Bermuda Holiday Session 13

Princess Guard - The New Era 2017/23/03 	 Charm Titan Pulsar Wolf 36

Where are we?
Having failed to impale the desolid Pulsar with its long sharply pointed bill the flying reptile circles for another attack and this time as it closes on Pulsar it opens its bill and breathes a flaming mass of fire at him.

Harlequin has just been listening quietly as Palanir and the others talk. Upon Pulsar reporting what he sees, the mage goes still and makes a few small gestures with his hands as he scries out Pulsar and the pterosaurs.

"Somehow I am not surprised to find they breathe fire. I wonder if interspecies breeding occured," he murmurs in a mildly curious tone. "Well, in any case, four fire breathing pterosaurs inbound. One seems to be engaged with Pulsar. We need to clear the decks of innocents."

Charm says, "Or perhaps they are distant relatives - after all, it's not unlikely the dragons are descended from some sort of dinosaur..."

The mage shakes his head. "Eight I mean. One of which is engaged with Pulsar." He mutters to himself. "That backlash jostled my brain."

Charm says, "I'll see about clearing the decks of people - I should be able to keep them calm."

The liner's captain looks at Harlequin, "I suppose I can't hope your're joking?" he asks hopefully. Going to a control panel he activates the public address system. "This is your captain speaking. Attention everyone. It is essential that everybody gets below decks and under cover immediately. I know you all have questions about what is happening and I will answer those questions to the best of my ability as soon as the present emergency is dealt with. I can tell you that fortunately we /do/ have a number of superheroes from Colonial Bay on board including Titan. Now, get below decks."

Titan says over the team link, .oO(I wonder how they know the ship is here, with all this fog.)

Charm goes to do just that - persuade people to go below decks with song.

Titan heads back outside, bringing Palanir along with him. "Still no idea which realm we're in? Fire breathing dinosaurs don't ring a bell?"

Earth's Holographic Hero, Pulsar the Bright slows as the petrosaur opens its beaked mouth at him. He was half expecting it to talk to him when a glow can be seen in the depths of its throat.

He is totally surprised and caught off guard by the flames.

.oO(Woah! These things are clearly not from Earth!) He doesn't attempt to dodge the fire as it passes through him harmlessly. But he does keep pace with the other seven saurians who are still headed straight for the Cruise ship.

.oO(Should I ground these things before they get to you guys?) He asks over comms.

Harlequin murmurs. "Well, if they are ancestors of or descendants of dragons, they may be 'smelling' the tasty, tasty magick onboard this ship." As he prepares to go out on deck to face the pterosaurs, he remarks in an offhand manner to Palanir. "Oh, and Master Warleader? The insatiable appetite for magick that dragons possess which dulled their minds? It has been cured. The gray elves should be less pressed for existence now."

After Harlequin's first comment Palanir tells Titan, "If these creatures are a cross breed or degraded descendants of dragons they probably detected the operation of the way-trap."

Palanir then hastens after Harlequin, "Explain yourself please." he requests urgently.

Harlequin steps out on deck, looking in the direction of the pterosaurs as he responds to Palanir. "The Princess Guard fought a dragon that followed a grey elven assassinaton team into Undermoon. While it was cornered in an abandoned dwarven mine, a, hmm, goddess who is yet unborn, worked a powerful magick ritual. The ritual altered all dragons everywhere. Well, all dragons as the Fae know them. They no longer are possessed of mind numbing hunger for magick."

The radar operator reports, "Fifteen miles out. At their speed they'll be here in twelve minutes, Captain.

Palanir stares at Harlequin for a moment and starts to speak, "But that would mean th.." He stops his words and Harlequin can see the expression of calculation that comes to Palanir's face. It's surprising Harlequin can't actually hear the sound of mental wheels turning at feverish speed.

.oO(Anyone? Should I ground these guys? I'd estimate we're just a few minutes out - maybe 10 or so at this speed.) Pulsar says, reiterating his question onver their comms.

Titan shrugs, "Once the grey elves realize it, they should be able to be more open with their movements. And it also means that if a dragon is giving you trouble, it's not doing so mindlessly. It might just hate you."

Titan says over the link, .oO(We'll have trouble finding you if they down you in that fog. So...wait until you can see the ship before engaging.)

Titan waits until just a couple of minutes before the arrival of the dinosaurs before he launches himself from the ship, positioning himself in the air in their path. Or at least trying to do so.

