Odyessy Adventure: The Warning

Princess Guard - The New Era 2018/01/28 	 Hunter Natasha Annie Star Girl Bloodstone 55

In the Golden Dragon Tea House
Amelia is in the Golden Dragon Tea House. Her tea is getting cold as Lyrran and Amelia concentrate on the display on Amelia's laptop screen. The discussion in nominally in English but hardly anyone except a fellow mage will be able to make head nor tail of it.

Hunter is on break and looking for some place to have a late lunch snack. Something comforting. As he passes the Golden Dragon Tea House, the signs on the exterior attract his attention. Something about the place seems to scratch an itch he doesn't even realize he has. So after some brief observing, he opens the door and steps inside, asking for a table for one. Maybe his ears are burning at the strange mage talk. It's as dizzying as those spellbooks Frankie has him studying out of.

Amelia looks up as someone new enters the tea room. She waves, and gestures to a chair at her table, "Hi. Will. I didn't know you still came here. Join me." she says.

"Still...?" Hunter asks in surprise as Amelia's wave catches his attention. He's curious to learn more, so he heads over to her table and waves to her and Lyrran with a polite smile. "Oh, I ...guess I used to come here? No wonder the place sounded appetizing," he comments as he takes a seat in the gestured chair. "I thought I'd avoid the coffee shop for a bit after a few recent incidents. I didn't expect to run into you out in these parts." Lyrran's attention diverts from the screen display to Hunter. He smiles, "Later, Ms Steinberg. I have to go earn my keep." he says. Then to Hunter, with a polite bow, "I haven't seen you for a while. Still wanting your usual?"

Hunter looks up at Lyrran with a polite and curious smile. "Ah, sure, that sounds good," he plays along kindly.

Amelia waits for Lyrran to head kitchen-ways. "You used to be a frequent customer of this establishment, Will." she says. Then, bursting with curiosity she asks, "Coffee shop? Recent incidents?"

Hunter turns his attention back to Amelia after Lyrran departs, smiling softly. "I gathered that. I'm curious to find out what my usual was. I'm probably going to like it, I figure." He slips off his scarf and hangs it off the back of his chair. "Well, the, um, police from another world incident rattled my date pretty good. And then another day, some young lady came in and practically burst into tears when she saw me. Didn't introduce herself, and didn't really say anything to me. Just turned around and left in a hurry. But she looked...scared. And angry." Amelia becomes much more focused as you relate the second incident. "Will, you're not going to like my suggestion. But you need to tell Sasha about that. Give him as good a description as you can of the woman. Do it by phone if you can't face the thought of seeing him in person. But do it!" she says, her voice somber and serious.

Hunter looks a little unnerved at Amelia's sudden somberness, and especially concerned that it would require Sasha. "O-okay, I'll do it," he promises. "But...why? Is this--has this happened before? Does this mean something I'm not getting?"

Amelia leans forward, "Will, it almost certainly relates to events that occured before you lost your memory. I don't want to say too much. You've said you don't want to know details of your life from before that and I whole-heartedly concur with your decision. So, unless you want to know, and I advise against it, just trust me."

That doesn't comfort Hunter at all. In fact, it worries him very much, especially since it's tied to Sasha. "I...are you...sure I shouldn't know about this? It sounds like I'm in danger." He sighs, not wanting to rely on Sasha after they had moved on. "But I'll still do what you say and tell Sasha." Amelia doesn't answer immediately. She's thinking... "Will, I'm not sure you shouldn't know. I do know you are far happier now than you were before. I don't know if you are in danger. That young lady could have mistaken you for someone else. But just in case I'm suggesting you talk with Sasha. And I do realise how much you don't want to do that so my suggestion is not made lightly." She manages a smile as she says, "I'm not a little wolf trying to get you two together. I'm concerned, not worried but concerned, that the incident might have consequences."

Lyrran returns with a full tea service for Hunter. Not the tourist version. The authentic Chinese setup.

Hunter nods softly and feels a little more reassured that Amelia is only concerned about the incident he experienced. "Yeah, Jordan's been at it again. Called me the night of my date, actually," he just shakes his head. "I told him I was going to tell Sasha and he hung up. Maybe he's learning."

Casey comes into the tea house as well, on a day off from work. As she waits for the host, she unzips her winter jacket and looks around at the other patrons.

Hunter leans back as a full gong fu tea tray setting is set before him. Two tea pots, hot water, and a few tea cups for sharing. It comes with a side of dim sum. Shrimp shu mai and char siu bao. His eyes widen a bit at the spread, and all the cups and accessories. "This...was my usual order?" he asks as he tries to figure out what to do first. He lifts a small lid off of a tiny cup, and sees some loose tea leaves in there.

Amelia chuckles, "Jordan learning? No. Regrouping and planning another tactic is more like it, Will."

Amelia nods, "Yes. Yes, it is, Will."

