Southryos: The Infinite City [Archive]

[Mizagium]

Having been blown back by the rather large dust cloud, Chase stood and dusted himself. He was comtimplating just wrecking everyone's s**t, but decided that this was a fight he'd sit out.

Besides, not much was to be gained from copying the Bread Wizard's power.

Bread Magic?

[Mizagium]

There was an aneurism forming, Jeff could feel it. Every time he glanced at the Bread Wizard, then Leon, and back, he felt it get bigger. Or was that a tumor? Either way, something was going wrong up in that place. If theere wasn't, why else would he have charged -

Ok, nevermind. Leon's hurricane-force gust knocked Jeff into the air. He righted himself and landed gently on a nice squishy hobo. At this point, the actual reason for the battle was irrelevant (also Leon hit him first!) so he gathered a bunch of his newly discovered barrier magic or whatever. He hadn't quite worked out the specifics.

It worked anyway: his sword began to glow with the force of several florescent lights. With a mighty grunt, he swung the blade horizontally, sending out a shockwave that flew out and impacted the Bread Wizard and Leon's CSX-100.

And Perish, I suppose.

[Mizagium]

As much as striking Perish might have been a footnote, the results were inversely catastrophic as she wasn't just casting some old ritual to make some special effects and lots of things blow up or get freaky.
But regardless of what the spell was supposed to be, the barrier magic's interruption made it into something crazy as Perish was blown off her feet by the shockwave. The two rune circles centered on her hands spontaneously fired off an enormous beam of black energy in a different direction each according to where her hands had been pointing at the time, meaning some apartment on the 80th floor of a neighbouring building just got some external renovation, and a store just down the street didn't have a single in tact glass object within -disregarding the resizing of the front entrance.

But alas this was only half of the result, as hundreds of spirits burst explosively upward from the ritual circle, all strangely conforming to compose the shape of an absolutely enormous spirit that was worthy of the enormous ritual circle. The giant spirit roared for the heavens, a skeletal maw wide open and pointed fingers thrust ahead -right through Perish of course, ascending to several hundred feet before dispersing into nothingness.

When the spirit smoke cleared, what was left of Perish was quickly regenerating -as was her robe, curiously enough, but her 'sunny disposition' was beyond regeneration.

"Thank you so much for destabilizing my Necropolypse Ritual," Perish remarked so dryly she probably would have fit right in with a desert, as she wandered over, still smoking all over as she vacantly sat down on the side walk next to Chase.

[Mizagium]

"Giant robot? A robot? Really? And you have no cod piece to demand respect from this little mecha servant of yours? However do you believe you are going to defeat this wheat warlock with a dinky contraption like that! It doesn't even have a proper cloak!! All ROYAL mechas have cloaks."

The prince shook his head at the commoners surrounding him and reached into his utility belt, "Now let me show you are REAL mecha!"

And with a blinding flash, no doubt to call the attention of all the others in the area, he reached into his endless chamber of weapons/toys/useless things/playgirl magazines that kill grandmothers (it wasn't his fault he swears) and retrieved a gadget that he had not yet seen before. It was just a shiny chrome remote with a single button and no instructions. The prince was bewildered, no, no he wasn't. He wishes me to tell you that royalty does NOT in fact become bewildered, for that is a third world problem. He merely had a gap in concentration.

"I know! This must attract items to BUILD my new mecha. HUZZAH! Little mechanical remote control look upon my cod piece and do my bidding! Create the most magnificently royal mecha imaginable!"

And just as he pointed at a nearby construction zone with ample metal and spare parts, a large gust of wind knocked the prince over and the remote was rocketed from his royal hands, landing on a nearby vagrant. The button began to flash and a small black hole type device began to swallow up all the hobos and filth in the immediate vicinity, and contructed them hastily end to end into a giant hobo mecha, well not exaclty a mecha, for it was squishy and homeless, but it was still terrifying! And, not as royal as the prince had wished for.

"Oh...my..the...the horror...the filthy...common..horror..."

The prince managed to convince himself to take a look about the cockpit (made out of who only knows what), and began to vomit. Normally royalty does not expel their past commoners twice in one day, and certainly not on their own floor of their mechas, but being INSIDE such filth seemed to be a special occassion.

