Return of the Emblem Chapter Three: The Show

[roymbrog]

Lesse… Left or right? There were noises coming from the left, possibly a lecture or something. To the left it was! It wasn’t long before the stone beneath her gave way to a metal and wood construct and she could hear the room more clearly. …It sounded like water. Curious, she moved to one of the vents and looked through, not exactly seeing what she wanted or expected and jumped back immediately. Unfortunately, she happened to ram smack into the wall of the vent causing the whole thing to shake. Startled, she lunged forward through the structure and hit the bottom with a thud. That’s when all hell broke loose.

Not built to support a human’s weight in the first place, the bottom of that section bent and broke out, sending Carla tumbling down towards the water below along with the several disk shaped objects she realized too late had fallen from her pocket. Metal, girl, and mines all hit the water at the same time sending several students scrambling out of the way in shock. Not more than two seconds later the disks exploded.

The force of the explosion sent a wave of water up and outward, and Carla smack into the ceiling. Dazzed as she was, she still managed to catch hold of the edge of the vent on her way down, pull herself back in, and make it the few feet to the safety of the wall where she collapsed. She could still hear startled shouts and cries of pain from behind her. This was not going to end well, she could see.

[Mercakete]

Tim was about to answer when several echoing thuds caught his attention from somewhere...in the cieling? Then, to his horror, a woman fell from above and landed in the pool. No one could have anticipated the explosion that took place afterwords, sending walls of water surging from the center of the pool outward. For a moment, he was underwater. Then, most of the water had flitered out, some into the hallway beyond the door ro the baths, some into the drains around the pool, some returning to the pool its self. Either way, everyone was soaked and some were rather displaced. Tim had been leaning aganst the edge of the pool, though, so he'd stayed here he was. "What in the gods' names was an exploding woman doing here?" was all he could manage to ask before he thought to look around for Ranyin.

[Rothene]

At first there was a loud noise of something huge breaking. Then a big splash. Ranyin saw many strange objects crashing into the bath. Was that a person, wondered Ranyin as he started to take a step closer.

And then there was a lot of loud noises as the mines all set off. The force of the mini tidal wave sent Ranyin spiraling out of the bath pool into the mass of screaming fleeing students. Then he followed the panicking students as they screamed and scrambled for the exit.

A few panicking fistcuffs and a slightly bruised arm later, Ranyin recovered his senses and went back to investigate the bath. It was empty as the explosions managed to punch holes into the ground. Damn university, is it some kind of prank haven, thought Ranyin.

He saw some students were still dazed and spotted Tim still at the edge of the pool. Ranyin called out,"Are you alright Tim?"

Edited April 6, 2011 by Rothene

[Mercakete]

Tim shook off his daze when Ranyin called to him. Getting up and swiftly putting most of his belongings into the locker then grabbing his towel and tieing it around himself, he replied, "I'm fine, but I need to alert the office as to what happened. Can you check to see how the other students are doing?" Without waiting for an answer, he left to the recently-wettened hallway, making his way to the office as quickly as he could without slipping.

[Acacia Sgt]

After checking out the map of the universtity the room had, which was convenient as he didn't asked the guide for one, John was all set for taking a look around the place. Hopefully he could pass without gathering too much attention.

At first he just walked throughout some hallways. There wasn't much to see, they all looked the same. Thankfully, the students who noted his prescence only asked if he was a new student or commented of how tall he was. It was then, while walking in yet another hallway when suddenly, the place shook a little, accompanied by a far-off sound of an explosion, followed by that of water. Everyoen in the hallway stopped in their tracks, and started looking around.

''What was that!?'' Shouted one.

''It sounded like an explosion!'' Another answered.

No sooner did the hallway erupted into talk as the students remained rooted in their places, probably due to fear.

''Sounds like it came from the baths.'' ''Ah! Must be a Neviskotian attack!!'' ''Calm down, they could never reach this far without the army knowing!'' ''What should we do?'' ''Someone should go and see.'' ''No way I'm going, didn't you heard it!?'' ''Should we alert a teacher?''

One thing was for certain, the students weren't leaving, or at least, most of them. John, curious about it, decided to leave the hallway among the few students who decided to leave.

[Rothene]

Check on the other students huh, thought Ranyin as he approached the centre of the pool to look for any seriously hurt students. A few of the students who have not only calmed down but remained to help their friends who were close to the blast ran into the now drained pool to carry their friends off.

Thankfully few were really hurt, but some were burnt. Which meant explosives were possibly used. This was no simple prank, someone had nasty intentions. Ranyin ran for a towel and wiped himself thoroughly before donning his robes and picking up his tome. He then proceeded to inspect the vent that fell earlier.

That was when he realised he used a towel with itching powder. Crap, so much for inspecting the towels before using them, grumbled ranyin as he started scratching himself.