Some folks are talking and maybe eating, others are out exploring. Incognito-ishly, even. Well, more than usual, anyhow. In walks a young blonde woman who might look surprisingly like Annie, if one ignored her dress... and hair... and posture. She wears a bright white and form-fitting cheongsam that ends well below the knees, with matching white slippers. Slightly less bright is her hair, which is tightly bunned on the back of her head, pinned in place with a pair of white-lacquered sticks. Her head and eyes are downcast, and her hands are folded primly in front of her.

Lyrran, the host, approaches Casey, "Welcome to the Golden Dragon Tea House." he says. "Would you like a table and the menu?"

Casey nods to Lyrran. "Maybe something by the window, if you've got it."

Lyrran is tall, thin, with long platinum gold hair, wearing white and gold robes, looks half-elf. That's elf, not Fae."

"Regrouping? Yeah, that sounds like a sure bet," Hunter chuckles softly as he goes about picking at his tea setting. He lifts the lid off of a small tea pot and starts pouring a bit of hot water inside from the black kettle included with the tea set. "He's probably thinking of trying to tell Sasha about fake emergencies that require him to come save me," he murmurs in amusement, putting the lid back onto the small teapot. He then starts pour from that tea pot and pours the hot water into the various ups while talking, not even paying attention to what his hands are doing on their own. Amelia stays silent, fascinated by the way Hunter's hands have taken over, thinking if she called attention to it Hunter would instantly be at a loss as to what to do.

Lyrran nods, "Of course." he tells Casey, and leads her over to a window table, pulling out a chair and placing a menu on the table.

Casey nods to Lyrran as she takes proffered seat. "Thanks," she says with a smile. She picks up the menu and starts to scan through it.

Annie lifts her eyes enough to glance around, and quickly spots a pair of familiar diners (drinkers?). While Lyrran escorts Casey to her table, Annie shuffles her way towards Amelia and Hunter's table, eyes downcast once more. She comes to a stop near the table before asking them, "Is the tea to your liking?"

Lyrran leaves Casey to look at the menu and goes to the new arrival, asking her if she would like a table.

Hunter continues to run on auto-pilot, passing water from cup to cup to wash them out and warm the tea ware. It's a bit of a juggling act with the motions of ceremony. "So, I hope I didn't interrupt anything between you and your friend. It seemed like you were...animated in whatever you were doing," Hunter comments politely, still not really paying attention to what he's doing. Due to being of two minds, he misses Annie's strange arrival and appearance.

The question posed by Annie brings Amelia's attention to her tea. Which is luke warm at best having been ignored wheile Lyrran and she were discussing. She lifts the cup and takes a sip, pursing her lips in distaste at the near cold over stewed brew. "It was to my liking. Until I let it go cold on me." she replies to the arrival at the table.

Natasha has been hanging out in Chinatown, one of her favourite places! It occurs to her it has been a long time since she visited the dragon who lives here, and abruptly leaves her crowd of admirers to fly over the the tea house. Of course, there's a matter of a door to open. She waits hopefully for a while that someone will open it.

Lyrran spots Natasha and goes over to open the door for her, welcoming her in fluent, and for a human(ish) person, almost un-accented dragonish.

Natasha greets Lyrran graciously in the same language, and goes in, taking to the air once more as she glides about looking at who is here.

Natasha spots Amelia and glides over to land, if permitted, on her shoulder.

"We can't have you drinking cold tea," Annie frowns. "We should fix that." She dips in a low ...bow? that also takes her head near good Will/Hunter's ear so she can whisper, a little loudly, "You should fix that."

Amelia tells Hunter, "It's nothing we cannot pick up later. I'm working on developing a new spell, and Lyrran is one of my mentors. If I had to pick between Lyrran and Sasha for the most accomplished sane mage in the city I'd be stumped." She smiles as the brilliantly hued Natasha flies over and lands on her shoulder. "Hello, Natasha." she hisses in dragonish. "Will, have you met Natasha? Natasha, this is..." Amelia's words stop mid-sentence as she freezes for a moment. Then stands and starts to walk away, leaving her laptop on the table.

Lyrran was on his way to see if Casey had decided on her order. He stops. Drops the mini-tablet he uses to take orders on, and also starts to leave the tea house.

Hunter glances up towards the person asking about their tea. "Well, I haven't tried it yet, but...but..." his stalls as his eyes finally settle on Annie as she whispers in his ear. His fingers fumble and freeze at their ceremony, left pouring out the contents of a cup over the closed small clay tea pot on the tray. But a gong fu tray has slits and is two inches thick to catch water as part of the teaware warming process, so it's fine. Hunter, however, has completely lost his train of thought.

"I...what? How do I fix that?" he asks, finally setting the cup and another cup down, his eyes flitting to the dragon, then back to Annie. His hands flex nervously with a slight tremor, then he closes his hands quick to control the shake and lowers his hands to his lap. "Lyrran would probably be more sane, I hope. And no, I haven't," he comments, then looks as Amelia suddenly gets up and walks off. Maybe it's an urgent mage thing? Someone lit the mage signal?

The door to the rear of the tea house opens and a golden haired woman of indeterminate age emerges, and starts walking after Amelia and Lyrran.

Natasha, perched on Amelia's shoulder, looks about, smelling the air, wondering why this strange behaviour.

