Vin'Chi

Reerok was transferring his mind into another body. Trees morphing more as they went through and less mutated. Growths and fungus coming off the trees. As they wind through the ground is littered with red spore and trees have silver veins running through them. As they come down the road they come to an opening with three paths ahead. One leads to the left and is a bit wider, one in the middle blocked by a fallen tree and one to the right leading down a slope.

Sakiran pokes Amalius's gaunt cheek to wake him up. She knocks his head. She asks him to read the map. He points to where they are. He says both left and right and Sakiran is irritated by his lack of clarity. She tells Leoric to go left though said both directions were indicated. Sakiran hops out of the APC after Reerok indicates he is in low power mode. She walks over to the fallen tree. It is covered in beetles and bugs. She tries to lift it, but it is heavier than expected. Water pours out and she gags as she lifts it over and shunt it to the side.

Underneath are large millipedes. They hiss at her. She hisses back and they shrink away. Leoric tells her to wipe her feet on Reerok. She does so, scooting round with a moment of zen and focus. She wipes her feet on the remains of the dirt on Reerok's clothes. A worm has crawled into the torso of his chassis and it nibbles on his cable. He heats himself up to rid himself of the insects.
Leoric carries on down the central path. The wood starts to darken, the canopy completely enclosing. He turns the lights of the APC on. They hear predators stalking their vehicles. They see a ghostly mist with figures disappearing from view.
As they drive past one of the tendrils swipes on Reerok. Another crushes a small mammal. Leoric turns off the lights and uses his cybernetic eye to see. He sees heat signatures in the trees, as well as signatures within the trees themselves.
They see a giant insect creature coming from the side and launching into the APC. Leoric manages to stop the APC from veering out of control but Sakiran and Reerok are launched out of the APC. Amalius managed to cling on inside. Sakiran sees the creature made of metal, bone and flesh. It has fungal growths and is mechanical and spindly. It looked at Sakiran and said "ma-master kill"
It had its claw on the cabin of the APC. It has one mechanical eye remaining. The other has become a mass of pus with silver veins running through it, with its tongue hanging out. The APC is still upright so Leoric exits it. Both of his pistols hit centre mass. Its tongue spasms as it looks at him.
It hunches down and its back raises onto all fours. It charges towards him. It leaps to try and attack him. He barely dodges out of the way as it crashes into a puddle, muddying him. It is up close and it smells of foul rot and oil. It says "inferior" and starts croaking.
Reerok focuses a lightning bolt outwards. It strikes the creature but it glows bright blue and dispels its full effects.
Sakiran mutters something as she springs onto her feet, moving forward with incredible speed with a blue glow around her legs.
Leoric punches the creature and hits metal beneath. It tried to swipe and grab his arm but it just misses. He ran away out of its range. Vines lash out and tripe to swipe at him, but he manages to avoid them.
The creature holds up a hand and unleashes a ball of plasma. It explodes in the midpoint as Sakiran and Leoric dive down. A blast of heat burns them both. Reerok is burned with the full force.
It sticks its claw into her shoulder while she is on the ground. As it stabs, it says "blood of the master makes strong, must stab must serve". Her blood sprays out of her shoulder.
Reerok casts Blight on the creature. He is incredibly damaged and his robes are burned away. His mask burns away, revealing no jaw and a speaker grille. It reveals the true extent of his damage. His core glows a sickly green hue as he casts towards the creature, rotting it completely. It looks incredibly hurt.
Sakiran rips its heart out and crushes it, throws it aside and starts tearing its ribcage apart. It is convulsing as it regards her with reverence and she finally rips through it entirely as it fades.
The front half of the APC is caved in and it is very damaged.
They see glowing red and orange eyes throughout the tree line and hear mechanical whirring along with biological sloughing.
Reerok's torso is mangled from a fireball explosion and Sakiran and Leoric are both hurt. Leoric tries to start the APC. Though it is in bad shape, he is still able to start it.
Sakiran tries to help Reerok up but he slips out of her grasp. It takes her a couple of attempts to pick him up.
She hears a deep chorus of gurgling as things start creeping towards them. Reerok lets out a shrill beep. She hears shuffling get louder. Sakiran casts faerie fire and sees two swarms of maggot creatures outlined in violet light. Reerok slumps down and his eyes dim. Sakiran grabs him over her shoulder and runs towards the APC and throws him inside.
