." She muttered aloud, focused on her experiment.

[Soru]

"Trust me Mitch, you might be even more confused if we tried explaining it." Scarlet said as they were gathering at the top of the ruins. Not wanting them to stay in this place much longer incase there was anything else in the ruins or if the sand shark things return Scarlet was quick to pick up the water sacks she was carrying before and is soon ready to head out the moment the group was ready to move. It was a bit awkward though to also carry the bits of precious metal and the gem along with the shark tooth in addition but she tries her best to manage.

After a long while of walking they finally reach a forested area, leaving the desert behind. Once they arrived at a place Mitch figured would be a good campsite she sets the stuff she was carrying down and sits down somewhere dry to rest. "Ugh... My legs..." She groans as she rubs her legs through the stockings of her outfit. As she rests for a bit she pulls out the gem and looks at it for a moment before noticing that the mystery woman is finally waking up.

[Taria]

Nova rolls: 1,5 (diff 2)

The mystery woman seems completely disoriented at first, but as soon as Nova holds her and looks her in the eyes, she seems to recognize something. "You're.. do I know you from somewhere?" She asks with a posh accent, blinking in confusion before continuing, "Yes I understand what you're saying to me, I think. You are all.. humans?" She looks around at the group around her, as if surprised by how their appearance. Then she clears her throat as if remembering her manners. "Right, I am member Beta, 3417. Are.. you part of the Marc program? Or some ancillary rescue team maybe?"

Kayin easily manages to run the device, river water with slight traces of debris goes in, she turns the crank for a while and the device hisses slightly as the fluid it forced through pressurized tubes and into the middle chamber. From there, it creates a whirling vortex and is drained down into the later chamber looking like the fresh clean water she became use to from home. (5) Once the filtration is complete, the bottom compartment opens up automatically, ejecting silt and mud as well as some kind of... mossy worm? The foreign creature squirms around in the refuse it was ejected with before it orients itself and starts to make a beeline for the water's edge.

Crake had stepped over to Scarlet before the commotion as if to strike up conversation or maybe check out her gem, but they are both soon distracted by the odd woman introducing herself, and he just kind of scratches his head in confusion.

[jondude]

Nova sighs in relief as the woman promptly calms down and says she understands her. The words she says afterword though throw her completely for a loop though. Nova just starts at the girl with a perplexed expression. "Well miss... Beta 3417, of all the things I was expecting you might say... that certainly wasn't one of them.", Nova responds, before giving the strange girl a friendly smile to hopefully try and keep her calm. As absurd as it was she was half expecting the girl to proclaim she was an ancient Egyptian empress or something. Somehow reality ended up being even more ludicrous then even she could've guessed.

"I don't believe we've met before miss Beta, and yes... we're all humans. Were you... expecting otherwise?", Nova asks after Beta asks her various questions. "I'm afraid I don't know what the Marc program is and while we certainly, uh... rescued you I guess, we aren't a rescue team. We found you in what looked to be a small temple or shrine in the desert. You were in a sarcophagus, and had a very different form until we, uh... calmed you down and became like this. Can you tell me what the last thing you remember is before now?"

[Lazy Kitsune]

Vale hadn't joined the others in their little expedition down into the ruins. As much as she didn't care for Mitch all too well, she shared his sentiment that it was a needless risk under the circumstances. But more so than that, if the others were going to go exploring, then she wanted to keep an eye on the two guards, just to make sure they weren't all going to be abandoned out here if the exploration took too long. She didn't exactly think she was in a position to stop Mitch or Crake if they did choose to leave, but she might be able to rush to go warn the others and get them out in time to try and catch up to the two armed men so they wouldn't be left completely without protection. To their credit, neither man made a bid to leave them behind, and Crake even went into the ruins to go check on the others after they had taken a while to come back. Perhaps she had been too harsh with how she viewed them. Too used to the cutthroat mentality of her home. Though they've both still made it perfectly clear that neither could be considered friends.

Vale wasn't prepared for what she would see when the others returned, somehow having gained a new member of the group while down in the ruins. "What the... where the hell did you find her? What happened down there?" she asks as everyone gathers up... obviously a little worse for wear, although not empty handed.

It seemed like we were bringing this new girl with them. Well, hopefully this provided them with a new potential ally. And if Crake and Mitch were going to cut ties with the girls in not too long, then the more people to have around the better. With no signs of Sand Sharks in the area, the group resumed their trek. The tension that mounted over the journey finally started to dissipate once they reached the river, the water acting as a much needed deterrent to those Sharks. This should hopefully mark the end of them needing to worry about those horrific things, though who knows what else the group will have to worry about going forward.

