The Last Oddetsey

[alex_holt]

Aurelias sunsword cuts through the hull of the pod as if it wasn't even there, and the extended air field your ship is projecting floods in, and the Griffon's eyes open wide. It still seems very weak and malnourished but eyes the group cautiously for a minute....

"I thought I wwwwoould ddie up here" in a heavily Griffonic accent - the sort caused by having a vaguely Indian accent but no lips, the griffon glances around and seems Doomforall has gone and the void that was projecting out of him is now flailing and dying away without a living host.

"I am gladddd to seeee that you seem to have fixed the immediate rift problem, but I warn you, I believe there to still be maybe three lesser sources of rift toooooo, toooo fully end thiiis threat, they muuuust aaaalso be destroyed"

[majinb]

"I shall give you whatever medical treatment gamemaster Alex Holt allows me to give you Anjushree... after this I think we should share as much information as we can!"

[NFX]

"That must be why you were casting the shield," Twitch deduced from his spot at the back of the trio. He took a cautionary look around the room, in case there was anything of note, or anything that would help them in their quest. "Should we get Anjy back to the spaceship?" he asked. "We've got Doomface there already, but he's dead."

[kodster]

Eudial paced back and forth, seething. Of course, everyone had left before she could even say anything more. She thought she could hear them coming back; it wasn't a good idea to display hostility after what just happened, so Eudial rearranged her face into a blank expression and stopped pacing to and fro, waiting.

[steven_mcg]

I'm much better at not crashing ships than not failing spectacularly at Operation: Myths and Monsters Edition. I'll fly us back, I suppose.

[alex_holt]

After carefully transporting the frail Anjushree to their own ship, Professor Vengeance heads over to the bridge and with a quick bit of piloting, the great silver vessel begins to descend back to the surface of the planet below them.

THE CASTLE

As they get within range of the castle George automatically teleports Anjushree to the medical facilities where a rudimentary hard-light medical hologram begins to treat the Griffon for starvation and lack of oxygen in a medically induced coma. It'll be a little while before there will be any proper conversations being had there....

Vengeance takes the body of Doomforall, and, as instructed, places it upon the dais that houses the strange seed. For a few minutes nothing seems to happen, and the whole affair seems anti-climatic, the cobbled courtyard and it's myriad of plants seem just as silent and lifeless as they were before. Then, suddenly, lights begin blinking on across the citadel, the heavy sound of bolts sliding across and unlocking previously secret sections of the castle. The whole place comes alive. George chimes in over the com-link to announce a constant stream of updates as section of the castle open up that neither had discerned were even there previously...

LABORATORIES: OPEN
RESTRICTED LIBRARIES: OPEN
ALCHEMICAL LABS: OPEN
MENAGERIE: OPEN
ASTRAL PROJECTION APPARATUS: OPEN
ARMOURY: OPEN
VAULT LEVELS 1-4: OPEN
LONG RANGE TRAVEL: OPERATIONAL
LONG RANGE TELEPORT: OPERATIONAL
ARBORETUM: OPEN
TROPHY ROOM: OPEN
ACCOUNTS OPENED FOR ALL PARTY MEMBERS: 100,000 credit allowance deposited in each account
CINEMA: OPEN
DEFENSIVE AUTOMATONS: ACTIVE

George continues to reel off an increasingly long list of minor rooms, however, there are three rooms which remain locked down, and nothing that Vengeance or George seems to be able to do opens them: the Fifth Level Vault, Doomforall's Study and the Engine Heart.

WELCOME PROFESSOR VENGEANCE, THE CASTLE IS NOW AT YOUR DISPOSAL

In all the chaos of new rooms and secret doors opening up everywhere, it's a little while before anyone notices that where Doomforall's corpse had rested earlier, a thick trunked oak is now wrapped around the pedastal with its roots grasping into the rock nearby. The body itself is not visible.

A FEW HOURS LATER

Anjushree has recovered enough to talk thanks to some new regeneration vats that were unlocked as the Castle came fully online, and the Griffon is currently trying to preen green gunge out of it's feathers in a fairly indignant way. Aurelia fills Anjushree in on their story thus far, and then asks Anjushree to fill in the other side of the story.

The Griffon's voice is notable different now, apparently that strong Griffonic accent is natural, but generally covered up and Anjushree now speaks in an altogether different clear and precise voice. The story is essentially that Anjushree detected Doomforall's accident from shrer own dimension, and, believing that being a universal level master of shields and other protective
magic, decided to travel to Earth-0 to try and avert the catastrophe. Anjushree was responsible for assembling the beings holding together the shield, and contributing the unifying spell from the space pod. With you going up and defeating the rift on Doomforall, and the pods air running out of air, that seemed like work done.

What is more concerning is the elaboration of earlier... when Anjushree came to this world, a quick spell to detect Doomforall and the rift bought up his location certainly, but also three others as well...

Before this can be over, you'll need to track down those other three and end them too...

[NFX]

Finally, the group were back at the castle, out of the emptiness of space. Twitch still hadn't exploded, that was good. He stood alongside Eudial, listening to Anjushree's tale, still trying to figure out how all these stories he had heard since arriving tied into one another. There was something about the griffon's voice, though, its manner of talking, that sent a minor chill down his spine. The macaw shivered a little.

"Three others?" he asked. "So we've to find the other three rift things before the timer runs out?" Twitch gave a cautionary look at the watch he was wearing around his ankle, noting the time remaining. "Well, as long as we're here, there's what, armoury, vaults...libraries?" he suggested to the others, "There's bound to be some good stuff in there. THE CASTLE IS NOW AT YOUR DISPOSAL."

Twitch glanced at George. The bird was definitely not the best at impressions. He took a couple of paces backwards, glancing around awkwardly, before he noticed something unusual. Something he hadn't spotted before Anjushree returned. "Hey, where's Doomface gone?"

[majinb]

CINEMA: OPEN

Aurelia addresses everyone present.

"Eudial! Playzooki! Twitch! Marisa! Vengeance! Epsilon! Mammoth! Dwarf! Leprechaun! Squirrel! Anjushree! George! Anyone else who I might have forgotten to address! We have work to do, but we have also got recent victories to celebrate! I propose we shall watch a movie together, to bond, to learn, to rejoice, to come out stronger and more prepared to tackle the final hurdles in our way! Allow me to use my communicator to get Khloe, Cleo and Leland to join us!"

Aurelia walks towards the cinema, communicator held in hand, to see what movies Doomforall likes.

[kodster]

Eudial had aptly listened to this, though somehow she felt she knew about it already... ugh, no, that stupid angel wanted to celebrate. This was no time for a picnic! The quest wasn't over until the danger was wiped out. Or so Eudial thought of it, anyway. It was certainly a grueling ordeal, but now that she had been in a few fights, she was raring for more action, and not remaining idle.

Ignoring Aurelia, Eudial addressed the Griffon. "You were able to detect these three other beings, yes?" she said with a curious gleam in her eyes. "Do you know where the nearest one is? The sooner we rid ourselves of them, the sooner we will return to normalcy."

[NWOWWE]

Gaunt stared blankly at the motionless cat. He was getting rather impatient. Was it really going to just sit there? He walked back over to Cleo and began gently herding the cat towards the elevator.

"All things considered I have to insist we get moving. The quicker we get in and get this over with the better."