Private Redchron Fire Away

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Brutus would stand at the base of the mountain, arms crossed over his chest as the wind caused his jacket to flutter in the wind. His brow furrowed deep in thought. He'd been busy gathering parts for his new canon coming up, and while he had much of it prepared, he was still missing one of the most important pieces.

Firing pins.

Ironically, they would be sourced from the core of fire elementals, the perfect conduit for his own Pyromancy. He'd reached out to a new acquaintance, a man by the name of Zelrius whom he'd met fighting the Kurungar. The man's flashy pyromancy had caught his attention, and together the two of them had forced the creature back alongside everyone else. They'd nary spoken a word to eachother, but the man was a kindred heroic spirit.

Either way, he needed a new canon and more allies. He would need to forge a team capable of answering any and all threats that would come their way.

Hopefully @Zelrius would be willing to join.

 

[Zelrius]

Zelrius climbed slowly up the rocks, grimacing at the soot on his hands, and the black splotches left on his coat, white shirt, and fine pants. Hands went down, dusting down his clothes. Which honestly, only made the problem worse. @Brutus Dahlgren was lucky that the red head was such a fan boy. The mountain of a cannon firing man had more than left an impression, showing real heroic tendencies, a kind heart, and some bravery during the Kurungaar mother fight. So when the call came for the two to meet out here, the man was nearly starstruck with giddiness. The tall adventurer had invited Zelrius of all people out to join him in some quest way out of here.

It was fucking scorching out here, though. To the point where he didn't know how many times he had wiped away sweat with the back of his hand, leaving behind a black streak that was just as soon washed away by another collection of droplets making their path down his face and off his chin. It was a relief when he spotted his fellow guildmate, and formulating idol in Brutus at the base of the mountain. His first instinct was to draw his sword, and approach. To show the other man that he was combat ready.

Except he wasn't. Gone were the bland sheaths of Stokbon forged swords for the average starcalled Traveler. Their brown leather strapping no longer adorning either side of the dual-wielder's hips. With nothing to replace them. He was weaponless, other than his magic. But... would Pyromancy even do anything here? Probably not.

In an effort to not seem like a totally unprepared loser, Zelrius didn't make mention of any of that to the man-mountain. Simply waving and calling out "Hey!" in a voice hoarse from the dry, ash-filled air. "Looks like we both made it here in one piece." Always willing to start conversations off with some levity, quieting his voice down as he got closer. "Good to see you." He extended a hand out for a brotherly physical greeting, asking the most pressing question. "So, what's the plan here?"

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Brutus would clap the man's forearm in the manliest and most macho greeting known to humanity and dolphins alike, pulling the man forward to clap him on the shoulder as well. "Damn you look like you've had a rough climb, you alright there chief?" The giant looked borderline pristine compared to the sweat soaked swordsman who, as his eyes looked the man over, was just a man today, no swords present.

"The plan's pretty simple all things considered. I doubt you noticed, but I'm currently canonless. I borrowed a shotgun from the base camp in Nissus for the moment until I can get my hands on a new one. Toko and I already got the ore for it all, but I need a particular component from this volcano. Somewhere up a little beyond that ridge" he would point as he spoke. "Is the spawn for some powerful fire elementals. If we can kill three and harvest their cores, I can have a Jeweler work them down into a specific type of crystalline spike that can be used as firing pins and a focus for my pyromancy to help make the blasts I channel through it more efficient."

It was a daring and daunting challenge, especially since both men were seemingly not at their full power. "Knowing how you kicked ass with the Kurungar, we shouldn't have a problem eh? Thunder and Flame? Together we're unstoppable." His eyes would twinkle as he raised and eyebrow. The man before him was impressive, filled with drive and passion, between the two of them surely nothing could stop them.

@Zelrius

 

[Zelrius]

Zelrius looking at the more clean Brutus, came to sudden realization that he had Dynamism. He could have easily fire-jumped his way up the rocks and pass the magma-rivers to make it here in nearly the same clean condition. there was the urge to vent all that information, but the knowledge that it'd just make him seem even more like an idiot. So instead his eyes just went down, following an exasperated breath. "I don't know how a whole group of people did this before." He admitted, pulling his gloved tightly over his hands, feeling the sweat build up underneath the wrist bands and between his fingers.

