The Crystal Shatters

[wildestmods]

[The events are seen happening in the background of several peoples' mirrors, in the wee hours just before sunrise. People that couldn't sleep or early risers. For those not on the mirrors, the noises are enough to wake everyone up.]

[The choice on where to go and when to leave is made for them. After several days of refuge, the protective crystal guarding Heartstone Trollmarket starts to make alarming crackling noises, like something electrical shorting out. Great groaning and cracking noises start to rumble through the cavern shortly after, like an iceberg cleaving off from a glacier. The glow from the crystal starts to flicker even more.]

[That's when they arrive, a wall of them, marching through the woods just before dawn. The screeching gives away that a frightening number of them has gathered under the leaves, even more than there were at the faire. The Nightrenders hang back near the tree line, as close as they can get to the Heartstone, sensing its failure is near. The mental effect they cause is still held at bay by the Heartstone's magic, but it feels almost like it's hanging in the air, crackling with menace, waiting to be unleashed.]

[With a final loud crack, the Heartstone shatters into a million crystalline shards. The sun still has not yet risen.]

[The Nightrenders start to advance - but something starts to advance towards them.]

Graga! Sgrabarabba rabba! [It is Gnome Chompsky, leader of the gnomes.]

[Oh, sure they kept trying to steal the gang's stuff, and they weren't overly fond of the trolls, who treated them like pests. But the gnomes' hearts aren't made of stone and seeing some of the squad pay their respects to the dead had still moved them, made them think that perhaps this was a group worth protecting. And many of them are far fonder of humans - especially Gnome Chompsky. The human Trollhunter and his friends, champions of the trolls, had always been kind to the gnomes. Many of the group is or looks human.]

[Need and Raistlin had reminded him of his old friends a little as well. They'd been very respectful. They hadn't had to be.]

Scragga ragga blagh!

[Who knows what he's saying but it's probably majestic! The gnomes pour out of Trollmarket in a surprisingly huge wave, beating the Nightrenders back towards the woods. The gnomes, not particularly prone to traumatic memories, are not easily hurt by the visions and are resistant to soul-sucking, and the massive horns under their hats make it impossible for the Nightrenders to bite their heads properly to get at the brains.]

[With each Nightrender tackled, it's a bit like watching a pack of wolves taking down a massive elk.]

[The wave of gnomes manages to push them back to the edge of the woods just long enough for the sun to rise. The Nightrenders back far away from the light but still freeze the second the light dapples through the trees, locked into whatever pose they were standing in. They can be more easily killed this way - but the effort to destroy one, let alone that many - is considerable. They could work at it all day and still not have killed most of them by the next nightfall.]

Grakkagrakka [Gnome says it approvingly, waving at his troops to return home.]

[This respite means they have a day to gather what they can and put as much distance between themselves and the Nightrenders as possible instead of being chased away so fast they had to leave much of it behind. The simple kindness of a few has earned the respect of many, and now the squad has a much easier and safer exit, with more time to collect their resources.]

[Time to get moving.]

Comments

[zerg_rush]

I'll scout.

[Without her gear, she's not as stealthy, but she's still pretty damn stealthy.]

It means I won't be able to carry much, though.

[wheyoftheadept]

We can sort it. Alloran's got some big morphs, he can carry extra pack.

[millenyal_pink]

I can scout too, stealth's a specialty. Especially in my feline form.

We could take shifts and turns on who's scouting and who's carrying, if necessary.

[zerg_rush]

Moving on sand is tiring, and scouts need to cover a lot of ground. Do we have enough people in that kind of shape?

[millenyal_pink]

I know Tenten's well-trained, fast, and stealthy. Other than that, I'm not sure.

I know we have people who are combat trained, but I'm not sure if they've got experience with scouting and recon like this. They're two overlapping but largely different skillsets.

[zerg_rush]

If it's really just a day, I can do the full stretch without trading off. I'll hate myself for a few days after, but I can do it.

[millenyal_pink]

We should do half-day shifts so we don't burn too much energy-- who knows if we'll need it. No sense in running ourselves ragged unnecessarily.

[If they're able to take shifts and not burn themselves out, why do it anyway?]

[zerg_rush]

[Not pushing herself to the verge of destruction for the good of others? Sounds fake.]

Believe me, one thing I'll be scouting for is terrain that casts a shadow.

[With or without corners.]

[millenyal_pink]

We should be reaching some ruins within a days time. How far out do you want to scout? We don't quite know what we're walking into so straying too far from the main group probably isn't a good idea.

[Elle starts to consider the possibility of some kind of moving canopy, like those covered wagons without the wagon part. Is that too complicated?]