Casey looks up from her table towards Lyrran as he begins to return to her table. When he stops and drops his tablet, her eyes narrow with concern.

Annie rolls her shoulders in a shrug, then straightens up to see Amelia walking away. And the concierge... and someone she didn't even know was in the back room. She blinks, losing her demure posture as she looks around. "Is there a big holiday or sale somewhere?" Amelia stumbles momentarily as Natasha tries to dispel the magic affected her... and then resumes her steady walk.

Natasha announces, in English and Mandarin, "Amelia is under a spell!"

Casey gets up from her table. o O ( This is just... weird... ) She walks over and kneels to pick up Lyrran's dropped tablet, to see if there's anything unusual about what's on the screen.

Hunter starts to realize there really is some sort of mage signal, just not a good one. He gets up from his table as the dragon speaks, and starts to run after Amelia. He tries to get ahead of her and stop her from answering whatever call is drawing her. "Amelia, stop! Snap out of it!" he implores as he prepares to stop her physically if he has to. He fully expects to get zotted with a fireball if he's not careful.

Lyrran's table just shows a touch sensitive ordering screen, ready to accpet and relay to the kitchen orders from the tea house customers.

Natasha knows! She decides to stop Amelia from walking away by, hm, sticking her down with chewing gum.

"Oh, dozy..." Annie giggles as she walks to catch up to the parade. "Don't drink the tea!" she calls out a warning to everyone else, because from what Amels said before she got up, that MUST be the cause.

Amelia continues to walk. She doesn't struggle against being restained by Hunter, but her feet continue to make walking motions. Lyrran and Aurica don't react to Hunter's actions. They leave the tea house and start walking north along Ming Street.

When Natasha glues Amelia's feet to the ground her legs continue to twitch in a parody of a walking movement.

Natasha leaves Amelia, not without a worried look backward, and starts pursuing Lyrran and Aurica.

Outside the tea house, Lyrran and Aurica are joined by the owner of the Inner Light Book Store.

Casey frowns. She picks up the tablet and follows Lyrran and Aurica outside.

All three, Lyrran, Aurica, and the book store owner, are walking steady north without saying a word.

With Amelia stopped, Hunter looks after Lyrran and Aurica, and others walking north. "Just...stay here, Amelia. You'll be safe here. I...think I have to do this, though," he apologizes to her, then starts to run after the other afflicted.

Natasha flies over the three. And calls out to passers-by, in English and in Mandarin again, "Please restrain these people! They are being controlled by someone else!" She hopes her relative popularity in Chinatown will help.

Annie sees that Amelia is stuck, and Hunter is heading out after the others, so she continues to follow the parade outside and up the street. "Do you know where they're going?" she asks Hunter, since he knows some of them more than her.

Several of the people in Chinatown respond to Natasha's call for aid and grab the trio. Which stops the book store owner and Lyrran. But Aurica seems to be deceptively strong. She keeps going with a half dozen folks getting dragged along with her. As you reach the junction of Ming Street with the bridge road you see two more people exhibiting the same behavour as the four you've already seen. They are also heading north.

North it is, thinks Hunter. He tries to get ahead of the walkers, running north for clues.

Natasha keeps gliding overhead, and when she can sticks the walkers to the spot, one by one. But her main concern is Aurica: she doubts she can hold her!

Getting ahead of the walkers, Hunter can see more affected in the same way. At first they are all walking north. But as he gets into the district of Nicholston the walkers are coming from multiple directions, all seemingly converging on a derelict boarded up house.

Form the air, Natasha can see the same.

Casey ditches the tablet by the entrance to the tea shop. She bolts in a flat out run for an alley way, hoping to find relative privacy where she can change into her suit.

Hunter grits this teeth as he eyes the derelict place. . o O (Great, sure there's something in there that wants these people. Didn't realize there were so many mages in the city.) He ducks down and tries a stealthy approach to the building, in search of a way inside. Of course, he still has some old tricks and stealth. It won't be hard to find a way to squeeze in or pick a lock somewhere, unless there's magic involved.

It's like a convocation of witches, mages, hedge wizards, a few priests, most of the magically talented people in the city. A dozen or more already there and dozens more on their way.

Natasha dives to an upper window and slashes at the boards with razor-sharp claws to make an entrance.

The walkers on arriving at the house begin tugging at the boards covering the windows and banging on the locked doors.

Inside the house the furniture is still in place, festooned by cobwebs and dust. The house is silent except for the noise being make outside. It looks from the thick layer of dust everywhere that nobody has been in for years, maybe decades.

Natasha flies in the gap in the window and starts sniffing out the magic behind this!

The enemy's gate is down. So Natasha finds. Sniffing out the magic takes her to the basement. And the source is underground. Below the basement floor.

Hunter covers his mouth to restrain coughing. The dragon seems to know more than he does, so he follows it.

Natasha makes her way down through the house. When she reaches the basement, she starts scratching at the floor, looking for a way down.

