The Crossroads [Horror/Adventure|IC|Open]

[Anowa]

>>OOC<<

---

Elsa sighed, for the umpteenth time in her now millenia long life.

"How long do you think it's gonna last Jorge?"

The Hungarian accented super-soldier hummed, she'd known the man closing on three hundred years, his wealth of experience in well... damn near everything natural made him quite the mind... the fact he was seven feet tall and built of concrete and steel instead of bone and muscle also helped. As did his armor and fifty calibre machine gun. But that was sort of unfair, "Hmm, based on past experience? No bloody clue. How about you Artorias?"

The armored knight spoke in a reverberating tone, just as grizzled as the SPARTAN's but lighter, more calmed with age as oppose to Jorge's baritone. The man had been in the Crossroads long enough that even he didn't remember, regardless he knew more about magical darkness and the various fauna than he did about swordfighting. And that was saying something, "It's variable. I'm just more curious about how in the name of Gwen do those bio-masses form so bonded to the buildings."

Jorge shrugged and picked his machine gun off the ground, "I'd say slipspace, but we are far from my home... AT least I hope, wouldn't want any of this crap on Reach."

Elsa shrugged, herself standing up, "C'mon then, let's get into the city, who knows what-"

Artorias spoke, "-Or who-"

"-we'll find. I'm honestly hoping for that Artorias. I could use some humor I haven't gotten used to."

Jorge playfully slapped her shoulder, for a normal person the impact may have dislocated the joint of turned bone into powder. Not Elsa, her learned that during their first little scrap, the woman was more durable than he was. Imagine his surprise when her legs grew back after he tore both off.

Regardless he did find truth in Elsa's statement, they were the last three united members of their once rather large party of twelve. And he so very much wanted others to get new material out of.

[Brusia]

Marcus Antilles
Aboard the Resolute

Jedi Master Marcus Antilles' hands moved feverishly along the helm console as he attempted to jump-start his ship's reactor. As if losing the reactor wasn't bad enough, the spatial anomaly the Jedi recently encountered also somehow teleported him and his ship, and the powerless Resolute was rapidly plummeting towards an unknown planet's surface and certain doom. Fortunately, Marcus' astromech droid was able to power up the ship's auxiliary generator and activate the emergency thrusters just before the Resolute became nothing more than a large crater in the planet's surface. Unfortunately, the droid was not able to activate them in time to prevent crashing altogether, and the ship skipped along a large, empty street, colliding with peculiar tendril-like structures which served to slow the vessel, which finally came to a halt after crashing into an abandoned building.

Through some exceedingly good fortune Marcus made it through the crash unscathed. His ship and droid were not so lucky however; both had sustained serious damage, and neither had any chance of being repaired from what few spare parts Marcus had on hand. Sifting through the wreckage, Marcus recovered some food and water, and was relieved to find that his armor had survived the crash. As the adrenaline in his system died down, and his mind was no longer focused almost entirely on surviving the crash, Marcus began to sense the Force emanating from the living creatures in his surroundings, and what he felt was more than a little troubling. Though not quite like the Dark Side he was accustomed to feeling when in the presence of the Sith, he could still feel something...evil in this place. A sudden sense of misery and suffering, worse even than that which he so often sensed during the war, only added to his worries.

Concerned that he might soon find himself under attack, Marcus quickly donned his armor, then proceeded to work as quickly as possible on repairing his ship's distress beacon. Luckily such distress beacons had been designed with crashes in mind, and it took little time to repair and activate the device; with any luck a Republic vessel would pick up the signal and rescue Marcus before the planet's inhabitants even learned he was there...

[Fugaxia]

Ezkar
The Crossorads

A brilliant, purple light sprung into existence far above the ground; immediately, a behemoth of a shadow fell down from it, straight to the ground, crashing with a loud thud and a small shockwave of dirt. As soon as it appeared, the purple light disappeared, abandoning the shadow to the horrors below.

This shadow, patting the dust off his armor and clearing up his image, was none other than Ezkar, Disciple of Tzeentch and a powerful Psyker. A massive, 8 foot tall superhuman clad in unimaginably powerful metal, wielding a massive gun that fired magically enhanced pseud-grenades; "bolts" as they were called, bullet-like objects that exploded either on contact, or after penetrating flesh and steel, depending on the setting.

Though Ezkar had appeared intimidating before, the reality of his situation began to dawn on him. As a Psyker attuned with Tzeentch, the Chaotic Powers of the Warp constantly filled his mind; voices and whispers always threatening to break the interior. Every time he cast a spell, or foresaw the future, Tzeentch guided him along the plan he had set for him, wherever the end may be.

Here, in whatever this place was, however, there was nothing but maddening silence. No voices, no Tzeentch, no guide, everything was clouded in darkness. He tried reaching to probe into the Warp; the Warp was still accessible, but nothing stirred within it, no daemonic entity or whisper of life. Edgeless darkness as far as his mind could comprehend, even the light of the Astronomicon was snuffed out, making it impossible for Ezkar to know even his approximate location.

Having more than a few screws loose, this both terrified and enraged Ezkar. Had he been abandoned? Was he cut off from the Warp? Was he now a blank, and this was what it felt like? Or perhaps, it was a test? Yes, he thought, this must be part of Tzeentch's grand scheme. A test; an examination to see his worth, to see if he could operate independently with the guiding hand of Chaos.

Even though this was what he thought, the truth was Tzeentch couldn't watch him if he wanted to. His paranoia was pointless; but nevertheless, deep-rooted, seeded in his mind like a parasitic worm. Every shadow and shifting light was a daemon of Tzeentch, watching his every move, judging his value to their Master.

As Ezkar wandered through this unknown land, he increasingly lost it. He began screaming, unleashing psychic beacons, and broadcasting over his comm signals. As he was about to begin firing, he noticed a ship, constructed strangely, careen from the sky and crash to the South - or at least, what he guessed was South. With this being the only event drawing him, he began to follow the smoke trails towards whatever creature must have piloted it.

[Altito Asmoro]

Emma Madison
Year 2007
Anchorage, Alaska

The chase was tough.

"Please! I beg you! Please!" screamed the scared male Toreador. He was young, probably wasn't Embraced recently but younger than 100 years old. She carefully observed the current situation. Among the deaths of a war between the Society of Leopold and the Camarilla's Toreadors in Anchorage, there are not much to be looked at, actually.

"Tell me where do you hide."