Charm finds a few brave and/or idiotic souls on deck who ignored the captain's commands, so she lures them below decks with a siren song.

Palanir calls back to Titan, "They would have cause to do so." Then, "Ablewoman," he speaks to Charm, "tell your human companions why that is. They have a likely need to know."

.oO(You got it sir - waiting for visual confirmation.) Pulsar responds as he loops around the flying formation of flaping Pterosauria.

He makes sure to get a good look at each and every one of them, trying to memeorize the details. He isn't sure what might be useful - if anything.

Charm sighs. "I never did tell the tale, and now there is no time to tell it properly. It concerns the end of the Dragon Wars - the great secret and shame of the Twilit Worlds."

Charm says, "There was no winning the war with the dragons - the more magic they found the more they bred. The Twilit Worlds were the last place of retreat. And the dragons would have followed us there, too, had we not sealed the gates."

Harlequin murmurs softly, "And now is not the time, no. Maybe later as we seek the keystone to the spell that holds us here."

Over the link, he says .oO(Are they reacting like animals or sentients, Pulsar? Or can you tell?...And do any of them have ghost pirates on them? Just curious.)

Charm says, "Scores of worlds were abandoned to the dragons - but the dragons were not to be permitted to leave them. They would eat and multiply till the worlds were devoid of mana - and then die off." She sighs. "A 'victory' without honour - more, a genocide. It was needful for survival. But it is our greatest shame."

The radar operator reports, "Just a few miles out. ETA two minutes."

In Harlequin's mind comes a gentle mental knocking. It's Peter.

.oO(Yes, Peter?) responds Harlequin. .oO(And tell the Twins and the others, no. They cannot fight the dinos. Defend the passengers but no coming out on deck.)

.oO(I'd say they're just animals... if I had to say. Never met a dinosaur before so personally, I can't say I'm sure about that. Afterall - I'm just a lightbulb. But I'd like to think Im sentient.) Pulsar says over their shared link.

.oO(Wait - Ghost Pirates? Like real Ghosts that are pirates? We're really going to have to put a Training Guide together for new people. Nevertheless - no. No Ghost Pirates.) A slight mirthful feeling is shared over the line, as in real life the whole idea has caused Pulsar to chuckle.

He speaks to see if the dinos will respond before they get too close ot the ship. "Can you guys understand me at all?" He asks as he matches the speed, pitch and heading of the frontmost flyer. He meets its gaze with his own as he flies backwards.

Charm says, "The shorter-lived races seem to have forgotten. So now it is a shame the fae bear in secret. Or was till I spoke of it." Peter replies to Harlequin after Harlequin allows the mind link .oO(I told them. I did!) he thinks. Subtext, they didn't listen.

Harlequin sighs as he says out loud then over the PG comm link. "Be aware the Twins are out and about. They didn't listen to Peter and are coming to fight dinos."

Peter adds .oO(Patrica and Mark and Graham are here with me. Leonid too. We're in your cabin.)

Titan mutters to himself. "Of course they are."

.oO(Who can blame them? You know what I've never seen on Earth? Dinosaurs - well except that time that Time Traveller guy rode them through Times Square years back.) Pulsar chimes in unhelpfully.

"And I think the Twins should volunteer in a nursery sometime soon," Harlequin mutters to himself. "Have the experince of riding herd on younglings who don't listen. Be instructive, it would."

Over the link to Peter, he says .oO(Good. Stay there. And Peter, good job!) he says encouragingly.

Peter needs the encouragement. It's clear over the mental link he feels guilty about the Twins not obeying him.

Charm is rather surprised that this confession of her people's secret shame does not seem to have provoked much of a reaction from her teammates. She actually turns to Palanir for understanding - he may be dishonoured, but at least he shares the concept of fae honour!

Titan already basically knew the story, more or less. And there are pressing matters to attend to, after all.

Harlequin looks over at Charm then Palanir then back to Charm, then nods his head to her. "I already knew the secret, Ablewoman Charm. I was told about it by someone who was there." He shrugs slightly. "I have had ample time to, hmm, process the matter."

Titan takes off, and positions himself in the air in the dinosaurs' way, as he had planned.

Palanir smiles wryly to Charm. "It is our greatest shame, Ablewoman. However your human companions have many such secrets and not secrets. They do not understand. Their sense of honour is different to yours, and for them this story is even more ancient than it is for us." The flyers are almost at the liner. They start a swoop down at the liner. Then, as they descend below 100 yards above the waters of the ocean... great multiple-fathom long tentacles reach up and snatch five of the flyers out of the air as if the thirty foor long flyers were new born kittens. The three suvivors break off their attack runs and evade with frenzied maneuvers.