"Quick, cod piece, shine your light! Do away with such filth! I am royalty, my royal purple royal flowing cloak (royal) can not shimmer in such conditions!"

A blinding, also sanitizing, light burst forth from the prince's loins and the cockpit was enveloped with what seemed to be a lysol flashbang grenade. When the light faded the control room was just as shiny as his royal (and quite large) cod piece, a cockpit truly worthy of royal status.

"Now", the prince looked around at the mass assortment of buttons, "How do I control this..." He inadvertently pressed the "ejection" button and the cockpit was consumed by a startling wind and the prince's seat, along with himself, was lifted clear out of the hobo mecha, and it began to rampage without him.
And Hobotron took charge and headed straight for the breaded magic man.

"That poor poor wizard, they must have mistaken him for a soup kitchen side dish!"

[Mizagium]

That...got out of hand rather quickly. Now there were three mechas fighting in the city: CSX-100, the Breadbot and Hobotron. Mentally (and outwardly) sighing at the reappearance of the Dayman, Jeff hefted his sword, now several times it's size, brimming with power. And he considered the situation. Leon wasn't really his enemy. The Bread Wizard was...well, an obstruction, but one that would have to be dealt with.

Eventually. Right now, in his mind (again, tumor) the Dayman prince whatever was the most annoying/slash biggest threat. So he wondered.

"I bet I can do that."

His sword dissipated, but the energy remained, rapidly swarming around him. At first, it merely mimicked his form. Then, as the layers piled on, the barrier grew. It thickened and thickened until he was roughly level with the CSX-100 and Hobotron.

"Damn, that's cool. Didn't think I could do that."

Where he had once stood, not towered a gleaming white barrier-mecha, more or less the same shape as Jeff. Immediately, he sprinted forward, tackling Hobotron into the nearest building, and they both went careening out in the city.

[Mizagium]

"Damn you you useless robot! Get up and fight!! Fight! I may not control you but you now shine with the light of royalty! You must fight for your royal honor!"

The Dayman fumed as his accidental creation was being assaulted by this, barrier type mecha. He laughed at such a concept. Barrier mecha, it isnt even mechanical, and then again neither are shining royalty hobos, so he calmed his royal chuckle and let it slide, and watch the insanity insue.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hobotron, now shining with a cleansed glory that not even Jesus himself could bestow, hit the ground with a colossal vagrant thud as a building collapsed around itself and Jeff. Hobotron pulled its knees (which were comprised of two hobos curled up into the feetle position sleeping to make a ball joint, one unfortunately was sucking his thumb...but vagrant baby...) to its chest and kicked the barrier mecha off of itself and sent it flying into the next block, downing yet another unsuspecting building. Not...that buildings can suspect things...but...you know what shut up who asked you? It stood up and had no need to knock the dirt and shaven metal bits off of itself, for the amazing cod piece cleaning bomb left it with a permanent seal of filth protection, which unfortunately was only aesthetic because it offered no real damage protection at all.

In a sudden and royal moment of hobo realization, Hobotron knew it would need more power to stand a chance against the barrier monstrosity, er...Jeff. So it raised its arms to the heavens and let out an absurdly high pitched whine that sounded almost exactly like the cry of an infant child. Fortunately, that sound did not come from Hobotron as suspected, because as he raised his arms, two dumpster baby minicons flew from the nearby alley with a supersonic whail and attacked themselves to the shoulders of the hobo mecha. The minicons hummed and vibrated viciously as they began to charge for attack, and with a scream of terror they launched a lazer projectile vomit attack on the recovering Jeff.

[Mizagium]

Magnus stared at the ensuing giant "robot" battle with a slack-jawed expression for a moment, before turning to his three followers Leske Desmond and Ash, who were wearing similar expressions.

