Dragonball M, Chapter 4: Kidnapping! Invasion! A new Threat Strikes First!

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

“He is dead then? A shame. He was not an ally, but neither was he a true enemy. I believe Auroc threatened his family had he not helped.”

She nods.

“Their return would be appreciated. Redmine’s son and daughter both still live, and the artifacts are theirs if you refuse to claim them.”

"He tried to seal me away, his mistake to make." Inanna responded, before handing them over. "I've no use for them regardless. Useful trinkets, but they've served their use."

[MrSandman]

The following is found within the Grand Maven’s Room:

-Ten Crystals - "Lodestones/Mana Batteries. Need to be pre-charged, but can be used to add firepower to spells.....will need a design a method for carrying and use."

-One large crystal in a skull apparatus. This one hums with magical power. - "Scrying/Recording Device, likely for magical espionage. Make note to test and check for anything Maven recorded.....assuming its not Auroc porn"

-One closed and locked spell book.
-One open spell book - "Contains basic primer on Threshling Magic, along with notation on Blood Magic. Note to have Foci do a sketch of the contents for later, copies may make a nice gift for Cyanna(Threshling Magic) and/or Inanna(Blood Magic)
-One brazier/forge/oven
-About twelve different Reshlan native plants and samples for potions and spell work.
-Two pre-made potions
-One locked trunk
-About ten different books on plants, minerals, and their various works in magic and alchemy

-One blue and black stone ring - "Auto Translate ring for written information. Several possible applications when it comes to pre-historical writings."

-One red amulet - "Access to sideways plane....possible applications yet to be determined, safety of "sideways" dimension also needs to be determined. Making note to test for later."
-And other such paraphernalia and equipment.

dash, in one of the myriad of books, you discover a key.

It goes to the trunk.

Etrina, the open book seems standard threshling magic’s. Things anula and the others could do, though there is a fair amount about blood magic towards the back as well.

The locked one seems....older. The presence of magic on it more potent.

Quickly flipped through, Etrina makes mental notes on the contents. "Threshling Magic and....Blood magic. Hmm....interesting. I'm sure Inanna would be interesting in the later. Perhaps Cyanna in the former....I'll keep to make some copies." Etrina placed the book aside and turned her attention to the locked book again.

Whatever it was, it was old.....very old. With a meticulous eye, Etrina began examination of the lock, and hopefully a way to unlock it.

three things greet her and etrina.

One is a simple dark dagger laying in a case.

The second is a crystal vial of silver liquid shot with red.

The last is a small, curled up creature that appears to be snoring. It snuffles, than lazily opens its eyes.

dash smiles at the creature, "ah hope you're friendly, little one. Now how did you end up locked away in there?"

Hearing the click behind her, Etrina took a moment from the book to turn her head. "....Oh? You got the lock? Excellent work Dash. Give me a moment with this lock and I'll be right over."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Quickly flipped through, Etrina makes mental notes on the contents. "Threshling Magic and....Blood magic. Hmm....interesting. I'm sure Inanna would be interesting in the later. Perhaps Cyanna in the former....I'll keep to make some copies." Etrina placed the book aside and turned her attention to the locked book again.

Whatever it was, it was old.....very old. With a meticulous eye, Etrina began examination of the lock, and hopefully a way to unlock it.






Hearing the click behind her, Etrina took a moment from the book to turn her head. "....Oh? You got the lock? Excellent work Dash. Give me a moment with this lock and I'll be right over."

The book seems locked with a magic word. One needs to speak the magic password to open it.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"He tried to seal me away, his mistake to make." Inanna responded, before handing them over. "I've no use for them regardless. Useful trinkets, but they've served their use."

She takes them and nods, handing them over to Sir Luop.

“Find the Redmines and return these to them, Sir Luop.”

He bows, takes them, and leaves.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"I'm following his footsteps," she answered as she took the whiskey. "He was a pain in the ass, but he's led an interesting life. One of the places he visited was here. Beyond the fine hard liquor, any clue why?"

After speaking, she took a sip of the drink to get a taste for it. As she drank, she spread her senses throughout the bar to keep an eye on the patrons and anything that may have been out of the ordinary.

Observational Focus

Her observational focus doesn’t work.

In fact....none of her ki based powers work.

The barkeep nods.

“Yeah, he’s been here. The Rookery is a a specialty place, for....special clients. We don’t give lots of info up fer nothing, sweetheart.”