Titan blinks. "Uh...huh. Well, that could be more of an issue."

Harlequin blinks at the tentacles snatching the pterosaurs from the sky. Then starts to walk towards the side of the ship before stopping. "No, probably not a good idea. Well, this place has kraken. Wonderful," he says in a flat tone.

Pulsar is charging up a Laser Lance as one of the tentacles passes right through him and grips the lead flier. He's totally surprised.

.oO(Guys - I don't think the pterodactyls are our real issue... we're coming in hot - but there's a squid or something below that is... hungry for pterodactyl wings.) He says urgently over the comms.

Wolf blinks.

Charm is snatched back from her musings on ancient history by the approach of the pterosaurs, and then the kraken. "Was that drawn too by the triggering of the trap?"

.oO(Life from Pirates of the Pacific? A real Kraken?! Oh man... this day just keeps getting better and better.) Pulsar shares. The feeling from the hologram is definitely one of excitement and not apprehension.

Harlequin murmurs over the comms. .oO(Well, hopefully, it has a taste for flying self-roasting dino. And I seriously hope not, Charm. And Titan? Stay well above a hundred yards.)

The liner rocks and lists to port alarmingly as more tentacles curl over the sides of the deck and hold the liner in a steel bending twisting grip. A massive bulbous squid's body and head rises to the surface, the beak opening to swallow the grabbed flyers in a single bite each.

"I say we drive off the calamari. Fire and ice would be good," Harlequins says both out loud and over the comms.

"Unless you have a better idea, Master Warleader?" he addresses to Palanir.

Titan turns and charges toward the kraken, flying directly toward it. .oO(We can't let it damage the ship heavily. Pulsar and I can keep it engaged. I hope.)

Charm says, "I will try singing to it."

Harlequin lets Charm work her magical wiles on the kraken while he prepares his own magicks.

Palanir is staring at the giantic squid in fascination. "I have never seen anything like this." he says in a calm sounding and fascinated voice. "Your suggestion seems eminantly sensible." he adds, and draws his sword. "I feel a little under-dressed." he remarks looking at the sword and then the massive head of the squid.

Charm doesn't think the kraken is likely to be prone to fear, so she sings instead a song of satiation - hoping that if the kraken isn't hungry it won't be bothered with us - particularly not if we sting it at all.

Wolf braces with all four paws to hold his place on the deck and avoid sliding Squidward. . . he looks around to make sure no tentacles are grabbing passengers or otherwise causing injury,. . . so far it just seems the squid is just using the boat to boost itself up to grab petrosaurs? What a strange and wonderful world we've found ourselves in!

Charm's singing will make the squid much more likely to depart rather than risk pain and injury for a meal it's no longer so interested in.

Wolf will block/shield for Charm and the other non-fliers.

Luckily, Pulsar was already charging up an opening salvo. As Titan dives at the beast Pulsar streaks towards the ship itself, so he can work on prying the tentacles from the fuselage.

Pulsar cocks his arm back as the LaserLance glows brighter.

"Sorry Squidy - this vessel is off the menu!" He says as he aims and throws the lance like a javelin.

The laserlance from Pulsar hits and chars a spot on the great beast's skin. But it's just a pinprick in comparison to the squid's size.

The Twins charge in from the fog and attempt to grab a tentacle and pry it loose from the liner.

Amazingly the two twins working together actually manage to pull the tip of the tentacle loose. But the rest of the tentacle maintains its grip with the huge suckers lining the insides of the tentacles.

The slight charring on the tentacle causes Pulsar to pause. .oO(So this thing is a whole lot tougher than I thought it'd be....) He shares over the connection to the other members ofthe Guard.

.oO(There is a Silver lining though, at least that means we don't need to necessarily hold back....) He adds.

Titan flies toward the kraken, hoping to at least distract it from the ship. It's a little too far away, so he decides to try to plow into it to get its attention.

The squid's flesh is rubbery however Titan feels he has an effect. It's just the beast is so big the signals of pain may take a while getting to its brain.

Harlequin murmurs under his breath (in Atlantean) as he rolls his hands one over the other in a winding motion. Golden orange fire blazes into existence between his hands which he then hurls at one of the kraken's car-sized eyes.

The giantic squid convulses as its eye is blown out by Harlequin's fiery blast.