Blue eyes followed the direction Brutus pointed once their greeting clasp was released. A hold that was far more... brotherly than Zelrius had initially intended. Like something you'd see out of those old soldier movies between two life long comrades. He'd be hard pressed to expose, out loud, the way it made his heart leap, skipping a beat in elation at being recognized to that degree. A feeling that was washed away as quickly as it came. The redhead was going through an emotional rollercoaster, whipping from one extreme to the other.

"Fire Elementals," he echoed. His palms turned out, small spheres of flame manifesting in a soft woof into each hand. They were going to fight fire monsters, and all the Adventurer had was fire. He closed them in an instant, extinguishing the flame and then reopening them. His brows furrowed with better determination - the determination to not let Brutus down. To overcome some of these odds. His unfurling fingers revealed what the cogs in his head had cooked up. A soft, wispy mist spreading around him. The small bits of life essence Zelrius had collected on his journey here. His Animancy given form by the death of other creatures. This magic is outlawed in a lot of placed. And Zelrius knew why. He could feel why. See, this wasn't a simple manifestation. The man could feel its wispy, invasive tendril extending out from his fingers. Trying to take command of his will, needing constant domination over its own to not escape wildly. A creepy feeling, something Jin would encourage Zelrius to use. To embrace. Maybe he was right. Maybe this was a path to power.

"Together, we're unstoppable." The man confirmed, Blue eyes looking back at Brutus, a smile on his lips. There were plans formulating, but they'd need real combat to see these plans work. His hand genstured forward to urge the Mountain of a shotgun-wielding man to lead the way, now with questions of his own. "How'd you find out about the cores and crystals?" Platinum Ranked as he was, this adventurer still missed details like that all the time. And he was curious, wondering if it was possible for him to use something similar for a new set of blades.

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

After watching Zelrius have his little moment, hearing his hear flutter with his own enhanced hearing being magnified by his hypersense. Saying something would likely embarrass the man, and unlike Toko he wasn't cute when flustered so he would let him slide. "The fire we both have is probably not gonna be super helpful, but I have some Geomancy, this gun, and these guns." Flexing, the man would begin their march up the path upwards, the saunter of the Giant filled with a sense of flamboyant swagger.

"As for the crystal cores, it came up from a friend, Askera Question. He's a researcher for the MIT, and he was telling me about what I would need to develop the canon along with several other gadgets I have planned to help push my skills ever further beyond."

They would hit a dead end and the giant would take a deep breath. Instead of climbing up the wall, he would hop into the air and WHOOSH jets of flame would erupt from his hands and feet as he shot upwards to the next part of the path.

Peering down, he would take a sip of his waterskin handily fetched from his UI and raised an eyebrow. "You've figured out fire flight by now, right bud?"

@Zelrius

 

[Zelrius]

They had the same idea. Fire wasn't going to work here. Zelrius nodded in agreement with his statement. Stifling a smie at the way he flexed at the emphasis of his guns. "Don't forget my own pair." The red head offered to.. the redhead. Noticing for the first time that they matched. And noting the name "Askera Question." Which sounds like Ask Her a Question said quickly. Meaning, almost definitely a player. One with a sense of humor at that. Maybe he'd know more stuff about the world around them. So many changes since Zelrius's last time on Terra. Hell, there wasn't even an MIT doing research on the world around them. One of the many boons brought to Travelers and Landers alike by the reign of Astor.

The flashy whoosh left Zelrius stunned for a moment, his neck following the man all the way along the side of the wall. He wasn't going to make the same mistake, and definitely wasn't going to copy Brutus. There was a better plan in mind. He braced back on his heel, rocketing up into a jump that made a puff of fire follow from the bottom of his heel upward. This motion giving the necessary speed to begin running up the side of the wall, his feet naturally able to find jagged or softer placed to find footing, and propel him up the next step. His Dynamism speed making a few moments of clouded soot and steps of flame.