"I don't hide! We don't hide it!"

"Liar. Liar. Liar."

"Please, we don-

He was cut off as she stabbed his heart with a stake. He turned into ash. So much for being a vampire. Not much to be looked on, but the basement. The club was burned down, with few left. The Leopolds able to baited the Toreadors there, but perhaps even though they are outnumbered, they are stronger. Humans, what an enemy.

She fired the lock of the basement three times before opened it. She went downstairs and found herself in a small room, with nothing but a of a door. She felt something...strange behind it, so she armed herself with her pistol, and she reached for the door...

Poof.

---

Emma Madison
Year Unknown
The Crossroads

For as long as she remembered the second she was here, she was the hunted. No longer she is the predator, for now she is the prey. She found herself increasingly struggled by herself, though soon enough she found a party of survivors, just like her. A company from World War 2 and a group of some strange men in white armor with the blasting ability. They said they came from another planet looking for Frieza...?

Japan, perhaps?

Anyway, they decided to banded together with her, but soon enough the party dwindled over the years. She didn't exactly remembered how long is it now, probably 9 years. Soon, she and the last man from the party, a young soldier from World War 2, arrived at the outskirts of a...city-ish place.

[WaRtArIa]

Valyrius, bleary-eyed and weary, was studying a curious rune he had discovered in the dungeon that had been looted yesterday. The rune was written in what he identified as Infernal, the tongue of the hellish creatures commonly known as daemons. Despite living around sorcerors, suspicious and strange magic-users who have a reputation for making deals with devils, Valyrius was not well-versed in Infernal. In fact, Valyrius knew only the basics of Infernal at best, and even then, only a few words above the average knowledge. Needless to say, there was something mysterious and dark about this rune. Usually, a rune scripted in Infernal, written on papyrus, and written in something that may or may not be red ink (what if it’s not ink at all?!) is the epitome of suspiciousness.

“Damned be this stupid useless piece of papyrus!”

Frustrated and furious, Valyrius barely could resist the urge to rip this rune into tiny little shreds and be done with it. His curiosity needed to be sated, and thus, it certainly wouldn’t allow him to do something like that. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Valyrius smacked his palm onto his face in annoyance. It was obvious what he should’ve done. The answer was in front of him all along. All he needed to do was search the context. Drinking a potion of translation, Valyrius was able to discern the writings of the rune, and then quickly write down the Common translation. In merely thirty seconds, the effects were worn out. The answer was in simple wordplay, something the likes of Valyrius should have been easily able to figure out.

Raising an eyebrow, Valyrius, while channeling the magic needed, said the incantation that supposedly activated the rune. “Faryjyr haf wmidd wzih...?”

A crimson-colored energy encompassed the script, bathing the dimly-lit room in light. Valyrius’s eyes widened in shock. Was this really supposed to happen? Wait, what was even occuring here in the first place? Before he could finish his jumbled and confusing thoughts, Valyrius was bathed in shiver-inducing energy, and he was gone in a flash of light. Only a empty bottle remained of him. Valyrius didn’t know whether it was hours or minutes or seconds or milliseconds or even days. But right now, the dominant emotion he felt was fear. Fear seemed to drench his very soul and rationality, and twist it into a shriveled, pathetic mess.

Finally opening his eyes, Valyrius saw exactly what the soft thing he landed on was.

He screamed.

Bleeding flesh is what he landed on. Red skies encompass the area. Smoke rose in the distance. There was every reason to scream.

...

Wait a moment.

Valyrius stopped screaming upon recalling the smoke. If there's smoke, there is likely to be a village, a house, a campsite, or perhaps even an airship.

Attempting to pick up the pieces of his calm exterior, Valyrius set out towards the smoke.

[Beiarusia]

- Ennis Ó Cléirigh -

The building was dark with the only light being that which filtered in from the broken ceiling tiles above. Abandoned, the smell of decay heavy in the dusty air. Hurried footsteps broke the still silence, light and quick, followed soon after by the hungry trills of something less than human. The girl sped into the open room that had once been a workplace, sprinting through the aisles in between cubicles and vaulting any obstacle that dare impede her, agile, like a feline but with more grace. Several twisted forms followed after. Dentata. A familiar denizen of the Crossroads, lowly and unintelligent but possessing an unbridled determination and an even more impressive hunger. They would devour the girl. Flesh and bone and marrow. Nothing would be left but scraps. A shattered window offered a way out, and a fire escape a way up. The nimble girl was soon on the roof with the clumsy creatures lagging behind. Thick, organic tendrils made a path from this building onto the next, and that building onto another. Safety.

Ennis allowed herself a moment’s respite, not because she was winded but to decide on where to head next. Coming to this ruined city had seemed a good choice… at first. After all, death was prevalent here, drawing her in like a fly to honey, but those she found had offered no entertainment when confronted with their demise. Pitiful. Begging for help. Pleading with monsters that neither cared nor understood. This led to boredom and boredom led to her current situation. A mistake on her part admittedly, but nothing she couldn’t handle. Nine years had been spent in the Crossroads, and regardless it would take more than a feral pack of Dentata to end her.

“I know. Shouldn’t have come,” she muttered to no one, using her hand to shield her pale grey-blue eyes as she scanned the broken skyline. A stale wind found some meager strength this high up, bringing with it the foul stench of a dead city. Coal-coloured hair fell into the girl’s face. She brushed it aside with some annoyance and was tempted to slash it off then and there. “Maybe if we-”

A shiver ran down the girl’s spine.

Death was coming. A clairvoyance that Ennis was all too familiar with. An irresistible pull that momentarily clouded her rational mind, calling to her, and like a loyal hound she would follow obediently and without question. Even if she found the strength to oppose it her curiosity was just too great. Nothing good would come from this, but right now she didn’t care. Someone was about to die, soon, and unlike before the feeling was strong. Entertaining. As if to confirm this thought a streak of fire fell from the sky like an ill omen.

Whatever had fallen had landed not too far from where Ennis stood now. “One more, okay?” she said with a wide grin. A loud shriek came as an answer.

The Dentata had found her.