Once in costume, Star Girl uses her cloaking field to vanish from sight. She runs up the side of the building to try and regain sight of the mesmerized targets. She does her best to catch up with the action, running along the tops of the buildings.

Some of the walkers have gone to the garden shed. They return with shovels and forks, which make a better job of getting the boards off the windows.

The walkers are coming into the house, crawling through the un-boarded windows, and they are also heading down to the basement.

Hunter stares down at the scratching dragon, then starts looking around for signs of access below while she keeps digging. Maybe it's in the sewers below?

The floor is a layer of wood over a few inches of concrete over dirt. The first walkers are coming into the basement. Where they start digging. ripping up the wooden blocks and hitting the concrete with the shovels and forks.

"Crap....I get the feeling we don't want them digging this thing up..." Hunter mutters to himself. He's never seen or even heard of anything like this.

Over the tea and down the road to the magic convention we go. Annie follows the walkers and/or Hunter... at least until he ninja-vanishes. Then that just leaves the walkers, who she follows into the house and down into the basement. "Ooh, totes spooky. Wait, why's everybody digging. We're already IN Chinatown!"

Natasha breathes an icy blast downward, hoping to weaken the floor - then follows this up a few seconds later with a hard chunk of stone as a projectile, trying to shatter things frozen by the ice.

The walkers probably wouldn't get anywhere if Natasha hadn't conveniently clawed and blasted an opening through the concrete. With that to start from, and breaking a couple of garden tools in the process, the growing number of walkers break through the concrete and start digging into the dirt.

Star Girl reappears by the side of the dilapidated house. She tries to push her way into the ranks of the mind controlled people, so she can climb in a window and continue following the trail. As she moves, she radios back to SGG: << I'm in Chinatown... look like some kind of mass mind control going on, centering on a house along Ming Street.. >>

Natasha's senstive magic sniffing nose determines the spell is a 'call for aid' which is probably supposed to be targeted at a specific group of people. But the spell is malformed so it's affecting every magically talented person.

"Don't let them dig it up. Got it." Annie nods to Hunter and starts tapping the walkers/diggers with a finger. A finger coated in Hunter's favorite neurotoxin. That should slow down the digging, and make it feel a little less crowded.

Natasha keeps on digging down, trying to stay ahead of the zombielike magicians.

The neurotoxin is piling up bodies but more walkers keep coming. It's clearly not just Chinatown that was affected. Possible it's the entire city. Maybe even a larger area than that. But the accumulation of bodies is hampering the digging efforts.

"At least, I think that's why we should stop them. I can't think of anything good that would do this to a bunch of people," Hunter mutters. Even with his magical studies, he's not sure what to make of this.

"What's a person have to do to get good service around here?" Bloodstone asks as everyone in the little corner stand she was trying to get some food from has suddenly walked off, along with others. She waits to see if they're going to come back but when they don't, she looks wistfully at the food and has a private conversation about just taking some and leaving enough money to cover it plus tax, but... there's no way she could guarantee it wouldn't be stolen. Eventually she just starts to follow the others but fortunately her long legs chew up ground faster than the average civvy. Then there's a pile of bodies, and people trying to dig and the red-skinned amazon heads over towards the pile, "What is going on here?" She asks of anyone who might be conscious, or a cape, or not a cape but aware of the madness consuming things.

The busy mini-dragon is clawing through the dirt with great ease and speed. She's about twelve feet down when her claws scratch against more solid substance. Some kind of hard rock.

Natasha "exhales" a loud sound! That's good again rigid things, she thinks.

Star Girl makes it down to the basement, partly by her ability to crawl along the ceiling. She sees some people who don't seem to be entirely enthralled down here. "Does anyone here know what's going on?"

The sonic effect bounces back into Natasha's face. The sonics did clear an area of dirt. What is exposed is part of an intricately carved stone cover.

Natasha is extremely surprised that didn't work! After getting over her surprise, she tries tooth and claw again.

Hunter is just another normally dressed person in work slacks, shirt, and tie. He's also looking completely lost. Anything he would do to stop these people might end up with them seriously hurt. "Not...really? I think magic is involved. And there's probably something not good beneath the ground calling people to it to unearth it."

The stone is proof against both claw and tooth. That's obviously no ordinary stone.

Natasha sniffs at the stone, trying to determine what magic it might have. She detects multiple enchantments of great power. Preservation spells. Strengthening spells. Non-detection spells: oddly to shield against technological means of detection, not magical means.

Natasha ponders. How can she get through this stone? It seems to her that whatever is protected by spells like these must be a valuable treasure!

"Anyone tried just shutting the door?" Bloodstone asks of Hunter, because Hunter is at least responding to her. She looks back over towards the people coming, and the pile of bodies from something else and she frowns, "Well... whatever is causing it, we should get it out of the city before it causes anymore harm. Maybe Star Guard has a sealed facility or something that might work. At the very least, we should get it away from people." She goes to carefully maneuver piles of people to make herself a path since she can't really jump in here, already having to duck to not bang her head against doorways and such. Which would be bad for the doorways. "I mean at the very least, I can clog up where they are digging with myself. They could dig at me all day and not leave a mark."