"Okay guys, I don't know how we're going to do it...but we're going to get a giant robot." Magnus declared. The three mooks just nodded woodenly, not taking their eyes off the fight.



~~~~~~~

Breadtron (now it's official designation) had at this point recovered, and took advantage of the confusion to launch another attack at CSX-100.

The giant bread mecha began to throw enormous bread rolls at the other mecha, which detonated like miniature suns on contact. "Face the might of my Bread Bombs!" The Bread Wizard yelled triumphantly from the cockpit of his mecha.

On the mecha's shoulderblades, two giant bread-sticks appeared, and lowered down until they were pointing at CSX-100, obviously some sort of bread-based cannons. But instead of firing at the CSX-100, Breadtron swiveled around and fired the two bread-cannons at Hobotron and Jeff.

[Mizagium]

Perish had been intending on sitting back, watching, and waiting for this ridiculousness to burn itself out, as she could be remarkably patient if the situation demanded it so waiting for these idiots to finish fighting was going to be substantially easier than waiting for chains to rust. At least she had a spectacle to watch, after all.
But, her rival Magnus suddenly voiced his desire to pretty much join in and something in Perish's mind just snapped, causing her eye to twitch again as the rage rapidly built up.

"Okay! Screw this! I'm going to find a cemetery and god help you if you're still fighting by the time I get back!" Perish said with climactic fury as she threw herself to her feet, before marching off down the street towards the largest centre of death she could sense.
These idiots and their robots were going to have a taste of true automata-fury, as no one animated better than a necromancer!

[Mizagium]

"Well, I certainly didn't see that one coming..." Leon groaned, he and his mech having been sent flying into a wall from the force of one of the...bread bombs. "Grain based explosives. All the science in the world couldn't..." Leon stopped mid sentence, almost as if he had thought of a great idea. "Maybe that would help. All of this nonsense can only be fought with one thing: Logic!" he decided, pushing open the door of his battle machine and sliding out, rather bruised. Leon was, however, in better condition than his mech. The bread bomb (seriously) was so unexpected that the robot's combat training had never prepared for it, and thus it had packed quite the punch. The blade arms were loose, the propeller was broken, wires were exposed and the entire thing looked quite rusty...Admittedly, that last one was more from its lack of maintenance than from anything the Bread Wizard had done.

While everyone was distracted fighting everyone else (except Perish, who was preparing to fight everyone else), Leon saw the perfect opportunity to attack. Believe it or not, not being in a giant helicopter-robot made him a rather difficult target to spot in the chaotic mecha fight. "Now, thank goodness I never bothered to polish this thing." Leon beamed at his giant, currently-inoperable bucket of rust. "It'll be a lot more useful now." (Truthfully, Leon just wanted an excuse to get a new helicopter mech, but that's neither here nor there.) Leon walked over to one of the many trashcans that littered the alleyway and peered inside. It was filled with a rather thick layer of ice (or some frozen bodily fluid), which was to be expected considering the sun never bothered to shine in Southyros to melt it. "Perfect!" Leon exclaimed. "Now, let's see what I recall from my chemistry classes..."

In "Portal" like fashion, Leon used his magic to tear open a blue dimensional rift a few feet above the trash can. He then created a beautiful neon green portal on the ground next to his robot. Striding over to where his robot lie crippled on the ground, Leon mercilessly tore as much metal from the contraption as he could, tossing it into the green portal behind him. As might be expected, the metal ended up traveling through the blue portal and straight into the trash can. Once he felt the trash can had enough rusty metal in it, he grabbed armfuls of the brick sand he had created earlier and sprinkled it inside the receptacle. Finally, he took some nearby trash can lids and shoved them in the bin to create a bucket of something or another, dispelling the two portals once he had finished the preparations.

"Let's see..." he muttered. "Iron oxide, check!" Leon nodded toward the rusty robot (now, it was really just a cockpit and half of a leg) that sat next to him. "Aluminum, check!" He pointed at the trash can lids and trash can itself, all of which were made out of aluminum. Just to be sure, he gave the outside of the trash can a hard lick and swished the flavor around in his mouth. Grimacing, he whispered "Yea, that's definitely the taste of aluminum. Now, I have to sand and the ice. That should cover everything except the...fire," he snickered, pulling the trash can of junk toward the center of the battlefield.

