Log:Rift Crisis II, Scene 10

Rift Crisis II 2019/03/22 Fleta Grimm Kalwara Moonshadow Pendragon Stella Titan The Voice

10

Spring is finally here! Though someone seems to have forgotten to tell the weather that. Today once again cold weather has descended, rather by surprise. Ice creams vendors have closed up again and cafes are doing well.

Returning from Avalon is generally a tricky endeavor. Bethany knows that her new roommate could be home, so there's not a lot of reasons to just appear in the living room in costume and all. Could give the girl a heart attack. So instead, she selects the Workout Room of Steele's Gym. It could lead to different types of heart attacks, but odds are they won't be identity blowing ones.

So the mists appear in the gym and Pendragon steps out of them before heading towards the street.

Kalwara can ignore the weather, short of extremes. But able to ignore and liking are not the same. So being in Bridgend on her way to the Undermmon embassy she pops into Past Times coffee shop for a hot cherry favoured coffee. Yeah. Cherry favoured. She really is alien to Earth.

Titan gets off the MagLev, as he's headed toward the coffee shop. He gets a few looks, and ends up signing something for a fan who recognizes him. The weather doesn't seem to have much impact on him.

Kalwara is just pushing open the door of the coffee shop when she stops in her tracks. Her head comes up as she seems to concentrate of something either unseen or ungeard. Then she glances in the coffee shop. She's been told it's a gathering place for the protecters of the city. "Something comes." she announces. "From the east."

Titan had been nearing the shop as Kalwara says that, "Something comes? What is it?" He looks out to the east, "Huh. Low clouds?"

Sadly, the coffee shop is lacking in superheroes today, it seems. But where there are doughnuts there are policemen. One of them decides it's at least worth calling in.

Kalwara is looking east with concern on her face. "Something that has changed the winds. I felt a similar change when the forest appearing in your city."

There may even be a bit of mist following Pendragon out of the gym. But she was just reaching to lift her gleaming blade to summon Snowmane because it's a lot more fun to ride him to her flat than to just walk in costume.

So yes, she is distracted as folks start talking about the mist. Of course... when she summons her horse, it involves summoning the mists. No, that's not going to be confusing at all. A burst of mist erupts into being, coalescing into the ginormous warhorse......

Titan starts to fly, but only gets a few feet off the ground. "I'm going to check it out. Need a lift?"

Kalwara actually hesitates. The last time she 'flew' the landing put her in the temple hospice. After a moment though she nods. "Yes. Thank you."

As soon as the island comes into sight, it's clear, even through the mist, that something is wrong. The island is the wrong shape. It's still, as normal, high to the south and flatter to the north. But the silhouette of the southern part is even more imposing. And there seems to be a *big* fortification there instead of the scaled-down Undermoon embassy.

Titan smiles and picks up Kalwara. He looks to Pendragon, "I suspect you can get there? If you need a lift as well, just say so." He then starts to fly upward and over the bay, heading toward the misty island.

Kalwara stares in confusion. "Where is the Embassy?" she asks rhetorically.

"A lift where?!" calls out Pendragon as she just not notices Titan taking off. She has no idea about some mist elsewhere. She was just going to ride home. The truly weird part is that nobody seemed to think that the mist she summoned for her stuff had anything to do with the other mist that seemed to make folks suspicious.

But she climbs up onto Snowmane and looks after the flying Titan. "What do you think he was talking about?" she asks Snowmane, who just shakes his head and mane in response.

Titan calls back to Pendragon, "Dont' like to investigate mysteries? Come on!" As he gets closer to the edge of the mist...a much large cloud bank than what Pendragon produced, he sets down lightly, letting Kalwara get her feet. "I'm not sure where hte embassy is. That fort looks wrong to me."

Kalwara states categorically, now she's closer, "The Embassy is missing. It isn't where it should be."

"Fort" an understatement. Fort doesn't do it justice. Or even castle. It's a huge fortification like something out of Tolkien - though all in white, with an icy look to it, which made it harder to make out details from a distance. At the foot of the cliffs on which it stands is a harbour with square-rigged ships, not dissimilar to viking longboats, but with wolf-head prows. Figures can be seen moving about on the island. It's clear, even at this distance, not all are human.