The efforts of the walkers to dig are being impeded, but not entirely stopped. They re about five feet down, and still going.

Star Girl says, "If there's something down there, should we get these people out of here?"

Hunter shrugs helplessly. "Well, they kind of broke in, so closing the door didn't really stop them," he answers as he looks around at the chaos, then down in Natasha's dug hole. "I'm just a good samaritan, but...I don't know how we could get everyone out. Maybe they'll go back to normally once they dig up whatever that ...thing is digging up?" He can't really grasp that it's a dragon.

Natasha digs away more dirt, sniffing, tryin to find indication of a way in.

A message comes from Starguard for Star Girl. Deep space sensors detected a gravimetric anomaly where a NASA Space Camp shuttle was en route to Mars. Contact has been lost with the shuttle. Sensor readings indicated the momentary presence of something massive at that location. Search and rescue craft are on their way.

Bloodstone shakes her head, "If they broke in, then there's way to many to stop unless someone can make some sort of force field or something they can't get through that can cover the place." She looks over at the diggers and then at Hunter. A curious expression on her face, "What 'thing'?" She asks, unable to see Natasha since she is like, a dozen feet down. "If something's reached it then maybe we can get it out and far enough away to stop affecting these people." She goes to look for where the 'thing', that is Natasha, is digging and see if she can see anything down in the hole.

As Natasha digs, clawing out dirt and packing it into a compressed form to open up space, the outline of the stone cover is exposed. Just under seven feet long, and two feet wide. There are four lead (?) seals holding the cover down to whatever it is covering.

"Oops. Guess we shouldn't leave the bodies laying around where people can trip over 'em," Annie giggles. "We always forget about moving the bodies..." She fixes that, now, though, sprouting a mass of tentacles to rapidly pick up the (paralyzed, not dead) bodies and stick them upstairs. It's really just moving the pile, but there's more room there.

Star Girl's eyelet widen. o O ( Holy -- ! An accident in space...? )

Annie either runs out of room in the hall up the stairs, or gets an epiphany/aneurysm with all the more trying to come in. So she starts stacking up the paralyzed as an impromptu barricade pver the doorway.

More details are being relayed to SGG personnel. The shuttle has several Colonial Bay heroes on board, and also kids. Including Titan and the heirs to Doi Industries and Quinn Industries. The time of the incident matches exactly with when the mages in the tea house were first affected.

Natasha is curious! She tries to open the first of the magical seals.

The first seal breaks away cleanly.

Star Girl says, "Guys... there's a shuttle that's gone missing en route to Mars. Based on the timing... I think it's related to what's going on here."

Natasha moves on excitedly to the next seal!

The second seal also break away cleanly from the cover.

"Hey! Stop opening it! Crap, is the dragon under control now?" Hunter mutters. Opening magic things is bad! That's what Frankie is always telling him. He suddenly looks to Star Girl in puzzlement. "A shuttle? To Mars? Was it magic?" he asks, looking back down below at the markings on the lit. "...what is going on? How are they connected?"

Natasha looks up the hole when Hunter says not to open it. A big pink question mark of smoke drifts up the hole.

"Not sure," Star says to Hunter. "Some kind of gravity spike... as though something large suddenly popped up out there."

Star Girl asks. "How large is this thing in the basement. Can we move it?"

Natasha decides the humans are being silly. This thing seems perfectly safe. She goes and opens the third seal.

"I can move it unless it weighs more than twelve kilotons." Bloodstone says, "No sweat." She looks down at the dragon, "Hey, mind we get that to somewhere where opening it is good so we don't put people at risk?" She goes about starting to widen the hole, since it is unlikely that Bloodstone is going to fit down a hole that Natasha made, at this size!

Natasha allows that opening it somewhere else is ok. She sends a scale illusion of the size and appearance up the hole.

The third seal breaks away cleanly.

Annie blinks and looks over from her body-stacking. "Shuttle to Mars? We didn't touch that one. We're right here."

An illusion Natasha pops up over the side of the illusion object. "If you want to move it before I open it, do so."

Hunter squats near the top of the hole Natasha dug, looking at the sigils. He tries to recall their meaning. "There's some magic on that container. Mostly protection wards to prevent technology from detecting it, and preserving what's inside. This container's magically fortified."

Natasha (the illusory one) adds, "I don't smell any danger on it."

Bloodstone widens the hole without to much difficulty to clear space so that she can get down at the coffin/sarcophagus/container of mystical origins. Dropping down into the hole Bloodstone looks at Natasha, "Thanks for opening the way." And she smiles at the dragon, "Lets get this place somewhere we can play with it better yeah? Little cramped down here." She then goes about trying to get the coffin/case thing up out of the hole which... unless it's mystically anchored shouldn't be an issue for the red-skinned amazon.

Hunter's eyes try to remember the style of the script. "I think this is...Atlantean."

Star Girl begins reading: "'One must sacrifice for the good of all'...?"

Natasha comes out from the hole too, and listens to the translation.