"Hey, everyone!" Leon cried, looking specifically at the Bread Wizard. "Things are about to get a little...toasty!" Taking two brick shards he found among the debris of the battle, Leon slammed them together hard enough to create a flurry of sparks that drifted carelessly above the trash can. Little did our, uh, "heroes" know that Leon had prepared a ton of the ultimate exothermic reaction in a can: Thermite! The addition of ice to what was already a very fiery reaction provided the extra "oomph" needed for a full on explosion. The moment those sparks hit the inside of the trash can, a massive explosion would ensue, sending fire, molten metal and shards of ice at anyone in the vicinity. Of course, Leon wasn't about to stay there and watch.

"Smell ya later!" With a snap of his fingers, he had stolen away into the darkness, teleporting as far away from the field as he could. No sooner had he left, the sparks finally landed inside the thermite mixture, setting it off with an audible "FBTPSHSLPHKKRAAABAAAANNNG!" Waves of fire spread over the makeshift battle arena, carrying with it many a shard of improvised shrapnel in every direction. Several of the less fortunate (read: hobos) lying around were promptly sliced, diced and roasted, and someday in the future this day might be known as "The Great Vagrant Massacre of 2012".

[Mizagium]

The heat of the thermite burned through the surrounding city block like...well, thermite through anything, leaving a smoldering crater that reeked of melted metal and flesh and garbage, and created a mushroom cloud that could be seen for miles in every direction. Shrapnel rained down on the city.

Being where he was, Jeff felt the full force of the initial blast, which was too much for his amateur grasp of his power to handle. The mecha-barrier-suit thing collapsed, but not before ejecting him out across the city

"I haaaaaaate thiiiiiiiis pllaaaaaaaaace!" he screamed as he rocketed through the air. Thankfully, he had enough presence of mind to erect a barrier, albeit flimsy, before crashing through a skyscraper. He landed more or less on his feet whilst panic-stricken office workers scrambled down the stairs and elevators.

From this vantage point he could see the remains of the robot battle ground.

"Wow, we...we did that in all of ten minutes. I, uh, don't really know what to think about that. Pride, yeah. Shame...maybe a little. But we still don't know where the Keystone is." Glancing around, he sighed. "Who am I talking to? Ugh. I'll go find Leon; he seems to know more about this whole 'adventuring' thing'."

He ran and lept from the building, using temporary foot-sized barrier to hop across the sky, scanning for his lost comrade. He made a mental note to refer to this technique as 'hopping' until he could think of a better one.

[Mizagium]

Magnus and his three mooks let out a collective groan as they pulled themselves from the rubble caused by the initial blast. Magnus had managed to erect a barrier at the last moment, protecting them from the thermite-based death that followed.

"I can't say I'm surprised.' Magnus said, coughing. "This is becoming the main way our insane fights end."

He turned in a circle, trying to take in the scope of the damage. "Guys...we need to hurry up and find that Keystone. Because if this is what happens when we're here for ten minutes, I don't think Southryos will survive us for long." he said dead serious.

The Breadtron had taken the full force of the blast, and as a result was completely destroyed.

And the entire area smelled like burnt toast. And dead civilians.

The Bread Wizard, however, looked perfectly fine despite having gone through the blast. In fact if anything he looked pumped up and ready for round two.

"Is that all you've got? My bread magic is not to be trifled with." he gloated. The few civilians left alive in the fallout let out a collective moan, which was two-thirds pain, one third disgust. Beneath a pile of rubble, a weak voice could be heard,

"You...suck....B-Bread Wizard...."

The Bread Wizard ignored it.

[Mizagium]

Hobotron's dumpster babies began to cry, which immediately told it something was wrong. Infants have an impeccable intuition, or well actually they just cry all the time, but Hobotron was correct in its decision to head their call! It turned around to look for the source of the disturbance and saw the sparks flying towards the trash cans. It knew this would be bad for him, so the dumpster babies mounted on his shoulders opened their mouths and began to shriek louder and louder, preparing to release a shockwave strong enough to break the sound barrier and ejecting them away from the blast. During the build up Hobotron's still somewhat intact hobomentallity mourned for the loss of those beloved trash cans which gave it and the other vagrants sustenance in their time of need (or time of commonness as the prince refers to it) and shed a mecha tear (presumably of oil, but probably more likely hobo filth instead of robot filth) just before the dumpster babies released their shockwave. It leaned itself forward and the force of the wave jettisoned Hobotron clear across Southryos.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Um, excuse me, but would you mind removing your hoof from my cod piece?"

