Private Story Quest [Camp Renovation] Loose threads; Red Hangover

[Cynna]

@Alecto

In the derelict outpost strewn with stakes of damaged wooden fence, battered and burnt tarp, and abandoned equipment; chipped or rusted, was the remnants of the hustle and bustle of a significant clean up operation. As a part of the stragglers were two adventurers guild members currently occupied with the interior of a giant mushroom. This mushroom was a makeshift MIT lab, the two adventurers were Cynna and Alecto. The two were currently searching for something...

"I don't know why I got my hopes up Alecto~"

Cynna sighed a little dejectedly as she lightly kicked an empty beaker over to the corner of the room with the point of one of her nice shoes. She held a handkerchief over her nose and mouth as she did so. The place reeked.

"If they're only giving clearance now, then it makes sense they got out whatever they wanted to get out, right? I bet the only things here are the stink and a bunch of equipment that even the scavenger's market would give us bottom dollar for. Have you found any leads on your end? If not I guess we're off into the bush to 'gather materials' after all~"

Cynna gestured with a thumb over her shoulder as her tail swooshed back and forth.

"Frankly, the sooner we're outa here the better, can't say that I have the best memories of this whole operation. I may like shooting but frontlines work is a whole lotta orders and a whole lotta grief I tell ya..."

Cynna turned and looked over to whatever Alecto was busy with and tilted her head with an expression that seemed to say 'well, what now?'

 

[Matilda]

"I was hoping they would have missed something. Idiots typically do, but what do you know... it looks like they actually cleaned the place out. How boring."

Alecto groaned.

I'm sure as hell not playing maid for these knuckle-dragging shit sacks, that's for certain. I'd rather be eaten by that bug they fought.

"Nope, not a single thing. It looks like if we're going to find anything fun we're going to have to go on a bit of a scavenger hunt out in the jungle, which of course suits me fine. I'd rather be out there where there's a possibility of finding SOMETHING than in here picking up the pieces of this rotting mushroom."

Who builds a lab in a mushroom anyway? Did the idea of something that could better withstand attacks not cross the infantile minds of the MIT trash that decided to build this outpost? If I were them I'd die of embarrassment.

"Let's get out of here before my clothes permanently smell like rotten mushroom..."

@Cynna

 

[Cynna]

"Haaaaah~"

Cynna sighed a long sigh.

"Well neither suits me but between the humidity out there and the stink in here, well whatever wraps up, guh..."

Turning Cynna headed outside where she produced a map. It was a remnant from the original rescue mission.

"If I remember right, there was a temple of sorts that started this whole mess with the explorers' league on route to the the demon corpse----or what's left of it. Might as well start there and maybe save us the rest of the trip and a coffin, if you catch my drift~ Good thing we're already packed!"

And they were. Waving to Alecto, Cynna went over to a foreman to make their excuse: they were on their way to gather some resources to help repair sections of the wooden fence that couldn't be salvaged, or something. Everyone was far too busy to listen anyway. And so, with that, the two both had backpacks for exploration.

"I know we're usually more accustomed to city operations with anti-personnel themes, but maybe it's good to branch out?"

Tempting fate, Cynna said that and so they began their march. Along the way they passed various mushroom people patrols. Eventually they arrived at what was colloquially referred to as The Lost City. Only, something was a little different from what Cynna originally remembered. Bronze-looking structures of tarnished-looking earthen brick jutted into massive spires that over countless years had not yet been reclaimed by nature. It was a city that focused on verticality, with spires and an excessive network of raised bridges and stairways connecting them. That much, Cynna remembered during the rescue mission's dash through it. What she didn't remember was all the insect... leavings...

"Hm~ I know it's easy to get them crossed but my memory and the report confirms that it was The Sunken Ruin that had become the bug nest. And this isn't The Sunken Ruin, that should be... well, a good few miles that way and a good few miles below ground level. Basically, it's a massive hole. We should be careful. Long story short, it looks like after our community jungle service on the demon, the buggies have taken advantage of the aftermath and started to expand. Let's move higher and take a break. If we're lucky, this area didn't wind up suitable for a long-term nest."

Cynna pointed to one of the spires and began making her way through the series of elevated walkways up to it.



@Alecto

 

[Matilda]

Following Cynna up to the spire, Alecto looked down and grimaced.

"Bugs everywhere... how disgusting. I can't believe people actually had to deal with this. I might have just walked away from it, well if I didn't have ways of dealing with this type of situation anyway."

Turning to Cynna, Alecto nodded her head towards the writhing swarm of bugs.

"Thoughts? I think we could probably take the long way and move around them, but that might take too much time. Not to mention that under that swarm of bugs could be exactly what we're looking for. I say we exterminate the insects quickly, maybe capture a few for later study, then see if there's anything in the area worth our time. If there is, mission accomplished, if not onwards."

Alecto looked back towards the swarm.

"Still, you would have thought that someone would have found a better way to deal with these bugs than simply let them crawl all over everyone. Was no one smart enough to try and create a bubble or some sort of protection? I thought that might have been the first thing someone tried..."

@Cynna

 

[Cynna]

"To be fair..."

Cynna shrugged.

"With everyone hopped up on demon juice, stuck inside a bug, or trying to understand how a magical floating orb of death worked, there really wasn't a lot of thinking to be had at that point. But, when it was all over they scattered like cockroaches in motel light, and not taking any chances so did we. I doubt anyone's much interested in coming out here anytime soon anyway, so I can hardly blame management for kicking the can down the road. Not that, that makes our present situation any better."