"Something like that." He joked with Brutus's question, stepping forward to what seemed to be their next test. One that the adventurer admittedly, wasn't entirely prepared for. Down one of the slopes of the mountain, lava flowed freely like a white-water stretch of river. Carrying with it chunks of debris and rocks that polluted the sky. While they both could probably just jump or fly across, where was already something of a natural bridge made out of a collection of rocks all packed together. One it, magma slimes clung to the sides and on the edges, threatening to melt their shoes if their took that path.

There were two solutions Zelrius could think of, and offered them to the mountain man should he want either, or come up with his own. "We can cut them down, or try to make friends? Convince them to move long enough for us to cross."

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"That works I suppose." The giant would give him a friendly clap on the shoulder, wiping some sweat from his brow before taking one last sip of his waterskin and banishing it back into his UI. "I'll take it you've got Dynamism as one of your masteries. Wish I could haul ass like that." Chuckling, Brutus would follow the man along the path. Their next step seemed like one hell of an issue, the natural path was occupied by glowing red magma slimes that didn't look the friendliest.

"Make friends?" The lion would ask, his tail swishing back and forth slightly. "I mean, we can try but..." Rubbing his chin, he would stop and appraise the situation. "Do you speak slime? Because I've only ever befriended two of them, and that was equal parts fluke and the fact that he was harmless."

Taking a few steps forward, closer to the slimes, his gaze would run up and down the river looking for any other threats. Satisfied that he wasn't about to get jumped, he would fish through his inventory and pull out a small box. A little something something he's picked up back in Astorea, he would give it a few cranks. "I'll give it a try, but be ready to step in if they get hostile aight" He would look over his shoulder at the swordsman. "Unless you think you have the moves to keep up."

With that the music would start, and Brutus would engage the slimes in one of the few forms of communication he'd ever used to engage with non sentient slimes. Dance.

@Zelrius

 

[Zelrius]

"Sure do!" He said, lifting up one of his shoes to wiggle his feet, as though that would in some way confirm the fact that he had Dynamism. Even though really that told nothing. Though, it seemed the increased speed didn't come with a decrease in sweating. Zelrius being able to feel the way his nice shirt was becoming musty and drenched along the back, between his shoulder blades. God it was fucking hot here.

Then came the conundrum of the magmaslimes. Sure, his suggestion had been good enough - if Magma Slimes could even communicate at all, let alone found a use in human friends. They certainly weren't smart enough to know the danger the pair of Platinum Ranked Adventurers posed to them, give the lack of eyes and all. Brutus stepped up, beginning a dance, and Zelrius tried his best not to laugh out loud. That was, until it started fucking working. The mountain of man there, hand in the air, dancing to a beat that Zelrius couldn't hear, but could certainly see the rhythm in his movements.

At first, there was nothing. Then, a slime no bigger than one's thumb began bouncing up and down. The flat base of his body remaining connected to the ground, while the top half stretched up and blobbed back down. Repeating first very slowly, and then faster and faster. It was like a wave effect at a football stadium. The Dancing fever began to infect the whole horde of them in a peppered, scattered pattern. Effecting the different sizes one by one. The dam broke, Zelrius could help but begin laughing hysterically at the sight after a few moments.

"Gotta say, you got moves, Brute!" He let out between breaths. Slowly beginning to join in with some of his own running man, before evolving into something a bit closer to what Brutus was doing. The Slimes sort of made their own path known. Their bouncing, glowing orange-red bodies revealed places it was safe to step, and places it was not. And not a soul of them made a single sudden movement to stop the pair as they crossed the natural bridge. The smaller ones even begin to literally jump up and down with joy, landing with a plop each time their airborne trip ended. It was kind of incredible to see, to be honest.

Pretty soon, both were across. And, that was that. The pyromancer stopping dancing after a while to wipe a laughter-tear from his eye and look ahead, not minding the beads of sweat that had formed and were now dripping down his face and off his chin. "We're getting pretty close to the ledge now. Where do we go next?" He wondered, thinking that his partner and friend here had an ideal path they could take. Ready for whatever this god-forsaken land threw at them next.

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Brutus moved, grooved, and schmoved through the bridge, channeling the slimiest moves he could muster. There was of course the jello jiggle, the up and down wiggle, the scientific surprise, and many more that didn't even have names. At first he felt silly, perhaps even stupid as he gyrated in esoteric movements trying to mimic the motions that a slime would do. He'd even debated giving up the ghost, but then the first one joined that was all it took. Now he was in a #SlimeParty of his own, with his heated friends showing off their hot passionate moves.