This it too much, I'll wait for Tim to return and then head to an infirmary, complained Ranyin in his mind as he did a last check to make sure no student fell into the hole in the pool.

[ReformBlade]

The sudden noise and subtle vibrations made Nanahm stop what he was doing, but ultimately return to rambling. "Mages, what the hell." He didn't hate mages, not truthfully anyway. He never understood magics or any of that arcane jargon and mystical crap, he never had the time or interest for it, but he could respect it. When it wasn't annoying him.

------------ Derik

Following her trail was never easy with how sporadic her movements were, but there were traces nonetheless. Always an explosion or a stabbing, maybe both if she was feeling the need to catch up on her unknown and quite baffling (to him, maybe not her) quota. Damn woman, I WILL end her... but WHEN?! She always seemed to be two steps in front of where Derik would be, no matter how close he thought he got, though he figured today... things would be different. He heard a faint explosion off in the distance towards... "Weyland's uni... Oh god DAMMIT! Of course she would, OF COURSE SHE WOULD!" he began to yell but calmed himself down a bit as he rushed off towards the sound.

[Mercakete]

"What in Leviathan's--?!" Gytha was cut off by the shrill screams of surprise of the women in the womens' bath as the pool's water began to resemble a small storm out at sea. The comotion died down quickly enough but Gytha was still confused as to what exactly had just happened. When she'd finished cleaning herself up, had dried off and was clothed again, Gytha exited the womens' bath only to speed back behind the door. "What's wrong with these men?" she wondered quitle loudly aloud. A few of them had just run by dripping and naked. Fortunately, Gytha hadn't seen anything lower than their torsos, but really.

Once the hallway sounded empty enough, Gytha reentered it. A couple women mages were standing there, blushing and staring in the direction Gytha could only assume the men had run off in, looks of shock on their faces. Ignoring them, Gytha continued down the hall. Based on what she was hearing, apparently a whole bunch of naked, soaked men had run in different directions from the mens' bath after...an explosion? ... What's wrong with these people?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim knew the halls of the university by heart and being a mage, he was used to wearing robes, so making it to the main office in naught but a towel tied around his waist was pretty easy. He'd also managed to grab his hall monitor's pass from his locker, which was now hanging around his neck. He never left his dorm without it, whether he was going to class or going to the baths. When he reached the front office desk, he flashed his hall monitor's pass and, rather out-of-breath, he told the secretary there, "Hall monitor Tim Clover reporting. An exploding woman fell from the cieling into the pool of the mens' baths. I need to speak with the principal; guys are running around, the school in a panic and causing a school-wide panic."

OoC: Phoenix, secretary and other high-ranking school staff I'm leaving to you.

Edited April 6, 2011 by Mercakete

[Rothene]

The itchiness being unbearable, Ranyin decided to leave and look for an infirmary. He made sure there were no injured students left behind and thus have fulfilled Tim's 'command'.

So he followed and helped some students support the more badly burnt students out of the bath. The action would kill two birds in one stone as he would be helping someone and getting to an infirmary with unwitting aid.

On his way out, he noted that some of the panicked students have decided to return and claim their belongings. Must have caused quite an uproar these naked fools, as if the explosion was not enough, thought Ranyin.

[-Cynthia-]

Selene

Selene took out a pen and parchment out of her knapsack and placed them on the table in front of Boris. She crossed her arms and began to tap her foot on the floor.

Veronika

Veronika quickly found her way to her room and decided to practice swordplay there. Having her weapon in hand made her feel more at ease, at least if Ursian officials came knocking she would be prepared. Her concentration was interrupted by a loud explosion and Veronika decided to go into the hallway to investigate.

The students there mentioned something about it being a Neviskotian attack, which caused Veronika to roll her eyes. Neviskotians would not attack a civilian target, there is no honor in killing those that cannot properly defend themselves. She saw John with the students and decided to approach him. "What do you think we should do about this? The security here at the university would ordinarily be the ones to deal with it, but with the military summit they might be otherwise occupied. I don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves, but if it is an enemy it would be better to strike them before they attack us," she said to him in a hushed tone.

[Acacia Sgt]

John was about to leave when he heard Veronika. 'Hmmm, she's right. Whatever caused this the university staff may not be available to deal with it...'

''I'd say we better check it out.'' He told her. ''We just can't stand by and do nothing. We must do something.'' With that, he started heading into the direction the explosion was heard from.

He kept going through the hallways, finding either more students wondering what was going on, or the occasional none-clothed guy running in the opposite direction. 'Just what the heck happened...?' He wondered, considering the latter.

Either way, he finally made it near the baths, where he could finally see signs of the disaster, as the floor was now wet, with small puddles here and there. As he turned around a corner, he saw Gytha. 'Maybe she knows what's going on.' He thought. ''Hey!'' He called out.