He holds his hand out, as if expecting payment.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Dash smiles at the creature, "Ah hope you're friendly, little one. Now how did you end up locked away in there?"

It coos and starts to stretch, yawning.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

She takes them and nods, handing them over to Sir Luop.

“Find the Redmines and return these to them, Sir Luop.”

He bows, takes them, and leaves.

"Well, that's all I've got. Congrats on recovering your home-world." With that, Inanna walked back the way she came.

[MrSandman]

The book seems locked with a magic word. One needs to speak the magic password to open it.

"Simple enough...maybe.." Etrina sighed. "Single word magic passwords on book from ages past were the worst...the word could be as simple as saying "friend" but the language used may be long dead.

Holding the book up to the light, Etrina pondered a moment...considering all the factors involved, what was the oldest element that could be used to lock a book in the Mavens keeping.

"Auroc?" Etrina asked. "Creation? Hakai? Magic? Hozen? Void?"

[Tami]

It coos and starts to stretch, yawning.

"Well now, ah see your awake. Ah'm Dash, if you want to come out you can. Are you hungry?"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Simple enough...maybe.." Etrina sighed. "Single word magic passwords on book from ages past were the worst...the word could be as simple as saying "friend" but the language used may be long dead.

Holding the book up to the light, Etrina pondered a moment...considering all the factors involved, what was the oldest element that could be used to lock a book in the Mavens keeping.

"Auroc?" Etrina asked. "Creation? Hakai? Magic? Hozen? Void?"

Etrina, you recall that Auroc once served Sakin. Sakin in turn was an attendant to a God of Destruction.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Her observational focus doesn’t work.

In fact....none of her ki based powers work.

The barkeep nods.

“Yeah, he’s been here. The Rookery is a a specialty place, for....special clients. We don’t give lots of info up fer nothing, sweetheart.”

He holds his hand out, as if expecting payment.

This was not good. Her powers of observation somehow weren't working, at all. To make matters worse, none of her ki techniques seemed to work. With hope, she had her magic, and she was still armed; if a fight broke out, she wouldn't go down without a fight. Tch. None of this is good. Every second that passed only worsened her situation. Not only did most of her powers not work, but she was going to have to come away with some of her money.

Her Saiyan money was kept on her personal data device. She was fortunate in that she also kept some gold coins she pilfered after one of her successful conquests years ago. She kept them on her as a reminder of where she had come from, but she wasn't going to be going anywhere unless she parted ways with them. She sighed and pulled out a light blue pouch with ten gold coins inside.

She placed it on the bar and slid it over to him. "Start talking."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Well now, ah see your awake. Ah'm Dash, if you want to come out you can. Are you hungry?"

It climbs out, sniffing the air. It cocks it’s head at you, as if curious.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Well, that's all I've got. Congrats on recovering your home-world." With that, Inanna walked back the way she came.

The Queen nods her thanks.

[Miburo]

"Zaozi is it?"

At some point during his introduction, Etrina had turned her attention back to the mystery man....just in time it seems to hear the startling revelation. "A fusion? Of Ochazuke and Zaofan?" The Mage stepped up and looked him over, walked around behind him, then back to the front. "....Hmm....are the features of the fusion chosen at random....or is this a natural blend. A perfect amalgamation......Hmmm..."

Etrina put a finger under her chin, and smiled. "....I wonder....if there is a dominate personality...."

She turned her finger and pointed at the ground in front of her. "How about this.....get on your hands and knees, and kiss my foot. If you do I promise a lovely evening, just for the two of us....Zao~fan"

"Is that so?" He folded his arms beneath the cape, frowning contemplatively, before his long smile stretched out again. "Well it seems we all have our secrets, don't we?

With her sight still trained upon him, it was plain to see that it was far more than one presence integrated with the other. There was something else within the entity that could not be accounted for simply by way of quantification of powers, beyond the melding of energy into a composite.

Besides which, it's not really up to me."



Zaozi looked Dash dead in the eye, scrunching his eyes and screwing his lips as he tilt his view over her face from different angles.

"I'd ask you the same thing, but that would simply be rude. So I won't."

Casually, he then pat her shoulder gently as he brushed past.



Lifting his eyebrow, Zaozi sidled over to Etrina, and, sweeping his cape with a flourish, was soon at her side. Staring straight into her eyes were ones that were familiar yet piercing at the same time, almost too close.