The creatures lurched forward but Ennis was quick on her feet, not so much as startled by their sudden attack, stepping off the edge of the roof and landing with ease atop a tendril sloping down to another building across the wide avenue below. The Dentata followed but only a handful managed to cross over without falling. Another batch of tendrils and another rooftop to run across, but upon reaching a low department store Ennis found her available paths dwindling. The creatures seemingly understood this and closed in for the kill Anyone caught in such a situation would either risk a jump to the street or elsewise face certain doom head-on, but Ennis remained calm and merely continued on her sprint towards the roof’s end, tugging at her scarf to ensure that it wouldn’t fly away with what was about to come next. Using both hands and a firm grip she easily separated her head from her body. A thick miasma that was darker than black spilled from the void in her neck, stretching ahead of where she ran and forming a narrow beam across the gap between buildings for her to run across. The bridge disappeared as quickly as it had come into being, leaving several Dentata to fall to whatever horrific injuries awaited them. The others simply gave up the chase.

Ennis placed her head back atop her neck and adjusted her scarf once more. No longer in danger she turned to find herself a path to the crash site, eager to see what awaited her. With luck it would prove entertaining.

[Anowa]

Jorge looked off at the column of smoke, "How much do you want to bet that he's already dead?"

Elsa looked at Jorge, questioning gaze on underneath her helmet, "We don't own anything Jorge, all our medical supplies are in the pack of yours."

The big man nodded, "Fair. Should we help them though?"

Artorias took that moment to speak up, "I feel the Abyss approaching, whatever we do we must act fast."

Elsa racked the bolt on her firearm. "Let's go save us a new guy shall we?"

Jorge did the same on his own massive weapon. "Protecting humanity's what I originally signed up for, Halsey and Mendez would lose their collective minds at this point. Especially given what this place is."

Artorias started off, "Gwen willing we'll be home eventually." The rest followed, Jorge with a little hope in mind, but Elsa was not so naive, there was no leaving the crossroads, over two millenia of searching and that was all she knew for sure of this god forsaken place.

---

At the crash site was a different situation. Much more erie, for the past ten minutes a high pitched whine could be heard from the surrounding wilderness, several dozen in fact, along with the pungent smell they were known for. The Dentata were coming to feed, all one hundred and eighty seven of them from the closest hatchery. And all smelt the force sensitive blood of Marcus Antilles, the man would be in for one hell of a fight.

Though with a Celtic personification of death coming to him, as well as a corrupted super-human, a Dhampir, a child trained super-soldier, and one of the greatest swordsmen ever, perhaps not too bad.

---

Emma would be exposed to a number of hunters... Dentata incubated Xenomorphs, small, nimble, stealthy. Stealthy enough to kill the veteran still with her without either noticing before it was too late.

Another started chasing from further in the tunnel, as the one who started consuming the soldier remained to finish it's job. Their goal was to kiill her for food, though the unintentional side affect of herding towards the surface was also a possibility.

[Fugaxia]

Near the Crashsite
The Crossroads

Ezkar slowly lumbered across the landscape; the hideous and grotesque tendrils, muscles, and living hell that infested the place reminded him of Cadia, when he was deployed. The twisted manifestations of the warp had polluted the place beyond recognition, bending time and space to a matter of horrors simply unimaginable by the human mind. The memories of the place shuddered down his spine. As the fear began, he squelched it with a solid gulp, raised his bolter gun and approached the source of the smoke.

Just as he reached the...strange, ship, as it did not seem to match any regular system he knew of, a high pitched scream erupted from the horizon. Though he couldn't see a thing, and his visor did not yet report heat signatures, his psychic feelers indicated that life was out there.

Pointing his gun away from the ship, and towards where the sounds were coming from, Ezkar backpedaled to the ship and banged on the outside.

"If anything is inside there, you better get out now! Or I'll leave you to whatever hungry creatures are making that sound."

Backing himself against the ship, he began to psychically cast slow-traps around the area in case the creatures moved quite fast. Some would inevitably slip through - but a good deal would be slowed enough he could blow their limbs off with his gun.

[Brusia]

Marcus Antilles
Inside the wreck of the Resolute

As his distress beacon vainly sent out its call for aid to a Republic unable to hear or respond, Marcus sat in the wreckage of his ship and meditated. Clearing his mind allowed him to more clearly sense his surroundings, but proved to do nothing to ease his concerns about the unknown land in which he was now trapped. As he reached out with the Force, it was clear his crash had indeed captured the attention of the planet's inhabitants, a great many of whom he could sense were beginning to converge towards his location. Of greatest concern was a large, vile presence like a wave of darkness hurdling towards his downed vessel; beasts with minds more feral even than the Wampas he had encountered on Hoth. With his shields non-functional and the Resolute's armor all but destroyed in the crash, the ship would be unable to hold up long under an attack by so many beasts, and with no hope of repairing it in time it was clear he would soon be forced to leave.

Fortunately, the beasts were not the only things he sensed approaching his position, as he could feel several sapient beings nearing him as well. A few of these individuals stood out, much as would a Force-sensitive Jedi or Sith, but different somehow; unlike anything the Jedi Master had ever sensed before. He thought, perhaps, it was merely the darkness of the strange world he was on clouding his mind, but whatever the case, it was obvious he would need the assistance of these strangers if he was to survive the coming attack.

The first of the group of sapients soon arrived, and when the man banged on the ship's hull, Marcus ceased meditating and stood up. As the Resolute's boarding ramp was no longer functional, Marcus detonated the explosive bolts on one of the escape hatches far enough away from where he sensed the unknown man's presence to ensure it didn't crush him, and the hatch tumbled to the ground with a *thud* loud enough to momentarily drown out the shrill shrieks emanating from their surroundings. Marcus dropped down on top of the hatch and moved towards the unknown person. Before him stood a very large humanoid, at least seven feet tall and clad in massive, ornate armor. Marcus could sense a great darkness in the man which, while worrisome, was far less concerning than the horde of feral beasts growing ever closer.

Knowing it was unlikely the strange man spoke Galactic basic, Marcus used the Force to enable the two to understand each other and stated:

"Greetings, I am Master Marcus Antilles of the Jedi Order..." Marcus was interrupted by another shriek, noticeably louder than the one before. When the shriek died down a little, Marcus continued "I'd invite you into my ship, or what's left of it anyway, but as it seems it's about to be overrun by whatever's out there, I'm afraid the formalities are going to have to wait." The shrieks again grew louder, and Marcus could only hope that the other people he sensed would arrive before he and the unknown man were beset by the feral horde.

As much out of habit as anything, Marcus took up a position next to the unknown man, just as he was trained to take position next to Republic soldiers during the War, then looking out into the unknown, drew his lightsaber. As he scanned the area in front of the ship for movement, he asked the man beside him "So, are you any good with that rifle?"