"Huh?" asks Pendragon eloquently. She looks up to the fleeing? flying... Titan. He heard her mutter from there? Okay sure. Shrugging her shoulders, she turns to look in the direction he was heading. "What? Mist? Mist happens." she says with a shake of her head, "Okay, fine. Snow. Let's go take a look." That said, she urges Snowmane into motion, and he starts to trot that way.

Titan leaps, rather than flying, as it's a bit faster. He gets closer to get a better look, and likely draws some attention.

Grimm catches sight of the mists as she steps out of Past Time's/Alternate Dimensions Coffee. With a flicker, she travels the long distance to the edge of the mist. Once closer, her shadow sight combs over the area. "Okay, these are definitely getting worse."

Stella is actually coming in from above when she noticed what she thought was weird weather causing mist/fog and decided to go for a closer look. Though at distances this close to the city she's going about it at what is a rather sedate pace for her since she's been avoiding super-sonic speeds close to populated areas unless it's an emergency.

Laurel had been enjoying a (relatively) quiet shift at the Past Time's, when both of her customers had left in something of a hurry, one of them saying that something was coming. So she hung out the closed signs (one on the door, and one in the ladies' room), changed to Moonshadow, and followed.

Titan just keeps closing the distance until he either gets a better impression of what he's seeing or the new-ish locals on the island react to him.

Kalwara points to the fortifications, "I can sense numerous being. Humans. Frost giants. Others I do not recognize. Many in total. Maybe a half dozen giants."

Moonshadow takes to the air, flying toward the mist.

The reactions of others are more what Pendragon notices than any details of the island.... yet. Then she crests the bridge's span and spots the island itself. Eyes narrowing, the old man in her head mutters a curse. Invaders on the island. It's almost a flashback. I mean come on, she's done training regimen in the workout room against Viking invaders to make the old man happy in the past.

"Come on." she murmurs to Snowmane as she digs in her heels and accelerates her mount up to a full gallop. The blade comes out, gleaming even through the mist as she prepares to make a charge. That may change, but it's her immediate reaction.

Grimm looks down at her coffee, then back at the mists. "I didn't realize Kihzra and the big bad wolf came from the same place. And this is probably bad news that this is here."

Kalwara adds, "Many creatures too. Bears, direwolves, great cats."

Grimm glances over to Titan as he draws near, tilting her head slightly. "And what happened to -you-, big guy?" Her eyes travel to his tattoo.

Stella decides to approach the largest group of familiar people she can spot and hovers nearby "Hey, whats going on with all the mist or fog or whatever?"

Titan chuckles as Grimm looks at his upper back. "Do I have something on my shirt?" He reaches back to brush himself off.

Kalwara tells Titan, "I don't not know what their attitude to strangers will be but they seem as confused as I am."

Moonshadow catches up to and joins the others.

That said, they've got organised enough to have put a guard at the end of the bridge. And they seem to be getting their act together a little.

"There's something on your back," Grimm comments before looking up towards the mist. "Got your girl's name tattooed on there?" she teases and starts to step forward as black shadows envelope her protectively.

Titan chuckles and says to Grimm, "No. I have a tattoo of wings on my back. I can show you later, if you want." He continues moving toward the edge of the bridge. "This looks...kind of familiar. I'm trying to place it."

Moonshadow says, "Grimm, what's going on here - has the rift expanded again?"

Kalwara says admiringly as she becomes aware of more details. "They may be confused but they're getting organized. Birds are being sent out to scout. I see guards at the closer end of the bridge.

That gets Grimm's attention, Standing on the ground near the edge of the mist, she glances back at Titan. "I'll take you up on that offer," she says flirtatiously, though she's just being playful. She has a bad rep to maintain. She looks back to the mist. "New rift, new place. The scale keeps getting bigger. We need to try and fix this, but...we don't even know the cause yet, as far as I know. Something's breaking down the multiverse. It's bad. Real bad."