The prince was tugging at Magnus's boot. During the blast he had no need of a barrier because his royal purple flowing cloak is fire retardant to any degree, which makes sense because everyone knows that the greatest weakness commoners have (aside from the lack of money...or morals...or love...or...money...) is fire. So the royal family is sure that each member is ENTIRELY fireproof, in every respect. They aren't even able to be sunburned. And as for the force of the explosion, the prince actually wishes me to ask if you simpletons require an explanation? Oh you do? Well then, his royally magnificent and shining cod piece, in all of it's infinite glory (as well as size) took every bit of the blunt of the explosion and the prince was sent flying towards the other end of the alley, falling into Magnus's "barrier" (the quotations are used because it wasn't a royally sanctioned defensive device) and becoming trapped underneath him and the rubble.

"Do hurry though, this Keystone nonsense is driving me absolutely MAD. Really, something that sounds so very important in the possession of these mongrels? I dare say that is a travesty. We must retrieve it at once!"

[Mizagium]

After a short while, there was a rhythmic, soft thundering sound of hundreds of skeletal feet as Perish led a small army of skeletons back down the street, at the front with an imperious disposition like the evil general she appeared to be.
Except she only found a crater, which left her surprised yet part of her was kind of expecting such an absurdity, it was almost kind of sad she was already getting jaded to this insanity.

"Oh..." Perish said, a little crestfallen that the fighting had actually stopped before she got back, so technically she couldn't go on an evil necromancer overlord killing spree, much to her dismay.
Though without a bunch of mechs to fight, she was sort of at a loss of what to do with the two hundred odd skeletons following her in perfect formation, and they weren't smart enough to go searching for something she didn't know the description of.

"Well now what?" Perish wondered aloud, attempting to suppress the urge to invade the entire city. It was the beautiful thing about being a necromancer in a giant city like this: she'd get reinforcements everywhere she went, it'd be a snowballing landslide as she'd defile all the grave sites along the way.

She clicked her fingers and had a dozen of the skeletons rushing to her side and working together to form a sedan chair out of hands and backs, lifting her clean off the ground and in a comfortable seated position while she waited.

[Mizagium]

"Yes, I'd like one pomegranate smoothie, please." Leon had teleported himself to a remote juice bar somewhere in the city of Southryos, far removed from the slums ruins where his battle with the Bread Wizard (and everyone else) had taken place. Because of its location, the bar had been untouched by the ensuing chaos, and its condition proved it. It was as immaculate as an eatery could be, with luxurious tables and leather sofas placed neatly throughout the room. Soothing violin music playing from the ceiling's speakers and plants lying on each table completed the ambiance, rendering the locale a beautiful, royal place to relax with an ice cold drink.

"Sure thing, kid," the man behind the counter replied, effortlessly hefting a blender from underneath the counter and placing it in front of Leon. The burly man was very stocky and - with his waxed head and gruff voice - was perhaps the last person one might expect to work at a non-alcoholic beverage shop. "You want whip cream on it, kid?" he asked.

"Sure. Fruit and whip cream make a delectable combination, don't they?" Leon answered.

"Yea, I guess." The barkeeper, never one for small talk, looked at Leon inquisitively before taking a basket of pomegranates from the space beneath the counter and emptying its contents into the blender. A few button presses and whirring noises later, the blender had pulverized the fruit into a thick, pasty red liquid. The barkeeper poured the liquid into a plastic cup, sprayed a mound of whip cream onto it and stuck a straw inside. "That'll be $15.99, kid."

"SIXTEEN BUCKS? Are you kidding me? That's outrageous and you know it." Leon replied, incredulous. He had tasted many a smoothie in his life, and - while each was delicious in its own right - not one of them cost more than six dollars.

"I already made the smoothie, now pay up." The barkeeper growled, his eyes boring through Leon's very soul.

"Alright, alright, fine..." After a long day's work of fighting (and destroying the city), Leon felt his time was better spent not resisting, and so he withdrew a few crumpled bills from his robe pocket and slammed them on the counter. Just as he was about to grab his smoothie, the barkeeper grabbed his wrist. "What is it now?!" Leon demanded.

"What kind of game you trying to pull, kid?"

"What are you talking about? I gave you the money, now unhand me!"