As everyone begins to set up camp, it seems this mystery woman begins to wake up and Vale approaches slowly to keep an eye on her and see what it is she has to say as she awakes. Only for her answer to offer up even more questions than before. She didn't speak up, staying quiet as she lets Nova handle this one, though she casts a look around at everyone else on the off chance anyone happened to know what the fuck 'Beta, 3417' was on about.

[Kuragari]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

more of a general note but Kayin would have happily supplied the general gist of what happened to Vale once such was asked.

"Well, looks like we've got ourselves a working water filtration system!" Kayin says with delight after blinking and watching the mossy looking worm thing wander off. She was vaguely curious where that had come from given she hadn't seen a worm in any of the water she had been scooping up. She goes ahead and moves to take a taste, wanting to be doubly sure. After taking an experimental sip, she then turns towards the strange girl, tilting her head as she wracked her brain first for any memory of the things she mentioned (Bid Mental: 1) even as she commented, "She sounds almost like an android or synthetic human like out of some of those old sci-fi stories. Though uh, how one squares that with the whole being a werebat mummy thing in a sarcophogus is anyones guess."

[Soru]

Scarlet glances up towards Crake as he steps over before they were both focusing on the mystery woman who was awake now. However she had no idea what the woman was talking about. Beta 3417? Marc program? Ancillary rescue? None of this meant anything to her and a quick glance around at the others showed that none of them had an idea of what those words meant. Meanwhile Scarlet notices that Kayin got the device going, apparently some sort of water purifier, though she has no idea what something like that was doing in those ruins.

"I feel like we got more questions than answers now..." She comments to Crake before glancing at the gem in her hand again.

[Taria]

"I don't believe we've met before miss Beta, and yes... we're all humans. Were you... expecting otherwise?", Nova asks after Beta asks her various questions.

The woman winces slightly at Nova's reply. "Miss Beta? Uh, no that's just my designation. If you aren't Marc affiliates, you can just call me... Bean. And I've kind of been surrounded by, well I call them kobolds" Bean gestures low to the ground with her hands to indicate something of small stature "I think they were trying to help with my.. condition."

"I'm afraid I don't know what the Marc program is and while we certainly, uh... rescued you I guess, we aren't a rescue team. We found you in what looked to be a small temple or shrine in the desert. You were in a sarcophagus, and had a very different form until we, uh... calmed you down and became like this. Can you tell me what the last thing you remember is before now?"

Bean clears her throat at the mention of being calmed down and looks away with a blush. "No details, please. It's better that I don't hear about anything exciting. Like I said, my kobold friends had been trying to help me, I think. I was starting to have an episode and that's when they started wrapping me up. After that.. no idea. I always black out during transformations. Also how in the hell have you not heard about Marc? The Militarized Assault, Rescue, and Contain initiative? How did you people even get here?" Bean even more and more perplexed as she glances around at how everyone is outfitted.

As Vale looks around at the others of the group to see if they understand whatever is going on an she sees Kayin finally turn her attention from her special device and then mull over what was just said from Bean. A look of shock and realization paints her features as she apparently makes same connection.
Kayin You rolled: 6 (diff 2)

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Androids... synth humans... no, no. Squad 3417 was before those advances in the Marc program.. If what she's saying is true, she's not just some random warp victim. She is a perfectly preserved antique. Old world tech and the advances it was able to make thanks to massive multi-state funding was something often spoke of and coveted by the technocrats of Eleria. To that end, post Incident old-world technology was one of the major topics of your studies. With the Marc program being the final unified military group from the old world, a failed attempt at preventing their collapse to the warp, Marc tech is the most advanced source of military grade anything. Squad 3417 specifically was humanity's first foray into widespread human bio engineering. Bean here was fully made in a lab, genetically modified to be one of the best humans possible; before the development of cyborg upgrades and eventually, full on androids. You don't think the werebeast thing was part of that program though, no that's probably just warp taint. You also have no clue how a human of any kind would still be alive after over a century.

"I feel like we got more questions than answers now..." She comments to Crake before glancing at the gem in her hand again.

Crake responds with a smirk and carefree shrug, "That's why I don't worry about the questions too much. I focus on what can be answered. Where to sleep, what to eat, the next job. The warp could make something never seen before, or erase a law of physics. What's the use of big questions in the face of something like that?"

[Kuragari]

Kayin's jaw has dropped and it isn't just shock that is painting her features but pure and undiluted academic excitement. She lets out a squeal of glee as she says "I know what she is! I know what she's talking about! Oh by the stars, we've found something BEYOND amazing!" She forgets the water filtration device as she rushes over to Bean excitedly. In fact she practically glomps her as she says, "She's a bio-engineered human! Grown in a vat, made to be the perfect super human soldier! Beyond that, she's ANCIENT~! She's something Old World, before the days of Taint!"