[WaRtArIa]

After thirty minutes of trudging through the eerie landscape, Valyrius felt the smallest tinge of fatigue coursing though his legs. Despite the smoke seemingly being close to his current location, it seemed that it was rather far after all. Valyrius, deciding that he needed a short break, stopped walking for a few moments. There was certainly something strange about this land. No, it was not the red skies, the bleeding muscles, or the lack of noticable roaming creatures. It was the entire atmosphere itself. Loneliness, paranoia, and fear were one of the many prominent things on Valyrius’s mind. It was as if monsters could simply lurch near him at the very moment, and he’d never know it. In fact, he could hear the moaning of the undead right at this very moment.

“...hunt...kill...hunger...must...eat...so...good...”

Valyrius paused his fearful line of thinking, focusing on one particular thought. The moaning of undead, and even worse, a type of undead unfamiliar to him? Needless to say, this was a worrysome occurence. There wasn’t much time for him left. He had to do something. And with a large horde at his tail at the moment, Valyrius definitely couldn’t handle them all at once. An idea miraculously sprang into his mind. Summoning a familiar celestial lion and a familiar celestial eagle, Valyrius quickly explained the situation to them. Panic rushed him so much, his requests were almost undiscernable to the eagle’s hearing. “At the moment, there is currently a horde of strange undead, and they are wishing to consume my very being! Please, Lady Erna, please hover around twelve feet above the ground so that I may escape. Sir Leo, handle the ones near us!”

Despite them thinking the sudden commands were rather rude, the two celestial beasts could not afford to waste time and disobey. Valyrius leaped onto the giant eagle’s back, and they soared over the oddly somewhat-squishy ground. The lion lunged at the closest creature, and with its enormous claws, ripped the creature’s rotten intestines out. It leaped from front-to-back and left-to-right, fighting against the dark forces among us. Right now, the undead seemed almost desperate. And of course, a desperate creature is a very dangerous creature indeed. They dogpiled on top of the celestial lion, and attempted to eat his remains. Shortly after that, the very little material that was left of him vanished in a poof.

Feeling sick to their stomachs, they actually managed to go the smallest amount faster, and in fact they were an eighth of a mile ahead of the smoking thing—which was, in fact, a weird version of an airship. Alas, before they could fully land on the ground, the celestial eagle vanished in a cloud of smoke. Valyrius fell to the ground, and he landed on his chest with a sickening crack. His ribs were bruised, and a couple were cracked. At this moment, Valyrius concluded that it was safe to say that he was thoroughly fucked.

Valyrius seriously doubted that the tiny group of sentient people nearby him could actually help with that wound.

Wait, sentient people? Perhaps the situation was 20% less bad after all.

[The Olog-Hai]

Vesaan Kevril
The N.N. Drake's Dream

It was nice, really. One of the few moments he could just sit back and relax, when all the tension in his body left. The voice in his head, the other him, was gone, for now at least, completely and utterly stifled by the surrounding seawater covering his skin.

To be sure, he thought in his mind, and waited for a response. You home? Getting no result, he sighed, and continued his lazy swim around the ship. It was really hard, sometimes. When he was forced to release that aspect of him, it was truly terrifying. He had so little control over it, but at least he had much more control than it had when he was the one in power. He didn't think he could be held responsible for what the other one did, right? Could he?

Vesaan definitely did not agree with what the other aspect of him wanted, to destroy and murder everyone. He'd prefer a slightly more peaceful life, yet he had been forced into the life of a pirate, it was all he could do. After what had happened so long ago, he couldn't turn to the authorities. They wouldn't believe him, think him a liar or purely insane. But that wasn't him! It couldn't have been! Or was it...

This was one of his few chances to actually think about his actions, or the actions of the other, without constant interruption. It was serendipitous. Peaceful. If only he could stay here forever. But he was only mortal. He required fresh water, and food. Now, if there were a way for him to get around those requirements, he would leap on that chance. But for now he would have to struggle through this mortal life, this life in constant fear of what his body would do when he wasn't in control... wait, what was that?

A glimmer of gold, like a drop sunlight... there it was! Beneath the calm waters, there was something. What if... what if that could be the solution to my problems? I know this seems like a coincidence, but if this treasure is worth anything decent, I might be able to find someone to fix me. To get rid of the other me, hidden away in the back of my mind. But... wouldn't that be murder? He is a living, well kinda, thing, his own mostly unique personality, but he's killed so many people, people that sometimes didn't deserve it, though quite a few did. No matter, though. That's a debate for another time. Focus on the moment.

Vesaan took a deep breath, a final taste of the sea air, though he did not know it yet, and dove beneath the glassy surface of the ocean. He passed over magnificent stretches of beautifully arrayed sands, barely even seeing them, concentrated on his prize. But it was not what he thought he had been initially. As he came closer, it appeared to be an entrance of some sort, perhaps lit by something behind it. He came closer, and soon saw that he had been wrong again. It was flat, two-dimensional.

Vesaan felt himself pulled in by a current, a current that existed where none should. He tried to swim away, but to no avail. Grabbing at a rope he had tied to himself for this exact reason, he started to haul himself up, but the sheer suction power of the portal caused the rope to snap, leaving him with only a segment of it. He saw something else fall into the water, something left on the edge of the deck. It must be his stuff, for no one else would be foolish enough to leave things there. He sighed in relief, for at least he would be able to defend himself if he came up against something hostile wherever the portal led. He succumbed to the current, for it was no use fighting it, and felt himself dragged into the circle of light...

---

He was falling.

It was a short fall, however, and he was able to safely turn it into a roll. Vesaan landed on a large chunk of something, something that looked like a bunch of rectangular pieces of stone held together somehow. He gazed around, and saw more things like he was on, towering over the landscape. Stretching between them, and the far off ground, were these fleshy tendrils, almost like vines, but not quite. He looked up, remembering the portal, and only barely dodged out of the way before his equipment came clattering down in a spray of seawater.

Seawater! I almost forgot. Damn, my mug isn't here. I'll have to be creative and careful.
Come on! Almost got you to forget it that time.
You're back. Took you long enough.
You know why it took me a while, asshole. I'll make you pay for that when I get back in control, I swear.
I'd like to see you try. You need me, and I sadly need you. And anyways, I generally get to choose when you're in power.
Hmmf.

