Howling Cliffs

Nora winces. "Ow. That hurt, you little bastard."

She jumps up out of the way of the mole, using her wings to hover in the air, and summons a small Krakken out of thin air above the mole, dropping the Krakken on it. The Krakken is about 6 feet tall and 6 feet wide. "Go on then, kill that nasty mole for me."

And serve as my distraction and meat-shield, please. Wounds are real here, I should be more careful...

Nora thinks only for a moment. "Let's go check out the right path. Shouldn't leave a stone unturned, as they say. Though if we get pulled into fighting, it may be prudent to retreat if it's just the two of us."

Sam

"Well Tom if you don't mind just it being me and you lets go down the left path then," Sam says to Tom.

"Wait before we split is their a way we can get in contact with one another in case something happens,". "Also sorry I haven't introduced myself before,". "But my name is Sam and I been at Vitcity for about a couple of weeks,". "Sorry to get all of you caught up in this,". "How about everyone here,". "Are you guys all new here or are you regulars here?" Sam asks the group.

Tai (Grant, Butts, Mattea)

Tai aims his guns at the golems.

"Tai, no!"  Buttons points his lantern at Tai and a small wisp goes flying out and into Tai's chest.  The pain from before dissipates just as he fires off two bullets that spiral into either golem.  And the pain immediately returns.

Mattea switches dancing styles while still standing in front of Tai.  Watching her bounce and sway makes him feel a bit better, but his injuries are still noticeable.  At least his key seems to be less stressed, still humming quietly.

Grant walks up to one of the golems and smashes it with his maul.

"We've got this!" Mattea calls out.  She spins and flicks her fan, firing a blade of wind into the last golem.  The first golem to fall starts to regenerate, but Buttons smashes it with his shovel while Grant bashes the other golem.

Obtained Worm Heart x3!
Obtained Crystal Core x1!
Obtained Prismatic Ore x2!

Grant makes sure they're both down for good, then rolls his shoulders as a stretch.  "Alright, easy enough.  Who's next?"

Mattea turns around and gives Tai a quick look-over.  "Are you OK, Sweetie?"


Leia (Natsumi, Freya, Kiran)

"Let's try... ah, here we go."  Kiran waves his wand and a giant sword appears over a the injured golems.  It drops down and the golem shatters.

"Oh..."  Natsumi stares at the sword embedded in the ground as it vanishes.  "That looks... familiar..."

"Does it?  Neat."  Kiran tips his hat to Natsumi just as a boulder comes flying by and slams him in the face, sending him flying back into the sand.

The charmed golem punches the injured crab in front of Freya, and the shadow crawls over to slash it.  "God, so much better when that thing's on our side..." Freya says.  She kicks a soccer ball and bounces it off the crab.

Leia summons a ghost that bounces between the remaining enemies.  One of the crabs collapses.  The charmed golem seems injured, but also manages to shrug off its affliction.  The other golem seems panicked, but mostly unhurt.  The other crab crouches down and the ghost seems to bounce off almost harmlessly.  It scuttles over and stabs Freya.


Nora, Sam (Alice, Tom)

"Cell phones work in most places.  If it's close to a portal, it'll even let you reach our world.  But these caves... maybe not so much.  Can't imagine the reception's great, but we can try," Alice says.  She makes sure everyone shares their numbers.

"Alright, let's roll."  Tom starts down the forward path.


Nora (Alice)

You proceed down the path to the right.  The sounds of fighting get louder as you advance, then stop.  You hear the sound of footsteps, then a sudden, loud, metallic banging rings out.  A robotic, filtered voice calls.  "HEY MONSTERS, COME OVER THIS WAY.  WE'RE DISTRACTING YOU."

Alice slides against the wall, moving forward quietly.  You hear the sound of dirt moving, followed by a yell of surprise.

"Jesus, Beta, calm down.  It's just a worm," a robotic voice says.  You're not sure if it's the same as before.

"I know, it just surprised me."

The sounds of battle resume as you draw closer.  It's starting to die down as you reach a bend in the cave.  You press against Alice as you look around the corner together.  You see some of the worms that were on the beach dropping from the ceiling, and a few moles... and a dozen more slain around the room.  In the gloom it takes you a moment to make out the four humanoid figures in solid black armor fighting them.  One hacks a mole with a battleaxe, and another spins in place and slices its face with with a pair of scimitars.  One with a shield repels a mole's slash and counters with a sword.  Another one bashes the mole in the back with a club.

"Phew...  Who wants to go grab some coffee and a bite to eat after this?  I'm pooped."

"Gonna have to invite Gamma and Zeta, too."

"Think they'll come this time?"

"I hope so...  But, ugh, is anywhere going to even be open today?"

"We're still on the clock, guys.  Save the celebration until we've rescued the princess."

"The princess?  You've been hanging around Gamma too much."

"Shut up and see if you can't bring a few more monsters our way.  I don't want those guys saying we didn't pull our weight with their little rescue mission."

"Fine, fine..."  The one with the shield starts to rhythmically bash the sword against it.

Alice taps your shoulder and stares at you.  "Think we should introduce ourselves, Malatyne?"


Sam (Tom)

You continue down the pathway, finding another scrap of dress a short way away.  You don't find another for a while.  Just as you start to get worried, you spot another one up ahead.  The path splits again and you spot another off to the left.  Tom nods and you keep going.

Ahead you can see the cave opens up, and the next room is a large chamber.  Raine's other sandal sits just past the entrance.

Inside the chamber, a red glow emanates from small hole in the ground, shining up to illuminate Raine like a spotlight.  Raine dangles over the hole, seemingly unconscious, arms held unnaturally tight at her side.  It looks like she's floating in midair.

"Well, judging by what they're saying... They seem to be cooperating with our little mission. Or, at least, they don't seem to be enemies. But we need to come up with a codename for you first... How about Queen? Alice, the Queen of Hearts."

Nora grins.