"That sounds dire," Hunter mutters darkly. "And never the thing you want to see written on an ancient buried magically sealed box." He looks to Star Girl. "That ship going to Mars...was it one of ours? Who was on it? Maybe it's the people that's connected somehow."

Natasha looks meaningfully at the remaining seal.

Star Girl nods to Hunter. "Yeah...some local capes, and children too."

Annie blinks again and walks over to the hole that everyone else is around, now grumbling. "Who sends kids to mars??! Who made 'em vanish?"

Now that the coffin is out of the hole, Bloodstone looks towards the others, "We need to make a path through the people so I can get this out of the city. What's going on near Mars is not something that we can affect here right now unless one of you can teleport there or something. We /need/ to get this thing far enough away from the city that these innocent people are not in harms way or being affected by whatever this thing is, Atlantean or Martian or whatever. Yeah?" She looks towards Natasha the dragon, "When we get out of here, meet me about thirty miles north of the city in the wilderness?" She tries to distract the dragon from opening the last seal, right here, right now.

Bloodstone adds, "I mean, I can just bust through the place, but I don't want to do anymore damage to the location."

Hunter studies the box some more, scratching at his chin in thought. "What if someone already sacrificed themselves? Atlanteans have been long gone, so this thing has been buried for a while. Maybe not as long as they've been gone, though. I still don't think it's a good idea to open it," he says as he keeps studying the coffin, staying near Bloodstone.

Star Girl looks to Bloodstone, from where she's perched on the ceiling. "We could take it to the landing field at SGG. It's closer and we can put up a perimeter around it."

Now the container is above ground the walkers have stopped digging. They're now trying to reach the fourth and final seal.

Bloodstone holds it up over their heads.

Natasha nods! Thirty miles is a long way for a small dragon.

Bloodstone says to Star Girl, "I was more wanting to get it to where it wasn't influencing the people of the city at all. We don't know what it will do to the people at Star Guard either and the last thing we want is people with extreme technology trying to get at it right?" She looks at the others, "Either way we need to get it out of here." She looks towards Annie, "Can you make me a path please without hurting anyone? We can discuss what to do once we're outside."

Annie eyes Red and the her big box. "Maybe we should leave it closed. Toss it past mars. Totes bury it in Uranus or someplace nobody can get to." But, yep, they need a path out. So she goes about making a hole in the wall of the old hole-in-the-wall. Not through the bodies, even.

Clearing a way through is quickly done. There are more walkers outside the house, and others arriving. Who know there were so many magically talented people in the city? Although by far the majority are unaware themselves, possessing only the most rudimentary visage of talent.

Star Girl says, "As inscriptions on magical boxes go, it doesn't sound as bad as it could. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that all the people who can tell us what's going on are inside the room."

Natasha eyes that last seal again. It seems easy enough to find out what's going on. :)

"Well." Bloodstone says when she sees the crowd after Annie makes them a path, "Anyone who wants to come with me, grab on. I can carry us all pretty easily. Just make sure to hold tight and I'll get us out of the city?" She lifts the box up over the heads of the people with one arm, "Climb onto the box, grab onto me, whatever suits your fancy." She looks at Hunter though and her glowing gold eyes narrow, "That isn't an invitation for a fondle, got it?"

Hunter laughs at Bloodstone's warning and holds up his hand innocently. "Trust me, you won't have that problem with me," he says with some amusement.

Natasha hops onto Bloodstone's arm!

Annie rolls her shoulders, before a pair of white-feathered wings sprout from them and she lifts off. Then she giggles at Hunter getting warned. "No anx, there. Hunny's way too shy to do that."

Hunter carefully grabs hold of Bloodstone's arm, thinking he's going to regret this.

Star Girl grabs an arm as well.

Fortunately it's a big arm. When everyone's secure Bloodstone will begin a sequence of jumps. Literal jumps. Though they are not like regular jumps since each one will carry them a full ten kilometers and after the fourth one, they'd be well out of the city and into the wilds. Assuming nobody falls off. That'd be bad.

"Hopefully we're far enough away that the city isn't coming out here. Anyone got a pda or something to check the news and see if there's a mass exodus?" Bloodstone asks after the last leap.

Star Girl says, "I'll radio Starguard. To keep an eye out."

Natasha shakes her head. And hops off, looking at the box again. . On receiving Star Girl's request, Starguard checks with the CBPD. It seems the walkers are following. But as they are walking it will be hours at a minimum before they can reach your location.

Natasha waits for the box to be put down.

Annie follows the bouncing red one out of the city. Not in a couple of bounds, and not as fast, but she'll get there.

Hunter lets go once they're finally settled on solid ground. He staggers a little away from Bloodstone, shaky on his feet. "That was a terrible idea..."

"Sounds like we've either got to destroy this thing, or open it, in order to free those people. Who knows what kind of range we're dealing with here, people in other countries could be trying to walk to this thing..." Bloodstone says and then she sets the box down, after patting Hunter lightly on the shoulder, "Best rollercoaster in the world." She says bracingly, "If you need to up-chuck, try and do it over there." She suggests pointing away from where they are. "Anyone have any other ideas on what to do?" She looks at Star Girl, and then Annie when she catches up.