As for Pendragon... well, surely you have heard the description of thundering hooves. Usually it is just metaphor. But with a horse that is in the mid-twenties for hands of height at the withers, it's far less of a metaphor. Snowmane's hooves slam into the bridge, her shield hefted onto her left arm and her gleaming blade shining in the air as she charges the ranks that are just -starting- to get organized. Best time to do that charge is before they are really set properly, when one can sow chaos in a larger number of enemies by being more mobile and using the terrain and cover to their advantage. The intent is to slam through any lines they have and get in behind them.

"I think we're being invaded. They're trying to keep the rift open with magic," Grimm warns.

Moonshadow says, "Should we call in everyone, so that they learn why that's a bad idea?"

Kalwara asks Titan, "Is the horse woman charging the bridge one of yours. Shouldn't you try talking before fighting. Not even my clanmen are that foolhardy."

"Oh yeah. All hands on deck," Grimm says as her shadow stretches and grows out behind her as she tries to summon a dragon of shadow.

Moonshadow sends out a call on her Traveler's team comm.

Grimm mutters to herself, "If these are from Kihzra's home dimension, they could be that brave or foolhardy..."

Titan furrows his brow, "They're trying to keep the two dimensions linked?"

Grimm nods to Titan. "Someone cast a spell to try and extend it. So that sounds like they're planning on trying to stay longer."

As she bears down on the lines, small Pendragon on the giant horse's back calls out, "Invaders will not be tolerated! Get back to your homes! You have no place here!" The voice is odd. It's both hers, but -also- Arthur's... kind of a two-tone Legion sort of vocal effect. It is the sort of voice that is modulated to carry over the din of battle, and she crashes through the lines, wheeling about to place Snowmane and herself between the invaders and the end of the bridge. She is hoping to inspire them to fall back, even for a bit.

The nornal troops stand stunned at Pendragon's insanely valorous charge and speech. Even some of the less lowly and less human are impressed. Not so much the two approaching giants. But Pendragon has made the wanted beachhead.

Titan watches the charge, "Whelp. I suspect the giants are something I should help to deal with. I had hoped to...talk with them, but that looks like that's off the table." He jumps, clearing a fair distance...and not acting concerned about any of the normal troops. Instead, he keeps his eyes on the giants. He shouts, "Stand aside! We need to talk to your leader!"

Sitting astride Snowmane, Pendragon holds her blade high, "Behold! Sword of kings! The blade Excalibur defends this realm! You would do well to find another realm to invade!" she exclaims. But when Titan arrives, she lowers the blade and even scabbards it. But she remains seated there, simply radiating authority in support of Titan for now.

Moonshadow looks at the others, "We should follow."

Grimm teleports atop her shadow dragon as it fans out its wings. "Let's follow them."

Kalwara looks down at Pendragon, "Truly she is kuma-suri." She grins, "Clan Wara lethi galen shor!" she shouts. "Let's join here."

Moonshadow takes to the air, and flies toward the far end of the bridge.

Titan's call for parlay, alas, is lost among the shock and dismay at Pendragon's charge.

Kalwara drops from Titan's grip and charges into the affray, triggering her combat trance as she does. She moves through the assembled outlanders like a Whirlwind sweeping feet from beneath them, pushing those close to the edge off the bridge.

Grimm takes a moment to focus as she rides her dragon. Her eyes close for a moment as she pictures an army to match these. "If you do not lower your weapons and retreat, our armies will force you back!" Behind her on the bridge and along the coast, darkness spreads across the ground, and from it, an army of shadow soldiers rises up, looking like tougher, bigger, more aggressive versions of the invaders. They. Are. Legion.

Reaps like a scythe harvesting wheat, tossing humands and furry whatevers around like feather pillows in a doem fight.

Grimm tells her dragon her dragon as she focuses on the illusion, "Keep me safe from attacks. We need to stay close to the others."

Kalwara is almost quivering with eagerness to continuing laying waste to what seems to be invaders. But she holds back for now. She is herself a stranger. Those from this realm have the right to make the decision to speak of peace - if they can.

Moonshadow hasn't gotten any responses from her team, and she guesses that others were having the same luck. Still, she's not going to let any of these guys cross the bridge into Colonial Bay. But so far, they haven't actually attacked anyone, in spite of the attacks against them. She decides to wait until they attack or attempt to cross the bridge.