Cynna drank from her canteen.

"As much as I'd like to just shoot the whole damn lot of them, there's probably more underground. So, I suggest we stick to the perimeter and play it more your way. The higher paths can help us keep up and above the swarm, so just as long as we don't trigger some kind of alarm from the mob, I think we can just pick a few off and make our way through. On the way back though, I'd probably advise taking the long way and crossing the Faldo' border instead."

Cynna pointed at the next spire.

"Swarm looks sparse that way, so we can start there and take stock of things from there. If we find a straggler all the better, we can get a sample and keep moving to the former leader bug."

Picking the highest path Cynna crouched low and motioned for Alecto to follow. It was a winding way as they did their best not to cast a shadow down below. When they were nearing the next spire, Cynna stopped and quietly held up a hand. Sure enough, there was a bug making its way up on an alternate route. It reminded Cynna of a human-sized fireant which was very gross.

Cynna montioned with her hands.

'Try and sneak by or take it out? Your call. But I'd prefer not to have any potential problems behind us if we can help it.'

@Alecto

 

[Matilda]

Following Cynna, Alecto continued her musings on the fight.

'I can understand that things might have been hectic, but someone must have been outfitted to handle swarms. Utilizing flame to try and burn them away, wind, water, something. I'm sure there were mages. It would be insane to think there were no magic users with area-of-effect capabilities that could have used their magic to route the swarm. It just seems inconceivable to me. Well, whatever the case I suppose the swarms were defeated in the end.'

As they continued on, Cynna held up her hand motioning for Alecto to stop, which she did.

Now what...

As Cynna pointed toward the massive though singular ant, Alecto grimaced.

'Easier to take it out quickly and keep moving. I've never fought one of these before which piques my interest. Not to mention if we keep letting each and every one of these creatures route us we'll never get anywhere. I'll take the lead.'

Alecto began to form a spell then stopped suddenly and turned to Cynna.

'Actually, a thought just came to my head. These creatures may be able to communicate through pheromone signals like normal bugs. If that's the case, killing this could call more... hmm... I've got an idea.'

Using her illusion magic, Alecto created a clone of herself behind a tree. Suddenly, the clone ran out into the open where the bug could see it. The clone then began running in the opposite direction from where Alecto and Cynna were headed. The bug gave pursuit.

'Now for the kill...'

Making a chopping motion with her hand, Alecto fired a slice wave of wind cutting the bug in half. Nodding, Alecto turned back to Cynna.

'There. If my assumption is correct the swarm should be looking for my clone as that ant should have communicated that there was an enemy running in our opposite direction seconds before it died. Hopefully, this clears a path to our destination by leading the swarm on a goose chase. Of course, we also just agitated the swarm, but better to agitate them in a manner that acts to our benefit.'

Alecto smiled, pleased with her own plan.

'If any other straggler bugs lay in our way, we'll use the same trick which should confuse the swarm. Now then, I believe we should get going. Speed is key here.'

@Cynna

 

[Cynna]

"Fair enough."

Readjusting the magitech orb she had hanging from a strap over her shoulder further to her back, Cynna produced a number of daggers from her inventory.

"Let's get to it then."

Cynna breathed deep and motioned to Alecto that she was ready. With that, they were on the move once again across the elevated stairways. They had made it roughly halfway through The Lost City when Cynna dared to look down. The swarm was still spreading out after the decoy, but not all of them. They'd made good progress but not enough to see them through. Realizing this, Cynna pulled Alecto into what looked like an enclosed alter at the top of one of the ziggurats. Holding a finger to her lips, Cynna waited with her back against the wall facing the entrance. Just then, an ant scurried past the entrance. Cynna thrust out her dagger and managed to land her mark on the insect's neck. She didn't dare stop there. Using the embedded dagger as a grip, Cynna heaved the insect into the room and decapitated it.

After some consideration, Cynna left the knife with her mark before turning back to Alecto.

"Remind me to ask for hazard pay when this is all over. We're beyond calling this an investigation. Anyway, we're surrounded but we haven't been spotted. And we've got a little less than halfway to go."

Cynna peeked out.

"Let's take a break. Before I get started I should probably ask... you're not some kind of big history buff are you? ---Let's just say you've given me a bit of inspiration. Let's keep with the theme of being loud to be sneaky."

Cynna began producing a number of magitech contraptions from her inventory. They were bombs. Cynna was bringing out a whole lot of bombs. Starting with the Ant's head, Cynna shoved a bomb into it. Then, rolling over the ant's body she placed a few more under it. She put more near the entrance. With a grimace, Cynna then decided to use her whole stash, and began moving around the rest of the alter room----she wasn't going to take any chances at underkill. With a sigh, Cynna began fiddling with a remote.

"I think I can assume you know what I'm thinking but lets think aloud just in case. The bugs will check out anything with their buddy's blood on it, right? Well, let's take advantage of that and use your magic to get them over here so we can just blow the whole damn top of this tower on top of them. We'll be long gone by then, of course."

Cynna shook her head.

"The only downside will be that we won't have a good vantage point for the boom. Well, it's set. Ready to get going? Once we're out of range this should break their formation and give us the hole in their net we're looking for."

Cynna peeked out to look for any other scouts. She was ready to go.



@Alecto