Leoric tries to start the APC but it backfires. Leoric pops the hood and sees these creatures staring at him. They shrink into the underbrush again. It is hot with a plume of smoke. One of the gaskets is broken. Leoric's hands burn but he manages to make a hasty repair. Though the APC protests, it does move. He finds it difficult to turn right. They see large hulking figures start to converge on their location. Entire trees start moving.
Trees have been cut down as they move, with ruined buildings and they see people around them.
Sakiran sees that the people look human, elvish, dwarvens. Reminds her of the Aasider camp with a few guards in Gratus scavenged armour.
They are going into a slope underneath the ground. As they start moving towards it, they see two men come up to them in poor condition Gratus power armour. They signal for Leoric to stop. He does so, struggling with the brake.
They ask if he has having issues. It is an old man with a wispy beard. He tells his colleague to check his engine. He waves away the soot and smoke and says it won't go anywhere. Leoric says it won't go anywhere else.
Sakiran offers to get it moved. The younger one smirks. She says they are going to the tower. He laughs at her and shows a group of people who went to the tower. He says a tar'in did most damage to the peopl and turned him into something.
Sakiran says they have someone who was very injured, pointing to Amalius. Roe pulls back clothing and says Lank the tar'in is there. Multiple guards come to their location. They have heavy gratus machine guns. They aim weapons at them. They say he is a dead man and infected. They, however, do not notice Sakiran's features. He says he'll turn and attack all of them.
Leoric says it is their responsibility, not theirs. Roe says he can take his responsibility into the forest where it can't hurt the rest of them. Sakiran asks what they are meant to do with him. He says they might be able to do something. Leoric says he was stabilised by an older Drow. Lang rubs his beard at the mention of an older Drow - but be warned, if he starts showing any signs of going loopy, we'll kill him. Leoric says they'll keep an eye on him. Reerok has transformed into a dwarf he is trying to walk normally but has an awkward.
Lang sparks up a cigarette and offers one to Sakiran as they head into the city. The architecture is smooth and swooping with elvish script that they can't read. They knock on a control panel as a view screen activates. They let the party in as the door unravels.
They are hit with a stench of alcohol, smoke, oil as hundreds of people walk around. It spirals down into different districts. Lang welcomes them to Vin'chi, the only civilisation on the island. There are various shops, buildings and bars within the underground city.
Sakiran heads over to the exchange office. Leoric decides to get his bearings. Reerok goes over to the inn and he stares awkwardly at the patrons. They attempt to kick him out.
Sakiran sees a small booth that is covered up. She drops the coins at the water-man that she cannot understand. She has some square coins handed back to her, a massive brick of it. She has 200 Rs. Leoric and Reerok are already at the bar. Reerok is touching things idly. They sit on a barstool. What catches their eye is a small gnome arguing with the bartender, though she is unsure about what. The small gnome is stood on the bar stool and he can just about see over the top. Short legs, large torso, arms that reach to his waist. He has spiky blue hair and is from a wealthy background so covers his face to protect himself from the common people. The bartender says, look Tasu I told you it was right.
Sakiran expresses an interest in the gnome, saying he is interesting. The bartender gives her an ice cube and she demands Leoric have one as well. The bartender says it is a woman's privilege and refuses. Reerok orders water and gets beer. Reerok freezes the beer he receives and places into Reerok.
Reerok pushes Sakiran towards Tasu. Leoric offers the bwisky to the gnome. Tasu reacts with hatred at Leoric. Leoric tries to reason with him. Tasu says he'll take the drink but that's all. Tasu sips it and gags. Leoric sniggers to himself.
Sakiran hears Lang appear from behind him and greets Tasu. He grabs a bottle of whiskey and offers both he and Tasu a glass. Lang asks if he wants to hear the good or bad news first.
Lang tells him that. They discuss the group, reasoning that Leoric cannot possibly be a bounty hunter if he got his missus to move a van for him.
He tries to make eye contact with Reerok who turns his head away. They muse that he doesn't seem very dwarfy. They hear a metallic tap. They find the metallic dwarf very funny. Tasu proposes they dissect him.
Lang says he can't just chop people up and he may have just been dropped on his head.
Reerok asked if he would like to engage in confession and pretends to read from his holy book as he walks off, being caught up in the book.
Lang asked where they picked him up. Leoric and Sakiran are both cagey. Reerok confirms.
They head to the medical centre after a conversation where they have some banter.