Natasha just extends a clawerd foretoe and looks at the last seal.

Star Girl spends some time talking to Starguard with her finger to the side of her head. She nods and then reports to the others. "It looks like those people are following us out here, but we have some time -- looks like they're on foot." She shakes her head to Blood's question, looking up at her. "I don't know. I don't think we should destroy it. Maybe we have to open it, and hope for the best."

Natasha is tired of waiting for the humans to make up their minds. She suddenly pounces on the last seal and opens it.

The stone cover levitates ten feet into the air above the container. Inside is a young man, of Mediterranean appearance with curly black hair. He's dressed in a red and gold toga. Laying on a purple silk pad. Around his forehead is a golden circlet with three glowing gems set into it. Initially he has his eyes closed but after a moment his eyes open. And as he spots Natasha he speaks, in Atlantean.

Annie arrives just in time to see ... what's in the box! She lands, peeks, and oggles, before extruding out a tentacle to bring the wobbly, possibly hunched over Hunter over for a peek. "Arid! We hatched a metal mas from an egg, now you totes got your own mas from a box!" After a pause, she hmms. "Jack. That's his name."

Hunter gets dragged back toward the box as it opens, eyes widening at the person inside. "What...? Well, that's really not so bad." Someone's granting wishes.

The translation offered by Star Girl's suit is, "I should have guessed it would be one of the Serpentkin what would revive me. You are all in great danger. I must speak with your priests and mages immediately."

Bloodstone looks at the man, and the levitating sarcophagus, and then glances towards Star Girl, "Have the people returned to normal in the city?" She asks, concern in her voice and her hands flexing as if she is more than prepared to start with the fisticuffs if need be.

Star Girl translates the words of the young man, for everyone else's benefit.

Natasha eyes the man. She's not at all certain that "serpentkin" was meant well.

Star Girl calls back to Starguard: "How are the mind-control victims behaving? Are they still coming here? Are they still being controlled?"

The man sits up, and extends his arm obviously for Natasha to perch on.

Starguard reports back to Star Girl that the mind control effect has ceased. There are a lot of confused people wondering what happened.

Natasha tilts her head, then decides to jump up and perch there. After all, if he turns out not to be friendly that makes it very easy to cut his arm off.

The gesture by the man seems natural and practiced.

The man speaks to Natasha, in a very formal and ancient dialect of dragonish, "Not long from the egg, and you beat your older brothers and sisters to me. You are precocious indeed."

Bloodstone's expression doesn't lighten up at the words translated by Star Girl, especially as she doesn't know yet what Star Guard's response is. "In danger from what?" She tries in Latin, just to see if the man knows it so they can actually get some lines of communication going both ways.

Star Girl says to Bloodstone: "The mind control seems to be breaking. So that one thing that's good." She sighs and turns to the man. "Do you speak English? Do you know anything about a missing shuttle, on it's way to Mars."

Annie grins and gives Hunter an elbow-nudge. Now she catches up on all the second-hand translated doomsday talk and wonders, "So, who's in all this danger, and what's bringing the anx?"

Hunter rubs his side after Annie nudges him. "Ow. I didn't say anything," he complains.

"And why is this guy ignoring everyone to talk to the dragon? I thought he said he needed mages and priests."

The man shakes his head, and says in Atlantean, "I do not understand your words. How long have I been sleeping that language has changed so much?"

Natasha looks to Star Girl for a translation.

Star Girl shakes her head. "He doesn't understand English. He wants to know how long he's been asleep."

"That's...well, a tough question when we don't know when he went to sleep. But I think we need to get him to someone in charge. In Atlantis, the priests and mages were their leaders. He probably thinks that's still the case," Hunter offers some suggestions.

"Must not understand Latin either, that's the oldest language I know." Bloodstone says and then looks towards Natasha, "Can you try and communicate through your illusions? Let him know we need to get him to the right people somehow?" She looks at Star Girl, "You were right, should have taken it to Star Guard... just wanted to be safe y'know?"

Natasha says to the man in dragonish, "You have slept for generations of dragons and ages of men. And few of my brother and sisters still live on this world."

Star Girl nods and offers Bloodstone a brief smile. "It's ok, it's what we all wanted." She puts her hands on her hips. "What we need is a telepath. Or at least someone who speaks his language. It's not Latin..." She looks to Hunter. "Did you say 'Atlantis'? Like mermen and stuff?"

The man nods to Natasha. He replies in Dragonish, "If they wish to continue living they and humans must prepare. I was selected to make the lonely one way journey through time to bring a warning if the Destroyers returned. Only if they returneed would the summons to the gifted be sent forth to revive me."

Natasha translates that, as best she can, into English.

"Well, yes, but that's kind of stereotyping it," Hunter tries to explain, rubbing at the back of his head sheepishly.

Natasha says, "And what are these Destroyers?"

Star Girl nods, listening to Natasha's translation. "Can you ask him about the shuttle?" she says to the dragonling.