Vesaan sighed, and collected his gear, trying to wring it out the best he could. As an afterthought, he wrapped up the piece of rope that had snapped and followed him through the portal, storing it away for later use.

Now, how should I get down...
I know! Just let me out and I'll tell you.
Yeah right, you just want to be free. You know nothing.
Maybe I do, and maybe I don't. You'll never know till you listen to me.
I'll just figure this out on my own, thank you very much. Maybe I can get down on these vines. Wait, what's that?
What? Where? Let me see!
Oh, shut up you. You know exactly what I'm talking about; as I determined long ago, you see what I see, and I see what you see.
You're no fun anymore.
Well, if they're smoke, it could mean one of two things.
What things? Tell me! Tell me!
Stop interrupting! It could mean either there's someone out there, with a fire, or a volcano. Either way, heading towards it can't be too bad, can it?
What if its some sort of earth elemental? Or an ash elemental?
Stop being so pessimistic. I'm heading that way, and there's no way you can stop me!

Vesaan sighed, something he did too frequently, and headed to the edge of the structure, because that's what it had to be, and gazed downwards. It was quite the dizzying drop, but he could pick out multiple ways to make it down to the ground, and from there to what he thought must be people. Now that he saw it, it wasn't too far. It wasn't more than a few miles away from where he was standing right now, at least if you don't count the diagonal. The climb would take a bit of time, but after that it was a short hike. Vesaan cracked his knuckles, and began the climb down.

Eugh! What is this made out of?
It looks like skin and muscles.
That's disgusting! How can you be so calm about it?
Because unlike you, I don't have these little sensitivities to silly things. Now, if you want to get where you're going, you'd better keep climbing and ignore whatever this is made out of.

[Brusia]

Marcus Antilles
Near the wreck of the Resolute

As Marcus scanned the area near the ship, he was quite surprised when the first movement he detected was not from one of the nearby beasts but from the sky. It appeared that someone was riding towards their position on a strange looking creature, when even more surprisingly the creature suddenly vanished and the rider plummeted to the ground. Instinctively, Marcus ran toward the rider to see if he was alright, and as he approached he sensed that this was one of the sapient people who seemed to be Force-sensitive and yet somehow different. The man was quite similar in appearance to a human, but with ears long enough to rival a Twi'lek's lekku. Marcus knelt over the man, and again using the Force to communicate, joked "Well friend, you certainly know how to make an entrance, but I think you need to work on your landing." Sensing the man was in pain, Marcus put his hand over his chest, closed his eyes, and quickly entered a meditative state. A green light could be seen emanating from Marcus' hand as he reached out with the Force to rapidly speed up the man's natural healing processes. As a Guardian Marcus was not as adept in healing with the Force as Jedi Consulars, but over the years he'd still managed to learn enough to treat most battlefield injuries, and as the man's injuries were relatively minor, he was able to heal them quickly.

"There" Marcus stated when the healing was complete "You should be alright now..." The loudest shriek yet pierced Marcus' ears, and even through his helmet he could begin to detect the stench of ammonia. Marcus stood up and stretched out his arm towards the man, offering to help him up, then stated "We'd best hurry back to my ship. If you're able to fight, I'd very much appreciate the assistance, but if not you're welcome to shelter inside the ship once we get there."

[Jaladristan]

Dr. Gabriel Damon Beak

“You know, I always wondered what your kinds brains look like.” Gabriel said to the motionless Dentata that was lying in the ground in front of him. “But sadly I have to say, it is really not that special. I hooped things would look strange and unknown in this wondrous place that you call home.” He put the creatures brain down onto the ground. “But I guess nature follows the same rules in every world.” Gabriel sighted before he stood up and cleaned his gloved hands with a piece of cloth from one of his robes pockets. “I would love to cut open more parts of you my motionless friend. But I fear that your stench will soon attract some of your friends. And I don't want to be here when they arrive. I hope you understand that. And I also hope you will forgive me for trapping you, killing you and than taking your brain out.” Gabriel bowed his head and lifted a hand towards his hat. “Good day to you sir.” He said, before he departed.

A few minutes later the corpse Gabriel had left behind was surrounded by more of its kind. He had found out how fast these creatures were drawn to strong smells after he had dissected the first of these things and was nearly killed when a pack of its friends caught him with his hands in the creatures chest. Naturally Gabriel was not to keen on facing of against these things again. He speed up to get more distance between himself and the monsters. A few minutes later he felt comfortable with the distance he had created between himself and the monsters. “Now what to do?” Gabriel asked himself. He looked into the sky and saw something falling down. It looked like some kind large iron ship. This world got a little more and more interesting everyday. A few seconds later the thing hit the ground and Gabriel decided that he would go and find out what that thing was. Maybe he would even find some company in this lonely place. The last person he had met didn't last more then a few days, and talking to corpses gets boring pretty fast.

[Beiarusia]

Ennis Ó Cléirigh

It wasn’t too difficult to locate the crashed ship. A thin trail of smoke rising into the reddish sky served as a beacon, but while convenient it also brought trouble if the distant wails of the hungry and damned were any indication. A rational person would be moving in the opposite direction. Ennis wasn’t rational, or a real person for that matter, so while she was cautious enough to keep to high ground she gave little thought to what lurked ahead. A spectacular death was coming and she’d be there to witness it. At the very least it would make up for time wasted in this miserable city.

The odd looking craft had landed in what had once been a wide and open boulevard. It was now a mess of debris, broken and uncared for, and the new crater was most definitely not helping. Three men could be seen near the ship, one of which was most likely the pilot if he had survived. Two were armored but in no way were they alike. One was massive with armor that only served to make him more so while the other looked reminiscent of the old Roman Legion but not quite right. It was impossible to tell if the two were human or not, and the third was easily seen as humanoid at best. The Roman-esque man was tending to the humanoid with the other standing guard near the ship. No doubt they had heard the screech of whatever horde approached, though if they would run or fight was impossible to tell for certain.

Given that death was imminent it may not matter.

Ennis found herself on a somewhat tall building overlooking the street. She was on the rooftop and had a good vantage of the men and whatever would soon be upon them. Front row seats for what would hopefully be a good showing. Ennis lowered herself so that she was sitting on the edge, legs overhanging, kicking softly in the stale wind. There was no need to approach them. Humans weren’t all too keen to see her back in her homeland, and it was hard to say how these men would react. Would they beg? Ask for assistance? Others had, and they’d all died pitiful deaths. If someone managed to survive what was coming then maybe she’d offer some word or two, but until that moment she was merely a spectator and they her entertainment.