The stench of disinfectant floods out as they see a man stagger out. A short Dwarven woman wipes her brow and chastises him. She looks up at them all and asks what they want. Leoric says they're here to check up on their friend Amalius. She remembers the elf and says he is not in a good way. She has them follow her to the back. Amalius is on a cold steel bed. There are two armed guards in the room with him and his in restraints. Leoric asks if they are necessary. She looks at Sakiran and asks if it is hers. The infection has stopped but he is not doing well. Leoric says there might be something in the tower that helps him. The doctor is exasperated.
Reerok's disguise drops.
Tasu asks what is wrong with their friend. The doctor explains he has nanophage infection. They catch onto Sakiran's condition and usher them out quickly. They hand them a pad with information about him and say he cannot be cured.
Sakiran looks around for a blacksmith. She can hear it coming from further down the street. She also notices other shops, a weapon shop, an armour shop, an alchemist and an unknown shop.
She heads towards the weapon shop and it is covered by a thick fabric. She pushes it aside and sees a big workshop. A single orc hammers away at his anvil. He has the neural nails in his head. She looks at the greatswords. They look salvaged. One is from the tribes, made of bone and terrible quality. She greets the orc and asks if he has any weapons.
She sees a pale white elf with white hair and bright blue eyes. Sakiran notes it is unusual to see another woman who is into the martial side of things. Vanesh says her weapons are about art, not martiality. She says Sakiran is not pure, and uses the elvish word for pure. She leads Sakiran into a trial room.
Leoric heads to the alchemist and asks for healing potion. The alchemist is sniffing on a plant that grows out of the forest. Leoric takes some. The alchemist offers him a small sample. He tells him to put it in a drink and Leoric pockets it. He now has the mysterious drug. Tang goes into the back and falls asleep. Leoric tries to take something but then Tang wakes up. Leoric says he was going to sell him some healing remedies and that he left them upstairs. Tang thinks for a moment and pulls random bottles down from shelves. He puts them on the counter. Leoric pilfers a few items on his way out; 3 potions of greater healing and 2 MIGHT SEX.
Reerok is observing while planning an escape route. He sees in the downward spirals there are alleyways that he could escape from.
Tasu sees Leoric holding a lot of potions with a strange look on his face. He wanders over to him. Leoric asks if he is alright. Tasu is very drunk. Leoric offers him a MIGHT SEX potion to "help" him. Tasu takes it gratefully. He is too drunk to read the label and believes it will make him taller. He actually feels good. His dizziness starts to fade. There is a sensation in his loins and he realises something is amiss.
Tasu, Leoric and Reerok go to the unknown shop. The shop does not seem like a shop. It is blanked out and has no lights inside. The only thing they can see is a slight blue glow. It looks as if it has not been entered in many days, possibly months.
They open it, though it is stiff. The shelves seem to be empty. There were indentations of boxes and heavy things. Tasu finds a flyer with some information on it. Leoric sees it is an advertisement that looks kind of Elvish. He hands it to Reerok. They try to kick the door down. He kicks it open forcefully. They hear a sudden shnk as the blue light disappears. Tasu can't believe no one else saw it. It moves behind Leoric and is pointing two pistols at them. They hear a soft wispy voice asking who sent them. Leoric asks them to keep calm. They tell them that they did not see them. They grab a bag and keep their weapons pointed at them. In the street there is a bit of a commotion as they teleport away, repeating once again that they did not see them. Leoric can make out a trail.
Vanesh leads her down a spiral staircase. The weapons hung up are ancient elven and she sees a copy of Zairan's sword. They walk about 20m down and it opens up into a room. The room has a machine bound with massive chains to the wall. It is similar to a dojo, with a big beast chained to the wall.
She walks over to it and strokes its metal arms. She asks if Sakiran knows what it is, a beast of their creation. Vanesh is caressing it lovingly.
Vanesh tells Sakiran that she is going to fight it and prove she has true Elvish spirit.
Sakiran smiles and readies herself.
Sakiran is able to go first. She unleashes three attacks in quick succession, fists shimmering white and she slides underneath. It appears completely unharmed and lashes out. It backhands her across the room. Sakiran sees the beast nod towards her and attacks Vanesh instead. She smiles as a blue mist absorbs her fists. Sakiran hits her straight in the jaw and punches her straight in the face.
The creature strikes her again, but tries twice. It grabs her and crushes her. She feels pressure on her bones. Vanesh glances and hits her.