wildestlands | The Crystal Shatters

[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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

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?]

[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.]

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?

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.

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.

[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.

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.

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.

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.]

Assuming—and I know it's a big assumption—that's what the letter meant by "bound to each other," it doesn't make sense for the effect to be unpredictable. Nobody could complete a quest with that kind of uncertainty.

That's true, but consider this:

~Magic.~ [Elle does jazz hands for added effect.]

[Snort.]

You don't hire someone for a job and then make it impossible to do the job. [Sigh.] At least if you're rational.

Unfortunately, I don't know if that's an assumption we can make, at this point.

[Disgusted huff.]

[Saturday has been listening quietly. Now she butts in]

Magic ain't rational, and we shouldn't rely on any of the magic we don't understand yet. Kerrigan, I'd feel a lot better if you had juice left at the end of the day - I know your gear's shot, but you were kind of a nuke even without it back on the Rig. If that's the case here, we'll need you should the excrement impact the oscillating ventilation device. So I'm for shifts if we can swing it.

You met the talking sword, yet? Can she boost you, or serve as like a switchboard?

[A tactical argument will work on Kerrigan where one about her own health will fail.]

Need? We've talked a bit, but we haven't tried to figure out how we'd work together. She's probably going to have her hands full [Kerrigan realizes a beat too late that's not the best idiom here, but plows on] with Raistlin, anyway.

When I had hands they would be full, yes. We'll manage. I can multitask but I suspect I can't enhance anyone else's Gifts. No idea what a switchboard is, either.

I can monitor for anyone straggling. Yes, they may be forced to catch up to us with this Fetching effect, but collapsing of heat exhaustion isn't going to do them any good.

Focusin' on keeping an eye for stragglers seems most useful; we can pass word along and get them collected.

A switchboard is basically like, instead straining to get at someone far away, someone talks to you and you pass the message on to the person who's too far. I dunno if telepathy works that way but it seemed reasonable. Can you do that?

I can. We can speak at range, and I can speak to various people here, not everyone, or operate the teleson network to address anyone else. [Need's not letting on that she can talk and hang out in the heads of people who've gotten close to her. ...She's also just going to continue thinking of the mirrors as telesons.] She has her own mirror, though, if it's something for everyone to hear.

Given that we don't know what all this place can throw at us, I'd rather the scouts had a way to call back silently, if it's an option. You willing to relay if needed?

That's fair. I wouldn't want anyone capturing a teleson lens and compromising the network, just in case it's more secure than the ones I've used. Yes, I can relay.

Roger that. I'll let you know the roster once it's finalized.

The Crystal Shatters

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