She couldn’t help but to grin.

[Naval Monte]

Elizabeth Ashwood
The Crossroad- The Catacombs

Smoke float above the woman smoking in the catacomb as she continue her walk through the strange world she found herself in, looking for a way out. The woman left foot prints on the ground, dirt and dust covering the ancient and cracking concrete floor. Around her were concrete walls with a line of skeletons held by dirt with stone pillars occasionally breaking up the line of dust and cobwebbed bones.

Lit torches on the wall acted as a source of illumination; a small relief but the relief brought by them only shows more proof why the woman in the catacombs should relax in the slightest, something had to make the torches. This woman was using one of the torches and smoking a cigarette was Elizabeth Ashwood. She was an infamous private investigator and occultist in her world, well she is well known in certain circles. Elizabeth appeared calm as she walked through the catacombs but in truth she stayed alert for any signs of movement in the catacombs.

Many times she heard foot steps and breathing in the dark tunnels and would run away from the source and hide in whatever hiding spots she would find, even if she had to hide in a pile of bones. Elizabeth a few times tried to catch a glimpse of the creatures but most of the times she either focus more on running and hiding from them to ever think on seeing them, plus she always made sure to either drop whatever torch she was using or turn off her flashlight.

Elizabeth tried to perform a gate opening ritual but found that spell would not work in the eldritch realm that she was now trapped in. Elizabeth wish she had water, she could have used it along with a bowl for a divination ritual to gleam some answers as to where she is and what should be her future course of action but for now she would have to do this with no help from her magic. Elizabeth soon found a crossroad taking her to two different direction, in front of her was a wall with a strange painting showing a distorted humanoid figure.

The mage chose to go left as her intuition was telling her to go to that direction. Elizabeth didn't bother using her phone since she would know that no signal would be in the realm. Right now her first goal would be to leave the catacombs. As Elizabeth kept on with her long walk she hoped that she wouldn't get herself even more hopelessly lost in the catacombs for if getting eaten by the things that lurk in the catacombs was terrible dying from dehydration and hunger would be even worse.

[Altito Asmoro]

Emma would be exposed to a number of hunters... Dentata incubated Xenomorphs, small, nimble, stealthy. Stealthy enough to kill the veteran still with her without either noticing before it was too late.

Another started chasing from further in the tunnel, as the one who started consuming the soldier remained to finish it's job. Their goal was to kiill her for food, though the unintentional side affect of herding towards the surface was also a possibility.

Emma was walked to the city who they sighted for, when her last squadmate, a soldier, was gone missing. "Hale, where are you?" asked Emma to the soldier's name. No answer. She looked around, worried, her pistol on hand. She walked carefully, but soon she heard sounds...and then she looked to the back.

The sight was terrifying. They looked like the small creatures she fought off sometimes. But something looks different, they have a darker skin, different-looking creatures, and more brutal. To be fair, however, fighting them off now is not a condition even if she is a vampire. She never fights waves of a more dangerous smaller creatures.

She of course, started to picked up pace into the city. Being a vampire means she actually has superhuman speed, but whether or not she will be caught and forced to unleash the beast and fight to the end...is the question.

[WaRtArIa]

For many agonizing moments, there was only black. The sort of black that would reach out to your soul and attempt to trap you in its alluring abyss forever, the exhaustion and pain being too much. The humans called it eternal slumber. The elves called it alluring death. While Valyrius certainly identified with both parties in many ways, it was rather accurate to assume it was alluring death. Preparing to sink into the abyss of unconsciousness, Valyrius was starting to fade away, closing his eyes and losing sight of his nightmarish surroundings. Valyrius would escape. He’d go back home, meet his family again, reunited with his friends; he just hoped that the sins of his current life would be pardoned. That would be nice.

But in the darkness, there was a bright green light. It was a warm green light. It reached out and embraced him. The light reminded him of homeliness, life, healing, hospitality, surprises, and comfort. Valyrius did not really enjoy surprises, and in death, he just hoped to be reunited with his family again. The light was pulling him away from his goal, and perhaps, he should just fight it. However, Valyrius did not fight it. He simply went along with the pleasant feelings he was experiencing.

Opening his eyes, Valyrius pulled himself into the reality in front of him. There was a human. A strange human, who apparently just healed him and pulled him away from death. Apparently, he’s trying to inject humor into this grim situation. It’s a nice try, but no, it’s not his role. Nale does that as well, and rather successfully at that. Taking the human’s hand and pulling himself into a stranding position, Valyrius heard a screech, which was rather bad news. Utilizing the powers of the ring of leaping, Valyrius grabbed the human, and jumped on top of the wreckage. He took a couple of moments to introduce himself. “Greetings, human. It seems that you have healed me. I, Valyrius of the village of Nalondelle, am grateful for your assistance. But, this is enough small talk for now. As the strange beasts below on the ground approach, I feel that staying on high ground would be safer—I find that fighting from higher up is an easier task.”

[Shadowwell]

-snip-

Emere

Emere had been on the deck of the Drakes Dream when he looked over and saw one of his crewmates, Vesaan, dive down towards something. He saw a flash of light as the Genasi disappeared, He swiftly jumped into the water. As he swam down the glow started to fade, his current speed wasn't enough. He extended an arm forward as his Szuldar glowed, he cast the spell Shape Water moveing a cube shaped area of water in front of him that created a vortex that he used to push himself forward the last of the short distance. As he vanished into the portal it closed behind him. He came out on the other side shortly after Vesaan did. He came out in an area near him, but he had to fall a farther distance. As Emere fell he used his innate control over the wind to slow his fall a bit, he landed with his Cloak fluttering behind him.

[Brusia]

Marcus Antilles
Atop the wreck of the Resolute

After helping the strange man up, the man grabbed Marcus and jumped atop what remained of the Resolute; the man may not be a Jedi but he could certainly jump like one. Once they were on top of the ship the man stated:

“Greetings, human. It seems that you have healed me. I, Valyrius of the village of Nalondelle, am grateful for your assistance. But, this is enough small talk for now. As the strange beasts below on the ground approach, I feel that staying on high ground would be safer—I find that fighting from higher up is an easier task.”