Still up there on Snowmane, Pendragon lifts her chin. "I believe the man there wanted to speak to your leaders!" She calls out to the enemy. She gestures towards Titan with a free hand now. Her shield is held at the ready, but she has her sword sheathed.

Titan gets no reaction from the giants. So...he strides forward, growing in the process, until he's a good 8m tall. This is...not normal for him. "I said...STAND ASIDE!"

The giants at least hesitate. Once says something to Titan in some unknown language.

The rank and file still seem to be mostly awed, but the leaders have recovered their wits enough to start barking orders at least. For a moment it looks like battle might be about to be joined in earnest. Then, from atop a high tower of the castle, booms a voice, "Who dares assault the castle of the Ice Wolf?" Or rather, the voice is in another language, but the meaning is somehow entirely clear.

And the officers fall silent.

Titan smiles slightly as they got the right person's attention, apparently. He calls back. "We are not assaulting anything! Our worlds have overlapped, and we want to avoid conflict! You are using magic to sustain it!"

As for Pendragon, she just sits there trying to quietly lend any authority she may have to Titan without speaking or doing anything more. Sometimes it is more important to look impressive and authoritative. No sense in muddying the waters though.

"Leave this place, then," says the Voice. "My master has no quarrel with you. Leave, and you will not be harmed."

Kalwara walks back to the city side of the incident, and moves behind Grimm's shadow dragon. Getting out of sight of the invaders before she comes out of combat trance so they will not see her weakness when she does so.

Grimm tries to remain looking serious and stoic, but a bead of sweat starts running down her temple at maintaining such a big illusion.

Titan is having to expend some energy remaining the size he is, but he doesn't really feel it. Yet. He calls back, "End the magic that you're using to maintain the connection, and we will leave!" He figures that at least one of his group should be able to sense when the spell ends, even if he cannot.

The Voice replies, "I do not know of the magic of which you speak: my master keeps his own counsel. But I repeat - my master has no quarrel with you. Yet. If you do not leave, this may change. You are warned."

"You are on our land. Your master has brought your fortress and your army to land not his own and invaded it. We have no desire to assault your castle, or to harm you and yours. However, I must make the same demand. Leave this place. Take your army and your magic and go to land that does not belong to others and -you- will not be invading that land. Invading armies have an annoying tendency to get crushed, and I would hate for your people to suffer for a misunderstanding!" calls Pendragon from atop her giant horse. Okay, giant is subjective. What?

Titan looks back at Grimm, "Is the magic still ongoing that you sensed earlier?" He pauses and says,

Titan looks back at Grimm, "Is the magic still ongoing that you sensed earlier?" He pauses and says, "Wait...why are you so small?"

Titan looks around again...and then at himself. "Oh... Oh."

"We have not invaded. You have crashed your world into ours," replies the Voice to Pendragon. "They intersect, and the fault is yours."

"Small...?" Grimm asks, then looks up at Titan. Her eyes widen a bit. "Uhhh."

Sudden understanding dawns on Pendragon. She looks up to Titan and asks, "Is it possible that someone in the Undermoon caused this?"

Grimm nods slowly to the big guy. "The spell hasn't stopped."

Another trickle of sweat runs down the side of Grimm's face. "Can't...keep this up forever," she mutters. The shadow army all do a salute in unison and sink back down into the ground as they vanish like dark spirits.

Moonshadow says, "He says it's _our_ fault...wasn't there something in the papers about dwarves in Buckingham Garden?"

Titan nods slowly. He looks to Pendragon, "Not Undermoon, I suspect. But I was in the park when those dwarves caused the problem."

"The magical spell is still being maintained. If this.. Ice Wolf has no knowledge of it, perhaps someone is doing it without his knowledge?" asks Pendragon with a shrug to Titan.

"The spell was cast from within their castle," Grimm tells Pendragon.

Moonshadow says, "I suspect the Ice Wolf is the master, and we are speaking to a servant."

Grimm points out where the spell was cast.

Nodding, Pendragon says, "I saw that as well. I am tempted to summon the mists and simply travel to that point directly and investigate. But.. that would be rude." she offers as she steps down off of Snowmane and gestures, "Snow. Head on home. If I need you, I will call.."