She is all but babbling as she starts rattling off details. This Bean, this Beta 3417... She's quite possibly one of the most advanced pre-incident things they could have ever found! Her mind is racing with so many questions and she's practically bouncing in place as she tries to contain her need for knowledge, with so many questions all but threatening to spill out of her in a torrent.

[Lazy Kitsune]

"Bean, huh." Vale muttered to herself. It felt a lot less mysterious a name than 'Beta', that's for certain. Although the rest she had to say was more concerning. After Kayin had filled Vale in on what transpired within the ruins, Vale wasn't all too keen on the idea that Bean could turn back into that creature at any moment. She steps forward, closer towards Nova and Bean.

"Wait, are you saying you could transform again? Do you know what causes it, or how we could stop it?" Vale asks. It's probably not a good idea to frighten someone in Bean's position, so she tries to keep her voice somewhat level, but she can't help but let a little alarm slip in.

Her concern doesn't seem to be shared at all by Kayin who throws herself at the new girl much to Vale's bewilderment. At least it seems like someone has a clue what Bean has been talking about. Does that mean she's safe to be around, then?

"Wow, wow, wow, slow down!" Vale says, reaching out to rest a hand on Kayin's shoulder and try to stop her very energetic bouncing for a few moments so they could get some clear answers. "Before the taint? Are you sure? From what you told me, she seems tainted to me. And she... well..." Vale looks back to Bean with a shrug. "She certainly doesn't look that old." Vale was certainly lost, although she didn't particularly need to know all the details. Just enough to tell whether or not Bean was safe to fall asleep near.

[jondude]

Nova listens to the strange new girl as she answers her question, though has to tightly purse her lips to avoid laughing out loud when she explains that they call her Bean. "She could've said anything but went with Bean!? That's as hilarious as it is cute!", Nova thinks to herself as she briefly struggles to keep her facial expression composed.

When she asks for her not to share details though it's quite clear that -snrkt- Bean... knows that she transforms into another form. As well as that she was being helped by something called Kobolds. The way she explains it though made them sound very not human however, so... that was curious. She explains that she recalls undergoing a transformation before the kobolds started wrapping her up, as well as explaining what MARC was wondering how they hadn't heart of it. Now that she mentions it though Nova had heard of it to some degree! "Oh! Some of weapons and gear I used to have at Thunder City was marked with the MARC logo now that I think about it. Not all of it, but certainly some. I kind of just thought it was an old weapon manufacturing business logo.", Nova explains. "Don't really know much beyond that though. Thunder City schooling education teaches us how read and write but there isn't really any history lesso-woah!"

Nova finds herself slightly cut off when Kayin seems to make a deeper connection, passionately explaining what Bean was and what period of time she as she suddenly glomps the girl. Vale takes this opportunity to tell Kayin to cool it a little, and Nova would have to agree a little. A flare of protectiveness rushes through Nova, and she goes about pulling Kayin off of Bean so the bronze skinned girl could have some breathing room. "Easy now Kayin. I know your excited but let's not overwhelm the poor girl.", she starts before turning back to Bean. "To answer your question though, we are here because we were exiled from our cities for being warp tainted. Incredibly lightly warp tainted, but many cities don't like to take any kind of chance. As for not hearing of MARC, well... I don't think there is any soft way of putting it, but you've might been in that sarcophagus for a long time Bean. I don't think MARC has existed for over a hundred years... unless there is some remnant running around in the warplands still. It's possible I suppose.... but uh, it's okay if you need a moment to take it in.... Deep breaths okay?", Nova explains.

[Soru]

Scarlet looks up at Crake at his response and nods lightly. "Yeah, I can see what you mean there. Though questions can help us out, make us look at beyond the now I think. Still though nothing wrong at all with your point of view." She says to him.

Scarlet raised a brow at the name 'Bean' which sounded very unusual from her, but considering where and how they found her that wasn't the most unusual thing about her. Everything she said after that though was lost on the thief, the woman talking about things that she did not know anything about. It was as if she was talking about things that were from another place completely.

Right as she was looking at the gem again Kayin's suddenly squeals loudly and rushes excitedly to Bean before explaining who and what Bean is, someone from before the time of warp taint. "That... That is interesting, though I don't think I can believe it..." That was shocking, assuming it was true but then again with everything Bean has said and what Kayin just said... they would connect and make sense even with how nearly impossible it sounds. "Seems like we got answers... and more questions I think?" She said to Crake. "Damn confusing though..."