With a grin plastered across his face, he and Zelrius would make their way across the bridge unscathed. He would give their dance partners a bow, which would be seemingly mimicked by a gaggle of large "elder" slimes. Turning back to Zelrius the man would give him a beaming grin, puffing out his chest proudly. "Oh yeah, EZ PZ my man." He would clap his fellow redhead on the shoulder and motion to what would appear to be the start of a trail. "That should lead us down to a platform at the edge of the lava pool. Our quarry is going to be down there."

Taking point, the man would lead with his gun out. He was highly skeptical any other forces they would face would be tames through the power of interpretative dance. As they winded their way down a series of ashy switchbacks, the man kept his eyes peeled, and for good reason. A loud screech rang out from overhead as a shadow passed over them. The man's eyes shot to the sky, only to be greeted by the fearsome visage of a mighty Flame Eagle.

"Shit, look out Zel." Brutus would his between clenched teeth, racking a slug into his gun with a pump of the lever and a loud clack. "We have company."

@Zelrius

 

[Zelrius]

Zelrius followed suit with the bow, one hand folded against his stomach, and the other gesturing outward. An elegant show of gratitude that the man had always wanted to do for some high end audience or another. Certainly, these weren't wealthy businessmen, but magma slimes would be all the same. His gaze followed the motion that Brutus pointed with, down to the lava pool and onto their quest. The smiling Zelrius nodded, following along. They were cautious headed down the side of the crater, and twisting ash path ways.

Before the piercing whistle rang out. Immediately, Zelrius cringed up, putting one of his hands over his ear as the Eagle soared up into the sky. It's four wings beating in a batter of sounds fighting the hot air around them. No weapons, and only fire at his disposal, it took the man a moment to think. There was just no way to attack, other than maybe flying forward with Pyromancy and kicking the damn thing.

...Was he faster than a bird? One like this, surely right? These weren't the Great Crows the Duuhmeron fought, or the Stormravens of old. It was just a normal, predatory, fire bird. Zelrius reared back, jumping up with force as flames roared beneath his airborne feat, propelling him forward. The man contorted his body, working his abdominal muscles to do a flying wheel kick in the air in order to try and knock the creature closer to Brutus's shotgun range. "Now, blast the bastard apart!" he called out from his short flight.

Rolls

Reckless Attack
2d100 (92 + 47) + 15 + 15 + 25 = 194
194 damage
Gain the Vulnerable state
Dynamism | Zelrius | 1150

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

The thing about shotguns, was that even when you were firing slugs their lethality fell off dramatically the further away your target was. As he raised his gun to his shoulder and peered down the sights at the creature he knew he was in for a rough time. Such a magnificent creature would be smart enough to keep at an altitude and blast them with fire from on high. Damaging it would be nigh im-

Zelrius dove into the sky mirroring the way that Brutus had ascended the cliff earlier and damn near brought a tear to the giant's eyes.

The Lion stared in awe as his brother in arms pinwheeled through the air, closing the gap between him and the bird and WHAM delivered send the feathery fuck plummeting into range of the giant's gun.

"Blast the bastard apart!"
"ON IT"

Brutus would let off a series of shots, pumping the foregrip and ejecting shells and racking another slug in one fluid motion. Six shots in and he would have to pause to begin loading more shells into the magazine. The bird, now peppered with bullets, was not quite done. Shrieking it would flap it's wings trying to regain it's flight, spiraling upwards towards Zelrius as it tried to regain its height. A shower of fiery pinion feathers peppered Brutus in return, which caused him to stomp his feet and raise a wall of earth as cover.

@Zelrius would be met face to face with a very pissed eagle as it raised it's talons to try and slash at him.

Burst Attack
18d20 exploding (7 + 13 + 17 + 10 + 14 + 9 + 20 + 2 + 11 + 20 + 19 + 14 + 12 + 18 + 14 + 3 + 10 + 12 + 19 + 18) + 25 = 287
287 damage (Explosions: 2)
Gain the Vulnerable state
Ranged Weapons | Brutus Dahlgren | Zel and Bruce fuck up bird