Bloodstone falls silent with a frown, then she steps over towards Star Girl and murmurs to her, leaning down to do so, "Maybe you should get some of Star Guard out here, let them know what's goin on, unless you know of any mages or priests to call? Probably better than us stumbling in the dark here."

Natasha replies. "I don't know myself about the shuttle."

The man answers, "Those of Mu. Our great rivals. While we followed the path of the magic arts they worshipped metal and lightning. We warred incessently, defending ourselves from their attacks. Finally we all but defeated them, clenasing the Earth of their kind. All but those who left in their greatest vessel, a ship of the far skies. Taking hundreds of us as slaves and prisoners. But we were a failing culture. So much had we sacrificed to the war our civilization was failing. Our magic exhausted. So much so our very land was sinking beneath the waves. We know the Destroyers would return some day. So I was selected to sleep until that day and bring you warning of their return."

Natasha once again translates this.

Star Girl looks up to Stargaurd. "I can call it in, but Starguard doesn't have much by the way of magic experts. It may be up to us to figure this out." She looks over to Natasha and the man. "'A ship of the far skies'... like a space ship?" She focused her eyelets on Natasha. "There's a NASA space camp flight that's gone out of contact on it's way to Mars. Accoriding to gravitic activity, there's something big out there, in their vicinity. Can you ask him about it? Are the Mu from Mars or from space?"

Natasha has some difficult asking this. "Are the Mu from beyond the far skies? Or from the red restless star? Could it be their ship is near the red restless star?"

Bloodstone shakes her head to Star Girl, "I've studied every alien species we've come into contact with, and I haven't heard of these 'Mu' people from any of that. I think they were chased off by his people." She gestures towards Tiara Boy, "So I am guessing they've remained hidden from other cultures and species out there somehow... or at least haven't run into anyone who's talked to us yet." She looks at the others, "None of us are Magi though, as far as I know." She looks towards Annie and the others, "Except maybe the firelizard?" Yep, she's pulled out a Pern reference when indicating Natasha.

The man tells Natasha, "Mu was a culture of Earth, as was ours of Atlantis. But their great vessel could be anywhere. It was said it could travel to anywhere and anytime in the blink of an eye, to the ends of time and space."

Natasha translates once again.

Hunter listens to the translations, officially lost. "Wouldn't that make them all powerful? Masters of time and space? How'd you even beat that?"

"So it's possible," Star says. "It's possible that they're back."

"Legend, rumor, and heresay." Bloodstone says to Hunter, "Obviously they can't be anywhere and everywhere and every/when/ or they'd be here already. If it's a ship, then it's a physical thing, and physical things can be broken." She looks towards Star Girl, "You said the shuttle was off course due to gravitic interference? Sounds like something generating a singularity for the creation of a wormhole which could travel through space, and time, but if they were boundless and had no limitations, why not come back after this guys people went bye bye?" She asks, "So, they can be beaten again."

Natasha says to the Atlantean, "You bring us grave tidings. Indeed, you shall speak to the mages and priests and other humans of power."

When the container was first opened the man looked young. Late twenties at the oldest. But now he seems middle aged. There's gray at his temples.

Hunter is caught by surprise by how quickly the handsome youth has aged suddenly. "Uh oh. I think those preservation wards needed to stay intact..."

The man shakes his head, "I will not have time. I have delivered my warning. My task is done, my time coming quickly to an end." he says to Natasha.

Star Girl's eyelet widen. "Is there anything we can do?"

Natasha says, "Then for our age, I thank you. And ask that if there is any more you can tell us, you do so quickly."

"Uh, and how did you defeat and drive off the Mu the first time?" Hunter presses with time being of the essence.

The man tells Natasha, "Do not grieve for me. I have lived a full six hundred years. But this Earth is now too mana-poor to sustain my life. We were once masters of the magical arts. There is not the mana to equal our feats. You must use the tools of the destroyers against them. But let those tools be servants, not your master. Bend metal and lightning to your will!"

Bloodstone on the other hand, is watching the rapid aging curiously, "Interesting." She says to herself, folding her arms across her chest as she studies the visibly aging individual. "I wonder if the method used to hold him in stasis is causing this effect, where the individual cells simply react negatively to the changes in atmosphere. If it were time itself, he would have died from thirst and hunger long before any of these effects would be visible..." She lets others question the Atlantean, but when translated she can't help but smirk, "Oh we bent those to our will a /long/ time ago. And then some."

Natasha observes (in English), "You have not bent them so well as to travel freely through time. Do not be overconfident."

Bloodstone says to Natasha, "Everything that they're doing so far, is stuff that individuals have done here. Gravtic control? Check. Wormhole generation? Check. Time travel? Check. Just because the tech isn't something that everyone has access to, doesn't mean it doesn't exist." Overconfident seems to be the nature of the red-skinned lady.

The man sinks back down into the container. His skin is wrinkled, his hair falling from his scalp. His voice is weak and trembly as he speaks a final time, "Never," he whispers, "let the cruel minds of metal rule you, as those of Mu did."

Natasha sounds a bit shaken as she translates that. The rapid aging evidently disturbs her.