[Kuragari]

"Yes, I am positive! I studied this stuff a fair bit because all the folks who run things in my city desire this sort of tech and knowledge. Practically salivate or lust after it in some cases." Kayin says as she, briefly, calms down. In the sense that her mouth isn't moving a mile a minute. She's still bouncing in place a fair bit, unaware that such is making her bosom bounce and jiggle about. "Marc tech is THE most advanced pre-incident military grade tech you can find, and we've got a still-living example of it! Those guys most have known what they were doing when they designed her!"

It didn't seem even the least bit odd to her to be talking about this lady in this manner. She still saw her as a person, how could she not, but she was also still a piece of technology all the same. Advanced and amazing technology at that! There'd probably be tons of people back home who'd want to study her to bits even if she was warp tainted... though then again, with how feared warp taint was and the fact she was somehow still around, that might be enough to outweigh just how impressive her existing intact was.

"Oh I got so many more questions... they're all kind of jumbling together in my head, hehehe." Kayin says sheepishly as she finally starts to calm just a bit more. Though she's still practically bouncing in place. Even if it's more sedately than before.

[Taria]

Amidst Kayin’s literal bounciness, she finds herself first being grabbed by Vale, then she gets tugged firmly by Bean herself. Everyone with prior experience is reminded of the fact that, despite Bean’s previously unconscious and vulnerable-looking form, she is still quite capable of exerting some heavy force. “Stop.. bouncing, please.”

“Easy now Kayin. I know your excited but let's not overwhelm the poor girl.", she starts before turning back to Bean. "To answer your question though, we are here because we were exiled from our cities for being warp tainted. Incredibly lightly warp tainted, but many cities don't like to take any kind of chance. As for not hearing of MARC, well... I don't think there is any soft way of putting it, but you've might been in that sarcophagus for a long time Bean. I don't think MARC has existed for over a hundred years... unless there is some remnant running around in the warplands still. It's possible I suppose.... but uh, it's okay if you need a moment to take it in.... Deep breaths okay?", Nova explains.

Bean’s intense attention is torn away from Kayin’s *enthusiasm* at Nova’s words, but she unconsciously keeps a tight grip still on the academic woman. “Wait, so why hadn’t anyone come for me then?” Bean blinks froggishly and she finally releases Kayin. “There’s cities here again? Then how is there still warp train?”

"Seems like we got answers... and more questions I think?" She said to Crake. "Damn confusing though..."

Crake nods along in agreement, as he clears out a space in the grassy clearing just before the forest. “I’ve seen lots of confusing shit out here, but I guess if there’s one thing I’d put my faith in is people. They fuck everything up sometimes, but most the time they will try to fix things.”

[Kuragari]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Its actually Kayin, though since I have both a male version and female version of my persona, I have thought of using Kaylin for the female in situations where I have both present

Ceasing her bouncing at Bean's command, which just seems so much easier than when the others asked her to calm down, Kayin hums and says, "Well, MARC has been out of commission for quite some time. Since everything went crazy after the incident. There's no major countries anymore, just lots of various city states... and the Warp wastes between all of them." She says. She then blinks and tilts her head as she asks, "Why would there being cities mean the warp taint was gone? Far as I know at least, there's no real way or means to get rid of warp taint. Its one reason why the city states just tend to exile, banish, or well, get rid of those with warp taint."

Kayin smiles though as she cheerfully says, "I can give you a rundown of the history of my city state if you'd like, if you think that'll help any!"

[Soru]

"Honestly surprised to hear that from you, though in a good sense. Looking at Mitch I think he feels the opposite about people." Scarlet said as she continues to listen in on the conversation happening with Bean and the others, though she keeps taking glances at the strange gem she had found. "Need help with anything?" She asked as she noticed that he was clearing out a space.

[jondude]

Nova isn't sure she has much to contribute to the current conversation, but is glad that Bean seems to be taking in the sudden changes better then she feared she might. And if she really was what Kayin claimed she was, then she could provide some fascinating insight into the past. Nova admittedly didn't know a whole lot other then the basics, that warp taint just showed up somehow, usually due to experimentation but sometime from space or even hell itself depending on who was telling the story. What was consistent though was the collapse of global society into what they had today. "Well as far as I understand it the area a lot of our city states was... mostly free of warp taint. The land was anyway, if not the odd creature that might've roamed in from areas like this. I admit I don't really know much of how the warp lands actually are. I heard they can shift sometimes... but so far it seems... well not good, but hardly as bad as the worst stories I've heard. Certainly wasn't expecting to find a cute girl in a sand filled temple by any means."

With that said, unless Bean had anything to say to her she'd start examining the plant life around them a little more. If there was anything with large leaves, maybe she might be able to fashion a crude top or something? As much as she was fine with it, she could understand others might find it a little distracting.