The barkeeper shook his head and unfurled one of the bills Leon had placed on the counter. "I don't know where you came from, but this money's no good here." The bill in question was from Leon's home country in another dimension; it had a picture of Leon's (adult form's) handsome face and was smaller than Southryosian currency, so the barkeeper could tell immediately that it wasn't from the city.

"Look, Mr. Bartender! That's a solid 20 Verabucks, and that money is good everywhere! Now, give me my smoothie or I'll-

The barkeeper let go of Leon and lifted one final item from the space underneath his counter. This time, however, it wasn't a fruit or a blender. It was an assault rifle, and it was going to be used as a..."debit card", of sorts. "Either you get the money to me right now, kid, or I leave you looking like a piece of Swiss cheese."

With a heavy sigh, Leon asked a question that he already knew the answer to. "So, I'm guessing that this juice bar is run by a local gang, then?" Expensive fruit and equipment, leather sofas and expertly crafted tables...and an assault rifle. While he hadn't been in the city for more than a few hours, Leon was fairly certain that the average Southryosian citizen didn't have access to that kind of stuff.

"You'd be right in your guess, kid. Now, enough talk. Pay up!" The barkeeper grabbed the assault rifle and aimed it at Leon who, unsurprisingly, was not the least bit threatened.

"Nine times out of ten, we adventurers defeat villainous commoners like yourself," he yawned, looking at his wrist in a "you're wasting my time" sort of fashion while taking a magazine out of his pocket, reading it as if he were bored.

"You've really done it now, kid! Don't think I'm above shooting a 10 year old brat!"

"Mmm, you're too far at the bottom to be above anything, sir," Leon laughed.

"THAT'S IT!" Just as the barkeeper prepared to squeeze the trigger, a dozen enormous tentacles erupted from Leon's magazine and wrested the gun from the barkeeper's grip, pulling it inside the magazine.

"W-What?" The barkeeper stared at his now empty hands in shock and confusion. "Who are you, kid? How did you-

"This magazine is no ordinary magazine, Bartender," Leon stated what was already apparent. "It is actually a portal to a world inhabited solely by the Kraken, a sea creature who has not seen - or tasted - a human in weeks. How would you like to break this fast of his?"

Wide-eyed and mouth agape, the barkeeper could not say anything that would accurately convey the overwhelming feeling of dread that fell over him.

"The smoothie, and the rest of this bar while we're at it, now belong to me," Leon firmly commanded firmly, the tentacles from his magazine positioning themselves for attack. "If you or any of your little gang buddies have anything to say about it, feel free to bring them here for a little...'chat'."

Still unable to say anything, the barkeeper merely nodded his head in agreement and slowly made his way from behind the counter, never taking his eyes off of Leon or the Kraken's tentacles. Once he had made it away from the counter, he made a mad dash for the bar's exit, finally managing to say "The deed to the place is in that center cabinet above the counter! Here's the key! Please don't kill me!" After throwing the key at Leon's feet, the barkeeper sprinted away as fast he could, never wanting to set foot at his former establishment ever again.

Leon picked up the key, hopped up on the counter and inserted it into the cabinet behind him. Sure enough, there was the title deed to the juice bar and the land that held it. The moment Leon touched it, the former owner's signature magically vanished, with Leon's name taking its place. Shoving the scroll of paper into his pocket, Leon took a sip of the smoothie on the counter and frowned. It had melted a little during his confrontation with the barkeeper and was consequently a bit thinner.

"Honestly! All this work for a drink and I don't even get to enjoy it at the peak of its taste!" he pouted. "Ah, well. I got a bar out of it, so I guess it's not a total loss..." One of the Kraken tentacles rubbed Leon's head affectionately in an attempt to console him.

"Thanks, Kraken. I appreciate your being there in my time of need..."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The barkeeper ran out into the city streets, noticing Jeff hopping across the sky above him. "Freaks, freaks everywhere!" he cried, making a mental note to see his gang psychiatrist once he was a safe distance away from Southryos.

[Mizagium]

Meanwhile, in the far off land of Centros near the burned out wreckage of Heroes Refuge, a place our heroes have no doubt long forgotten about, the invading armies of Northyros continued to marshal their forces.

The invading forces had turned the site into their main staging camp, and a veritable fortress had begun construction. Northyros troops gathered and prepared for their marching orders further into Centros.