Edited April 6, 2011 by Acacia Sgt

[ReformBlade]

Hearing more commotion outside, he was a bit pissed. Wasn't it just some experiment? I guess not... he thought as he stepped out of his room. He spied Veronika talking to John and wondered if they knew what was going on. Unfortunately, John moved away from her, off to hopefully pursue what was happening. This did make him curious, so he wandered on over to the Veronika. "Um... you know what exactly is going on here? I'm lost."

Edited April 6, 2011 by SlaveBlade

[Rothene]

Ranyin saw John call out to Gytha, but he decided not to call out himself. He had a wounded student to help...and a bad itch to get rid off. Besides, he was afraid of having Gytha handle any of the students with that monstrous strength of hers. She would probably break them before they even get to the infirmary.

"Woah, what're you doing you idiot?" exclaimed the student who was supporting the leftside of the badly hurt student that Ranyin was supporting on the right as Ranyin paused a bit to scratch himself.

"It's this stupid itch from the towel that students like so much!" growled Ranyin angrily as he continued scratching.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika noticed Nanahm approach as John decided to run off and investigate. "I'm afraid I don't know anything more than you do. I heard the explosion, the students are panicked and John ran off to investigate. I am a little hesitant to get myself involved in this though, if the authorities were to see us around whatever caused this explosion they could reach undesirable conclusions," she responded to him, pacing around a bit, unsure whether to follow John or not.

[Phoenix]

OOC:

Oh, Merc, by the way, the term you were looking for back there was "Telekinesis".

Prison

"Thank you." Boris said before turning most of his attention to the note. He began writing ...

UM-66

I am deeply sorry for the events that have unfolded in recent days. I am the only remaining witness to our failures. Please act accordingly. Again, I am deeply sorry for what has transpired.

P.S.

To the Viper. Thank you for all you've done for me.

He set the pen down, and folded up the parchment in his hands. "I suppose that's it then. Here you are." he said reaching out to hand her the pen and message.

University Emergency

Outside the explosion was little more than background noise but the slight shake still got Amon's attention. "... fifteen pages left ... just fifteen pages left. Lady Aisha, please let this be a problem that'll just fix itself." Come to think of it, I'm just an agent. I'm not that useful in any real emergency. he thought before returning to reading. The thoughts continued though. Besides, someone's got to look after the wagon, and I don't trust the staff here to do a thorough job. After all, it's not their goods on the line.

Meanwhile, inside the building's main office. The secretary, a young woman who seemed to have a fort wall made out of paperwork surrounding her looked up at Tim as he approached. "An exploding woman?" I suppose seeing something up close, being taken by surprise, and having your adrenaline running high will lead to that kind of description. "Don't worry about it. As soon as the explosion occurred the senior staff called in Zach and Thomas. They'll investigate while the staff wielders handle the injured. By the way, you weren't hurt at all were you?" she said as she revealed a staff of her own underneath the desk.

----------

Zach and Thomas ... a fire sage and a wind sage respectively. The two men strolled down the hall rather nonchalantly as a few naked students ran by them. A couple of them slowed down to yell at the two. "Hey, be careful in there, I'm pretty sure those were bombs she blew the place up with!"

"Oh goodness ... how uncouth." Thomas said placing a hand on his chin. "Now who would want to visit such vile and unsophisticated violence upon our humble school?"

"Dunno, but I'm thinking we're going to find at least one corpse in there. Hopefully whoever blew the place up, though I won't get my hopes up. I've seen people live through some surprising things." Zach said as they drew closer to the baths.

"I say, why not do this in a tactful manner?"

"What?"

"Oh you know, take the enemy by surprise assuming they are still alive." Revealing a warp staff, Thomas flourished it a bit.

"Eh, fine. But only to save time."

"Brilliant! Alright then, you do me and I'll do you!" he said aiming his staff at Zach.

"Whoa, no thanks, I'll warp myself thank you very much. Last time we tried this you sent me to the wrong place." he explained with an unamused look.

"I merely lost my concentration! That was in no way motivated by nefarious intentions, and I will not be accused of unleashing such a cruel prank on a close friend."

"Lose your concentration on someone else." he said before disappearing over a symbol on the floor."

"Oh, fine, be that way." Thomas pouted before warping along.

The two appeared in the men's bath close to the entrance, saving all of another three minutes of walking. "... what the hell is this?" Zach spat out looking the place over.

"Nope, definitely not a Neviskotian attack, unless they aim to make our students paranoid of taking baths in some clever scheme for the fut-"

"Yeah I seriously doubt that." Zach interrupted.