Releasing the liner the beast sinks below the surface and expels a cloud of squid ink to obsure its escape.

Harlequin thinks .oO(Damn, and me without a specimen flask. Bet I could do interesting things with that ink.)

The three surviving flyers are headed back to shore as fast as their wings will take them.

Titan returns back to the ship, landing on the deck. "Nice shot."

Charm says, "Let's hope this world doesn't have more surprises to throw at us."

The twins land on the deck. They look smug and proud at having 'helped' to drive the squid away, and apprehensive of reactions to their independant action.

Harlequin watches the dinos take off back to shore then nods to Titan. "As my grandmother always said, 'Go for the eyes when facing a monster.' "

The mage then laughs. "Oh, I imagine the land holds even larger creatures." His gaze then sweeps over to the Twins. "And you two. I am going to suggest to Lord Markham that the two of you 'volunteer' at a nursery school." His tone is light yet firm. The twins look confused, "Huh?" says Anne-Maria.

Harlequin smiles behind his mask. "Just an idle thought. Good job not getting eaten by the kraken. Now then, go back to the others, please."

The twins nod to Harlequin and return to his cabin to rejoin the other kids. And undoubtedly get shouted at by Peter.

Pulsar appears a split second later, after following the Kraken into the depths to make sure it wasn't really planning another attack.

Once he was sure, he moved as fast as he could to return to the others.

"Now that is what I call adventure!" He says enthusiastically.

Titan grins, "I was kind of half-hoping for a Beowulf kind of moment, getting dragged underwater.

Wolf watches Palanir carefully, to see how he studies and adapts to new worlds -- and especiaaly how he goes about locating the WorldGate(s) that could take them home. ..

Pulsar chuckles at Titan's half-hoping.

Harlequin shakes his head as he chuckles. "Well, I am certain it still could happen, Titan. We have a whole new world to get battered down by after all."

He then turns his attention to Palanir and Charm. "Do you have any idea as to our heading? For the keystone to the way-trap?"

Charm says, "The way to the closed gate is clear as day. But I don't see how going there helps."

"The physical mechanism for the way-trap has survived for many many years. I cannot see a sea based object surviving given the denizens of the seas in this realm. So the logical place to search will be on land. There is only one sign of land so the captain told us." Palanir then informs Titan.

Palanir turns to Harlequin, "You remarked before the interruption that you had heard the story of the sealing of the gates from someone who was there. As Ablewoman /Charm/, a hero name I assume, told all of you, the story is considered a great shame and is almost never mentioned. Especially to none fae. Who, may I ask, revealed it to you?"

Harlequin smiles slightly behind his mask as he replies to Palanir. "In reverse order, I agree with you, Master Warleader, as to seeking out the land. We should also get the ship closer to land to be out of the kraken range, hopefully."

He then pauses for a moment before he replies, "I was told of what occurred by a sorcereress who lives in a castle in a mountain shaped like a dragon."

That mountain is famous in Fae history. It's called, unimaginately, Dragon Mountain. It is on the Lost Realm and was the site of the Great Throne back when the Fae worlds had a single ruler. Queen Lethode.

Palanir looks in surprise at Harlequin, "I knew you had been to the Lost Realm when rescuing Lord Vanatherion. But I was under the impression you went straight to and from the gray elf stronghold. When did you visit Dragon Mountain?"

Harlequin shrugs. "Later, and alone, when I was summoned to give aid that only a mortal human could provide, Master Warleader."

Charm listens curiously: this is news to her!

Palanir asks, "... and the name of this Sorcereress who has usurped the Castle of Dragon Mountain is..?"

Harlequin looks over at Charm then back to Palanir. "She named herself as Sethra Lethode. Her husband is Lord Morrolan. And she has dwelt in the Castle since before the fall of the Lost Realms," he states calmly. "She is your ultimate queen, I believe?"

Palanir stares transfixed at Harlequin for long moments, weighting up whether he believes what he's just been told. Finally deciding he does, he gives Harlequin a respectful and formal bow.

Titan grins, "Harlequin looks good for his age, I think." He leaves it at that before heading off to speak to the Captain.

Charm says, "Are you saying that the queen of legend lives still - or another of the same name?"

Harlequin looks over at Charm. "She does not live per se, Ablewoman Charm, but she does still exist, yes. She held onto the seat of power that is Dragon Mountain over the long ages." He pauses for a moment then adds, "She does, however, have a living child. Her heir."