Septimus, flanked by two aiding Magisters, marched through the camp inspecting their progress. The spirit mage had been busy since Magnus and the others had departed from Heroes Refuge. Already word from the Council had come down that the Archmage was planning on visiting to inspect the site soon. Which meant even more work for Septimus.

"Have those inventory reports finished by this evening." he absently ordred one of the aid, who bowed quickly and departed. "I want our troops ready for the march towards the Tower as soon as possible. How many soldiers have come through?" he asked the other Magister.

"Close to ten-thousand, sire."

"Hmm. That should be fine." Septimus mused. As he looked over the half-finished walls of the outer perimeter, he noticed a messenger scurrying through the camp. Towards him. 'And the work never ends. Septimus mused wearily, watching the man approach.

Septimus noted that the messenger seemed to be almost in a frenzy, having apparently run all the way here from the command pavilion.

"Sire.." the man gasped out, stopping for a moment to breath. Septimus sighed and waited. Finally the man collected himself. "Sire, urgent news."

"What, are they sending another Councilman to inspect our progress?" Septimus frowned. This would be the third time already. Septimus knew many on the Council didn't particularly like him for obtaining his seat so young, and saw fit to constantly harass him.

The messenger paused, glancing around nervously. "So sire...it's...the Archmage. He's here."

Septimus felt the bottom drop out of his stomach, and tried not to let his sudden panic show on his face. "I see." He said, seemingly calm and collected. For those who knew Septimus, they'd recognize that tone as the equivalent of the spirit mage completely flipping his shit.

"He...he's waiting for you in the command tent, sire." The messenger said. Septimus glanced back at his aid, who returned his look with a panicked glance. Septimus inhaled deeply and nodded.

"Right. I'm on my way."

The messenger saluted quickly and darted off, no doubt going to hit the barracks to see how much contraband booze he could down in one sitting. Septimus quickly began walking back to the command tent, mind racing.

He made good time back to the command tent, and quickly stepped inside, absently noting that there was an extra pair of guards outside, no doubt having arrived with the Archmage.

At first Septimus didn't see the man when he stepped into the tent. The room was surprisingly dark for the middle of the day, and the far end was bathed in shadows. Septimus stood at the tent flap for a moment, trying to let his eyes adjust to the dark when he spotted movement from the far end of the tent. He tensed involuntarily.

"Magister Septimus." A voice said from the shadows, and the Archamge stepped into his view. The man's voice made Septimus shiver slightly.

"Mi'lord Archmage." Septimus bowed at the waste, a sign more of formality than obeisance." The Magister Council, while under the Archmage, was still as a whole considered to be the governing body of Northyros. "We were not expecting you for at least another week."

"Yes." The Archamge answered, the answer giving away little more than the obvious amusement in his voice. "I had thought I'd rather get a look at the operation here without all the pop and ceremony to cover up any faults." The Archmage glided over to one of the chairs and sat down, facing Septimus.

Septimus did likewise, fighting another shiver as he did. He couldn't get a good reading of the other man. The Archamge was covered in black clothing, cloak and hood which hid face almost fully. The man radiated power, an overwhelming presence that unsettled Septimus. And frightened him just a little.

"Well, our operation is proceeding smoothly, sire." Septimus began. "Most of the advance force has come through from Northyros and the construction of our base is running at efficient levels. We should be ready to march on the Tower within three weeks time."

"Excellent." was what the Archmage said, but Septimus found that their was a distinct lack of interest in the man's voice. He waited for a tense moment before the Archmage spoke.

"Tell me of the battle that took place here."

Septimus blinked, not really expecting the question. He cleared his throat. "Well, I wasn't present for it; our forces didn't arrive until Magister Magnus activated the portal-"

"Magnus..." the Archmage interrupted. "I recognize that name."

"He was the mage we sent undercover into Centros. A very reputable Magister."

"Ah, I remember now. He was the one that refused a seat on the Council, yes? The other Councilors were quite put out by that." Despite being unable to see the man's face, Septimus was pretty sure he could feel the Archmage's smile. Septimus tried not to grimace. Magnus had always been one to get on the other Magisters' nerves, and it seemed that his refusal of a spot on the Council was a slap in the face to them all. Septimus certainly felt it; a part of the reason that Septimus had sought after a spot on the Council was simply to spite his old master.

"Tell me, what happened to the defenders of this place?" The Archmage asked.