To which Marcus responded: "A pleasure to meet you Valyrius, I am Master Marcus Antilles of the Jedi Order. Maintaining the high ground is generally a wise tactic, but be mindful of your surroundings; it looks as though the building I crashed into could come down at any moment. Should that happen, I recommend taking shelter inside the ship itself. There's an open hatch near the stern if you need it. With my training I'm better suited for close-quarters combat, so I'll be fighting on the ground, but if you need assistance once the battle begins let me know. Good luck, and may the Force be with you."

With that Marcus did a side flip off the ship, landing gracefully back to his earlier position next to the Chaos Space Marine, where he once again drew his lightsaber and took up a combat position to prepare for the coming fight.

[The Moscow Metro Red Line]

Matilda Kerner

There was a strange absence of pain which Matilda felt when she opened her eyes. Her eyes, already adjusted to the dark, could see little in the ever present darkness. The last time she opened her eyes, she was surrounded by a horde of undead creatures as they thrusted their blades into her armor repeatedly. What is this place? Matilda thought to herself as lifted herself up from the floor. This place does not look like paradise as told in the holy word. No, this place is just like the Catacombs of the Estate. She took a deep breath and checked herself for any wounds. There were none. In fact it was like she was never injured. This familiar feeling of despair is .... reassuring. She closed her eyes and muttered a short prayer, "Father. Please guide your child in this place of everlasting darkness. For you are my guide, my shepherd and my protector. You shall lead me to green and peaceful pastures."

As she spoke this prayer she could sense another presence with her. Somewhere in the darkness. She opened her eyes and look around. A strange smell. It smelled like a alchemical brew. Whatever it was the smell was present in the direction in front of her. So too in the distance she could make out some sort of fire. It was then she realized that she was in some sort of large strange town. Its structures were the same material as a castle's walls and there were numerous fleshly tendrils everywhere. Truly this was a place of evil. She reached into her satchel and took out a piece of wood with a piece of cloth tied around it. She placed the wrapped piece of wood on the ground and took out a small flask. She could smell this alchemical brew more strongly and sense the presences of numerous things around her. There was a cork in the flask which she popped out and poured the contents of the flask onto the wrapped piece of wood. She took out a piece of flint and slide it across her sword making an spark which ignited the piece of wrapped wood. When she picked up her torch she immediately noticed that she was surrounded by strange creatures.

These creatures were human-like in appearance with the exception of mass of teeth for a face. These are an strange mist to them which stinged Matilda's eyes but she kept her torch lifted high and her sword hand readied. "Begone. Demon." She yelled and lifted her sword towards the mass of creatures in front of her. They crawled closer to her and were about to pounce on her until Matilda suddenly dropped her torch and raised her sword. She prayed, "Your light is a beacon of hope. A city upon a hill. All shall look upon it with awe and envy." Her sword lit with a blinding light which startled the creatures greatly. A white flame engulfed the sword as she then charged towards the creatures. "I am the rock with the waves crash upon but never falters! I am the fool who has built her hut on a rock than a castle on the sand. I am your servant." This unnatural white light and the saying of prayers was quite an usual sight. When the sword cut and sliced through a creature, a persistent white flame would leap upon them and continue to burn. There was a faint white glow in the distance.

[Jaladristan]

Dr. Gabriel Damon Beak

It was really not to difficult for Gabriel to stay on course towards whatever the thing that had fallen out of the sky was, since the smoke coming from where the thing must have meet the ground was clearly visible. The difficult part was, not to run into any of the Dentatas on the way. These creatures were almost everywhere. Sometimes Gabriel was convinced that he could blindly throw a rock and he would surely hit one of beasts on the head. Lucky they were blind so it was possible to sneak past them most of the time.

And so, after an mostly uneventful walk, Gabriel reached his destination and got a clear look at the object that fell from the sky. It looked unlike everything Gabriel had ever seen before. Like a large, flat ship made entirely out of iron. He wondered how this thing was ever able to fly. Shouldn’t it be way to heavy? Gabriel was so fascinated by this ship that he nearly overlooked the humans around it. At least he hoped those were humans, although the size of one of them made him doubt that. For a moment he considered approaching them, but after a second thought he decided to observe them some more before he would decide what to do. So he stepped into the shadow of a nearby building. Thanks to his black robe he was nearly invisible while he was standing in the shadows. And if this world had enough of one thing then it was shadows.

[WaRtArIa]

Valyrius nodded in acknowledgement at Marcus’s statements. Internally, Valyrius felt a curious urge that needed to be sated. This world was too strange for him. Red skies, vines made of flesh, horrific monsters, and undead roamed the land. Despite there being a village nearby, it was abandoned, and there was no sign of sentient life. The strange humans around him talked of strange things, and their magic was strong, but doesn’t feel entirely like magic. This human, Marcus, had a powerful-looking sword, which looked like it was crafted from pure magic. But that was implausible, as weapons like that always need a source of magic, and Marcus certainly didn’t have infinite energy to work with.

A loud scratching noise akin to nails on a chalkboard deafened Valyrius. Clutching his ears, Valyrius fought the incoming headache. Oh, oh, oh why were high elves cursed with amazing hearing? It was nice at times, but most of the time, it was just a big fat headache—and right now, that was literal. After a few moments, his disorientation was gone.

There wasn’t any time for Valyrius to feel any sense of relief. There was something behind him, and it certainly was not friendly.

A hunchbacked wraith-like monster, drooling hungrily, lunged towards Valyrius. Valyrius panicked. He needed to save mana, as there were too many monsters to come. Using a Mage Hand spell, Valyrius flung shards of iron at the monster, using them as real knives. Despite the fact that the monster was injured, it still was in a suitable condition to attack him. Not even a few seconds later, they were in a wrestling match, and they were still rather even. Valyrius, despite being a strong wizard, was not in the best physical condition.

Swallowing his pride, Valyrius called out for help. “Marcus, I would greatly—ow—appreciate your—ow—help, please!”

Valyrius still preferred to live, you know?