Also, is your telepathy range-based? If one of us is scouting ahead, would you be able to use your telepathy or would you have to depend on the mirrors?

[zerg_rush]

There's no theoretical range limit...

[Kerrigan trails off, shaking her head because one, that's at home, and two, theory so rarely has anything to do with practice.]

I don't know. It's much easier to communicate with other telepaths, so if the other scout's a psychic we'd probably be able to manage a pretty good distance. How far out we'll need to go will depend on the terrain.

[millenyal_pink]

That's something to potentially experiment with, since we have the opportunity, but depending on mirrors is probably our safest bet overall.

I've gotten the impression that most of the desert is sand and dunes, which means variable elevation. I believe that's going to be our main obstacle until we get to the ruins.

[zerg_rush]

[Kerrigan mutters a curse under her breath as something occurs to her.]

This is all assuming that teleportation perimeter even lets us do any kind of reasonable scouting.

[millenyal_pink]

Fuck.

[Shit, there are children who can theoretically hear this. Well, child, but still.]

I mean, crap.

[Elle sighs heavily.]

Well, only one way to find out, I guess.

[zerg_rush]

It does mean any stragglers will get pulled along regardless. We could station some sentries with physically weaker people and just let the [goddammit] magic do the work as the main body of the group gets far enough away.

Assuming that's how it works, anyway.

[millenyal_pink]

That's... a really good idea. Especially if [when, she thinks cynically] people start succumbing to heat exhaustion. We probably shouldn't bank on it too much, we don't know if the spell could catch onto what we're doing and fuck us over, or something. But it's a good plan to have in our back pocket.

Hell, we could take shifts. Three groups, two moving at a time and the third getting the chance to rest and be dragged along.

[Elle really doesn't want anyone to be overworked. If they're not careful, they could easily lose people on this trip. Deserts are harsh and unforgiving and Elle is determined to make sure everyone is able to see it through.]

[takenalive]

I can morph into a predatory bird and fly. No particular experience as a scout but in an open environment that will be useful.

[millenyal_pink]

Do you know how long you can go before needing to rest?

[Elle is determined to optimize this so no one gets too exhausted. No one is going to overwork themselves unnecessarily on her watch.]

It might be good to have you as a secondary scout, someone who periodically makes rounds to back-up the people o the ground.

But it might also be better for you to be on supplies duty. We have a some pretty strong people, but the more we can divy up the weight, the better.

[takenalive]

Quite some time. Unless somehow hot air doesn't rise here, there will be tremendous thermals over hot sand for as long as the sun is up. Any soaring bird can ride those with little effort expended. I do have to land every two hours, though.

[There's enough time crunch here he's not going to explain that he has to demorph and remorph, or that that's itself very tiring.]

I suppose there's always leaving caches and picking them back up.

[millenyal_pink]

Okay-- I say that if you do that, it shouldn't a constant thing. Maybe a couple of times in a day, and not for that long.

[Elle considers his 'two hours' requirement.]

Is maintaining other forms for longer periods of time difficult? How much energy does transforming take i the first place-- it might be better for you to just stay in a bird form or in your natural form than to keep shifting back and forth.

[takenalive]

It takes a similar amount of energy to morph most creatures. The bird in question slightly less, perhaps, since it's from my homeworld. And it's effortless to maintain another shape. But I'm required to return to my base form within two hours of assuming another, or I'll be trapped in morph. [Dryly:] I'm not willing to do that.

[millenyal_pink]

['Similar amount' doesn't mean a lot or a little energy, so Elle guesses probably a lot.]

Yeah, that's not happening.

I'd suggest you transform no more than once or twice a day to scout, especially since you may need to again if we run into hostiles.

[takenalive]

Reasonable. I'm not physically suited to oppressive heat, but I have a few morphs that can haul weight and tolerate or thrive in high temperatures. Fortunately, they're also capable in combat if it comes to that.

[And they're big enough to provide shade, for that matter.]

[millenyal_pink]

I don't think any of us are.

[Herself somewhat excluded, but also not because even cougars that live in the desert know better than to be active while the sun's in the sky.]

You know your limits best, so you get to make that call for yourself. I just don't think anyone should be pushing themselves more than is absolutely necessary,

[takenalive]

Perhaps I should say instead that I'm reliant on technology to be able to physically exert myself at temperatures humans find quite unpleasant but can function in. Here, the only technology I have available that would work for that purpose is morphing.

[takenalive]

Kerrigan will be better at locating people with her abilities, but I can play aerial scout. If I must do both I'll have to leave caches of supplies and pick them up again.