"They fled after the battle, when our forces arrived. We actually have a list of some of the defenders. Magnus reported it, not long ago." 'Befoe he left with the others.' he added silently.

"Oh?"

"Yes. Among them were Magnus, a man named Samson Mortlock, Esfir, a young mna named Jeff, a kid called Leon Veralice-"

"What." The Archmage's voice made Septimus freeze. The air in the room suddenly felt very heavy. He gulped.

"Uh...a kid named Leon Veralice." he finished. The Archmage was staring at him, saying nothing for a long moment. Then he chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose that guy would get himself involved in this, wouldn't he?" it seemed the question was more for himself that Septimus.

"Sir?"

"You mentioned one named Jeff, yes?"

"Uh, yes I did." Septimus replied, a bit confused.

"Hmmm, and where did these defenders go?"

Septimus considered the question. "I believe they were headed for Wessos, sir."

The Archmage considered this. "Yes, of course they would. Things are going the way he planned, perfectly." The Archmage chuckled. Septimus decided that he found the sound to be unpleasant to hear.

Abruptly the Archmage stood. Septimus nearly tripped over himself following suit. The leader of Northyros made his way to the entrance of the command tent. "Thank you for your time, Magister Septimus. I will be departing for now. If possible, I'd like you to try and make contact with Magister Magnus. I'm eager to hear more about this group of wayward heroes."

"Yes Sire." Septimus replied stiffly. The Archmage nodded and left the command tent. The tent seemed to brighten a bit when he had left, as if the man took the darkness with him. Septmus sank back into his chair, letting out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

[Mizagium]

Jeff managed to barrier hop his way back to the more-or-less aggregate of the Bread Wizard, Magnus, the Dayman, and Perish. Since impatience had gotten the city block destroyed, him thrown across the urban area, and resulted in the brutal takeover of a juice bar, he decided to fall back on his tried-and-true method of patience and passivity.

"Alright, guy - heroes - adventurers - whatever." He halfheartedly waved in the Bread Wizard and new guy. "We need to find that keystone or Salma and Evennia will somehow take over the world. I dunno, they weren't exactly clear on the details. But...whatever." Oh yeah, he liked this way better. "We gotta find it. Since it's a shiny, glowing magic stone of power...I suggest we look for the nearest jewelry store and/or museum, since (at least in my world) that's where we store importan gemstones."

He glanced around, already knowing the answer. "We may have to pull of a jewel heist. Any objections? Any other suggestions? Seriously, I'll take literally any idea."

[Mizagium]

Chase popped his head out of a nearby alley, a fresh lemonade in hand.

"Did I hear you say Jewel Heist? I'm game..."

He took the time to contemplate the consequences of their actions.

Don't care...

"I say we blow the door's off the place."

[Mizagium]

The Dayman, whose cod piece was still trapped under Magnus's hulking magefoot managed to squeak out a high pitched, but mostly just mouthed, "I shall join you all". I assume a long winded speech about the poor possessing anything above a moderate value, but you see it is quite difficult to speak when your cod piece now has a shiny new footprint.

[Mizagium]

Magnus sighed for nth time since they'd arrived in Southryos. A part of him died inside as realized that their adventure could only get worse from here on out. Another part of him seriously had some qualms about robbing a store looking for their artifact.

But most of him just didn't care.

"I guess I'm in." he said, not making even the slightest effort to remove himself from standing on the Dayman.

[Mizagium]

The time rift opened high above the the city, a whirling vortex of red-and-black energy crackling against the smoggy sky. A single figure was ejected, followed by a rush of energy. Xeltyr was his name and he was on a mission. And right now that mission was "not crashing" into the city.

Air magic flowed from his fingers around him, slowing his fall. The uninformed would call it flying. He called it gliding. He could fly, but he didn't need to right now. Right now he needed to locate the green Keystone before things went from bad to worse to hopeless. And from the looks of that smoldering crater, he didn't have much time.

He managed to maneuver towards an innocent-looking juice bar, landing shakily on his feet. None of the landmarks look familiar. Of course, he was more familiar with seeing towering ruins, so anything else was alien. Maybe the proprietor or one of the patrons of the juice bar could assist him.

"Excuse me," he asked over the gently ding-dong of the bell chime of the opening door. "I'm looking for the Urban Power Building; can someone point me in the right direction?"

Of course, he could just fly around until he found it...nah.

-------

Jeff nodded to his group. "Right then... Let's go... this way." He indicated the clearest path out of the rubble.