[Snowy_One]

Library

<"I... I..."> What was Robin to say? Up until this point, the prospect, the very notion of anyone joining or otherwise aiding her in any way or manner beyond the most basic of needs had simply not crossed her mind. Sure, she could get transportation if she needed it, possibly even fool a innkeeper or two into thinking she was loyal to Ursium or where-ever she would have ended up on her hunt, but until now she had fully... not thought about it. Robin looked down, her face flushing pink in major embarrassment. So far, she had left home on a whim, to chase down a artifact, she didn't even know which, in a location that could have easily been in enemy territory, and had planned to do so alone. <"I don't know what to say. The thought of if I would even need anyone else to be capable of obtaining such an artifact, let alone where the artifact I would be looking for, never crossed my mind beforehand.">

[Rothene]

Ranyin successfully reached the infirmary after what seemed like an eternal struggle that only lasted for fifteen minutes. He saw Veronika being approached by the axe user he saw near the wagon earlier. They were either distracted or did not know him long enough to recognise him as clad in robes, he blended in with the students...if his tanner skin were to be ignored. He did not bother turning back to see if any of them followed him.

In the infirmary, he managed to convince a sage to heal away his itch so that he could return to 'help' more 'victims'. Which was a lie as all those in the bath had already left. But the sage burdened with so many patients figured that removing simple itches was time efficient and as no students were in any near death state.

Itch-free, Ranyin hurried back to the bath. Hopefully the others were still there as he had a feeling something was about to happen, and he had to give a good impression of being able to be with the group in any time of need.

[ReformBlade]

"Well..." he started, "It's not our fault, and I'd hazard a guess and say it's not really our business, so maybe we should just watch and see how things play out for the moment. If only for... oh what is it called, oh yeah, 'plausible deniability'. We can't know what we can't know... you know?" he finished, trying to suggest a hopefully satisfactory answer.

[Zsword]

Shadrak turned to Synthia with a small smile. "Would you like to join me in the library?" He asked.

[Mercakete]

Tim took a quick inventory of himself. The lower part of his back hurt a little seeing as that was what had been not only forced against the pool wall by the water's force, but also rubbed a little raw by the stone edges of the pool when the water's impact hit. Come to think on it, it sort of stung. "A little, but I was pretty far from the blast," he replied, turning to show the injurry on his back, "It isn't much... Still, I feel better now that I know Zach and Thomas are investigating. Classes are all out already... Is there something I should do?" I might be sent back to the baths, but with Zach and Thomas there, I don't think I'd have to. Or I might be told to go round up and calm down the streakers. Or I might...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gytha looked over to John and shifted directions to walk towards him. "Ahoy, Jamie. Do ye know what all's goin' on? From what I gather, a bunch of daft men are runnin' around in naught but their skin. And something about a bath explodin'," she asked, obviously very very confused.

[Acacia Sgt]

''That sounds bad, whoever caused this has brought most of the school into chaos...'' John began, until he finally noticed. ''Eh... Jamie...?''

[Mercakete]

"Ah, right, sorry, JoAnne," Gytha responded to the name bit. "Yer right about the chaos, though, Jill. Do ye think we should investagate or just leave everythin' alone? Not like it involved us unless one of us was in the mens' baths."

[Acacia Sgt]

''It isn't either.'' John said, then let out a sigh. ''It's John. But never mind that, as how things are, I'd say investigating isn't a bad idea, but it could make us look suspicious considering we aren't students here. What do you think?''

[Mercakete]

"I'd just stay out of it. Not our business. I'm sure this place has its own means of takin' care of things; we'd just be in the way," Gytha replied, shrugging it off and taking out the map from her room that she'd stored in one of her belt pouches. "Now, where's the galley...?"

[Phoenix]

Library

<"Well, I mean no offense by this but if you're interested in getting artifacts that are already in Ursian hands then you're screwed. Ordinary relic hunting isn't a one man job either."> he explained. <"Question; how committed to this are you anyway? How far are you willing to go, I mean.">

Estate

Weyland left and entered his mansion, and that suddenly clicked with Rodrigo. "Oh right! I need to talk to him about the preparations really quick, and I've also got to send out a messenger to my crew." he sputtered while jogging after Weyland. "I'll catch up with you all soon." he called back.

"Heheh, I bet he's going to drive Weyland up a wall at this rate." Miguel commented. Hmmm. Eh, why not? "So, I never caught your first name, Miss Valcyn ..." he started.

Raquel almost flinched. Her head had clearly been someplace else. "Raquel. Who are you?" she asked.

"Lieutenant Colonel Miguel Taylor, Co-Commander of the Eastern Special Tasks Unit ... or 'Langley's Battalion' for short." he explained, beginning to scratch the back of his neck during the latter half.

"Oh well, it's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Yes, very VERY likewise. Now, where to go from here ... he mused.