That said, Snowmane disperses into mist and is gone.

Now that his anger is subsiding a bit, Titan shrinks back to normal size. There's a little confusion evident on his face, but there's time for getting questions answered later. "Can any of you determine the nature of the spell? What exactly it's doing?"

Grimm thinks silently for a few moments, recalling some of the stuff she's observed in her interdimensional travels. "Damn dwarves," she mutters to herself, rubbing her chin. Her eyes look up towards the dimensional rift around the island. "Oh...oh no. It's not them. It's us. Our dimension's the one bouncing around, smashing into other places..."

Grimm looks up towards where the spell was cast, narrowing her eyes. "I think in at least this case, we were nudged towards this one."

"And yet, whatever that spell is, it is holding the dimensions together." suggests Pendragon. She shakes her head, "If we could undo the spell, it should separate the worlds. Or... at least it would not be holding them together."

Moonshadow says, "Do dimensions normally move, relative to each other?"

"I might be able to undo the spell, but not if someone else keeps recasting it," Grimm comments.

Grimm motions around them. "This collision staying here...it cuts off Undermoon from this world. This may have been intentional."

Titan takes a deep breath. "Not acceptable to leave it, then. I know that's a shock."

"I can call upon the mists to transport myself about." suggests Pendragon. "I may be able to get inside. I could even take a few people with me." suggests Pendragon. "It would not be easy, and there is a margin of error." she shrugs, "Not sure what I could do about it when I got there."

"Our dimension doing this isn't exactly normal. Not at this scale. And not bouncing about," Grimm says. "Though it happened before. That was a bad situation, but I've only heard about it."

"You would be fools to try to enter my master's presence," says the Voice. Who evidently has good ears as well.

Grimm looks towards the voice. "And who is your Master again?"

Moonshadow says, "Then let him release his spell, that neither of our worlds be harmed."

"Then kindly ask your master to cease the magic that is holding the dimensions together!" calls out Pendragon, "And such would not become necessary."

Titan says to Grimm, "I think the voice said, the 'Ice Wolf'.

Fleta says, "My Master is the Ice Wolf," the Voice replies, semantically. (Or Ghravvruhs, phonetically.)"

"Yes, that part I heard. But who is the Ice Wolf? And don't say you're master," Grimm warns to the Voice.

Titan scrunches his nose as bit as he listens. "Sounds a little like Kihzra's voice. Same accent?"

Grimm nods to Titan. "Same accent. Same dimension, actually."

Moonshadow says, "Can we get her here? Would she know anything about this Ice Wolf?"

Fleta says, "The Ice Wolf is the sorceror-king of all the northern realms of our world."

"Sorcerer King." says Pendragon. She shakes her head, "And you say he did not work the magic locking the realms together? I think we need to speak with this Ice Wolf directly."

"Perhaps the Ice Wolf will parlay with the Queen of Shades," Grimm proposes, doubting one of her dimensional titles will have much sway. What was a joke title to her ended up being the true title of another Gabrielle Grimm who's been bent on conquering dimensions. The two really hate each other.

The Voice asks, "Who is the Queen of Shades?"

Titan shrugs, not really knowing who the Queen of Shades is, either. But at least he doesn't say it out loud.

Glancing at the bay, Pendragon shakes her head. She doesn't say anything about this Queen of Shades. She could call upon her own titles, but she really doesn't want to do that. But what she does is reach for the cellphone in her belt pouch and begin the process of posting to HeroNET about the bay freezing over and the new invaders.

The air around Grimm grows dark as her clothes shift and reform into a long, sleeved gown that covers her feet. It's impossibly black, almost looking like a portal to another realm. An ornate crown that looks gothic and thorny materializes around her head. A mantle of similar thorny designs grow about her shoulders as she changes herself to look like her (more) evil alter. Her skin pales, and she begins to look darkly beautiful and terrifying. "I am."

"Should my master have heard of you?" The Voice's response, for the first time, is a tad hesitant.

"If he were worth my noticing him, he should. He has my attention now," Grimm intones direly.