[The Krogan]

The cracking of armour being crushed, quickly followed by the watery popping of a being’s skull being ground down to paste, was all that could be heard as the last of the Eldar died beneath the boots of Jakob Lokesh. The fight had been short but extremely brutal, as was expected when one of humanities greatest weapons met with one of it's greatest foes. The event that had brought them here though had been harrowing to say the least, akin to the feeling of having your stomach jump into your throat followed by what felt like every molecule in your body being torn asunder made the trip to wherever they were less then pleasant. Luckily for the space marine though, it seemed proximity to the device had compounded the feeling for the Eldar, giving him the few precious moments needed to recover and launch his attack. Making the most of their immobility, Jakob charged forward, getting off a single shot into the back of one of his enemies, the force and subsequent detonation severed the being’s spine. In no time he was among them, just as he had wanted, their muddled state making them slower then usual and negating much of their acrobatic fighting style. He had used his brutal strength to its full effect, crushing his foes with fist and bolter as he scattered their bodies across the chamber, only having to resort to melee when only one remained of the initial five. Enough time had passed it seemed for one to recover enough to dodge his blows and draw its blade, causing him to draw his own compliment of knife and power axe. The confrontation ended with the axe buried in the creature’s chest and his combat knife skewered through its head, a finishing kill. The only one left after that had been the one who had taken his bolter round to the back and had spent the time immobile on the floor, now that Eldar to was but a bloody smear on the bottom of his right boot.

"May you burn in whatever hell you fear filth!" Lokesh roared in triumph, before pinning his power axe back to his belt and finally taking a better look at his surroundings. He had known the moment he had opened his eye's that something had changed, but it was only then that he fully realized that something truly strange had taken place. For one, the ceiling to the chamber was missing, and in it's stead was a wide open blue sky, the sun beating down upon him. He also noticed that the dark alcoves that had once dotted the room were now but doorways and windows, sand spilling in spilling in through the ground level ones. Jakob took a closer look at the decor and carvings in the room as well, seeing that everything had a somewhat sand blasted look to it as well.

Just what infernal place have I been sent to?... Can't be the warp... But it is certainly not Persias II, Jakob thought to himself, absently re-equipping his bolter as he strode towards where he had originally entered the chamber. As expected, the rest of his brothers were no where to be found, and instead of opening into a hallway, he stepped out into a sandy expanse. It was not barren though, as stone ruins dotted the nearby landscape, most nearly buried beneath the sand.

His eye's narrowed in further confusion as he opened up his comms in the vain hope of contacting either his squad or any of his fellow battle brothers.

"Huntsmen, this is Battle Brother Lokesh, please respond", he stated, using the chapters secured channels, to which his only response was complete static. After numerous attempts, and trying several different other secured channels, the Astartes gritted his teeth in frustration and took a risk. Jakob switched to open comms and said,

"This is Huntsmen Lokesh of the Emperor's Space Marine Chapter, The Wild Hunt, to any and all Imperial citizenry and authorities in the area, please respond." Waiting several seconds before repeating the message another two times. With a low growl the space marine gave up trying to transmit, coming to the realization that he had most likely been dumped on some Eldar world out of the reach of the Imperium.

I don't know what's worse, being stuck on a planet infested with those filthy Dark Eldar, or being stranded on an uninhabited world... Well if it's the former at least I'll have something to do, he thought to himself, the second option having just been thought of.

It was then, as he searched about his surroundings, that he spotted something off in the distance. On the horizon, Jakob could just make out what appeared to be smoke rising lazily into the sky. Now came the internal debate as to what to do about this newfound discovery, and after a few seconds of weighing the risks, Lokesh shrugged and began to make his way towards the smoke. He set a quick but even pace, to his objective, not wanting to stumble into an ambush, but nor did he need to dally in this place any longer.

Ughhh with my luck this is one of those damned Chaos war worlds, he thought, though the idea of killing heretics not all that unappealing.

[Brusia]

Marcus Antilles
Near the wreck of the Resolute

As Marcus maintained his position near the ship, he heard Valyrius call out for help. He quickly jumped back on top of the ship, and seeing the monster Valyrius was grappling with, he moved forward and with one quick swing of his lightsaber he cleaved the monster's head off. Moving the monster's corpse off the elf, he again reached out his arm and helped him up. Before he could say anything, he suddenly sensed the arrival of another sapient being nearby, and unlike most of the others he had sensed so far, this one felt strong in the Light. When he noticed a white light faintly shining near where he sensed the being's presence, he feared that the being might be in danger. Pointing towards the white light, he said to Valyrius:

"I think someone's in trouble near that white light! Please remain here with the man in the black armor and protect my ship, I'll try and bring whoever it is back here; feel free to shelter inside of the ship if you need to."

Marcus again instinctively charged off to help, and after a short run in the white light's direction he came upon a human woman clad in shining armor with a white cloak and eyepatch, wielding a large sword bathed in a white flame. As he feared, the woman was already under attack by the beasts, though from the number of monsters he saw who were on fire, she certainly seemed to be holding her own.

When he suddenly noticed a group of beasts rushing towards the woman's back, he charged forward and unleashed a powerful Force push in the beasts' direction, sending them flying into a nearby building. Another group soon followed and, with lightsaber in hand, he quickly sliced through them making his way towards the woman. As he approached her, he kept his back to hers to make it more difficult for either of them to be flanked by the monsters, and using the Force to communicate he said to her:

"I'm afraid there are a great many more of these monsters heading our way, but there's a small group of people gathered at my ship nearby; if you're willing to follow me back there and fight with us I think all our chances of surviving this will considerably improve."

[Anowa]

The sound of both heavy caliber gunfire and sub caliber gunfire echoed out from the forest, both fully automatic. The lights from the weapons stuttered through the trees, as did the magicks of an Abysswalker.

Followed by an ungodly roar.

The larger caliber stopped as the outright sound of glass shattering followed. Out of the forest came the metric ton form of Jorge, and his two hundred pound firearm. The gun impacted the wraith with enough force to kill it instantly, as both carried onwards. Jorge on the other hand impacted the ship hard enough to rock it, causing it to fall a few feet from it's stable cradle.

Hell followed with him. A veritable horde of Dentata filed out of the forest following Elsa and Artorias, both using their respective ranged abilities to attempt a stem of the tide. Artorias and Elsa proceeded to start their way up the building towards the ship, Artorias using his sword as a climbing tool, and Elsa simply punching hand and foot holes into the building. Said Dentata proceeded to start crawling up the building towards the ship hot on the heels of Elsa and Artorias.

Jorge pulled his M6 free of his hip and started firing the .50 Short HE rounds down at the advancing creatures. Hoping to save his friends.

And as unfortunate as it was, an encroaching wall of pure abyss started towards the city, much like a sandstorm. Artorias was right, the Abyss approached, and any caught within would die. Even from the ship, the whispers of pain and agony within could be heard.