When he stepped over where the mage was pointing, definitely too close.

"I'll do you one better."

His lead hand took ahold of her smaller one, and as he interlocked his long fingers within her delicate scholar's digits, obscured from view behind the Z-cape, his other hand nestled itself in a rather fresh manner upon her hip, then went lower and he swept her off her feet entirely.

"Something I should've done...a long, long, time ago."

As they both dipped, suddenly everything became shrouded in a flash of silent, white light.

And when the radiance receded, Etrina found only Zaofan, cradling her in his arms...and he leaned into the kiss as he held her.

Ochazuke, in the meantime, just kept walking where he'd materialized from the split, and did not stop.

The Nevadian watched the entire spectacle stone faced, his mind simply resigning to the days events.

He had watched a man dissolve into bubbles after sharing a drink with him, some guy splitting into two guys he knew was simply par for the day's course.

"Oh...Okay. Good job, Zaofan. Good Job, Oc--Nevermind, he left."

When the strange warship of the First Race - or at least that's what the Admiral's cobbled-together company called it - departed with The Galloping and one of the Colonialist Royals back to the homeworld below, the Nevadian Navigator vessel, the Penelope, remained in orbit, good as their word, and Captain Ulysses stood on the bridge. The cup he'd clutched in his hand had long run cold, his lips stained an off-blue from the stimulant decoction as he peered into the piloting HUD behind the helmsman as he kept it treading level. With it's nose pointed to the planet's surface, the explorer's craft was poised to make the jump at a moment's notice to this hellhole they'd etched the coordinates for.

Transponder drones slowly circled the world, taking precise measures as they scanned the surface and wound a path through the scores of Reshlan's natural satellites. A moon-orbited ringworld. If you hadn't been anywhere else, you'd think yours was the crown jewel in all the universe. Boy is this landing going to be a rough one...

What a strange sight to take in. From this distance you'd never know there was a battle happening below that would shake the entire surface of the planet.

"Captain," the Helmsman spoke, his eyes not once turning from his control console. "The space probe's finally pinged back. Combined with the data we'd gathered on Baradur, getting word back to the Federation is practically a straight shot."

Ulysses nodded, taking a sip of the heady blue liquid as he briefly turned his attention to a copy in his wrist computer. "Well that's some good news, for a change," he chuckled, "can't set the stage if you can't find your way there in the first place, am I right, boys?"

A dark fit of laughter filled the bridge, for they knew that the fastest response would be the larger part of twenty-four hours, and that's with the latest craft. What they were getting ready to do was quite the opposite of what the commission had outlined in writing. "That's our lot, isn't it? The ones who set foot get all the credit, not the guys that gave him the boot in the ass to reach it." The Navigation Guild's craft was a subtle one, and too often, like the battle raging below, it was often a contribution that had been invisible. But Held Debon was a cut above, and as stiff as the higher brass on the Council was, they'd see to it that an Admiral's life would not go unanswered for.

Suddenly, the Helmsman leaned in. "I'm getting energy readings on the planet surface. It's spiking, and cutting through the barrier we saw previously."

"All hands on deck," the Captain ordered, "Get ready to scramble! How bad is it?"

"Burying the needle," sounded off the engineer, "We're talking heat that makes cracking continents look small. Real end of the world stuff!"

Ulysses grit his teeth, when suddenly all the screens on board flickered and the entire vessel lurched to portside as a shot of energy carried up from the stratosphere and cut out a path towards the sun.



At first, static crackled through the communication line with a shrill whine, and after a moment, the line righted itself as the craft closed distance.

"...---kkk---Coming in---landing...ETA...unknown, hell if we can find a damn clearing, what the hell did you people do down here?"

Slowly the craft lowered, cutting through the hazy clouds and letting in a little light over the ruined capital city, before coming to a stop outside of a shattered archway near the front of the city.

"This is the SS Penelope sounding off, Admiral," Ulysses responded, "We'll be moving to your position on foot with a first cargo haul. For our sake, I'm hoping you've encountered a few friendlies in the field."

In no time at all, the dour-faced Captain had reached their position with a lightly armoured survey division, a store of crates hovering near them on suspensor lifts.

"Believe it or not, it seems that the sentiments shared by blacktongue and his team were not as....indicative of the sentiments of Reshlan at large." Held replied over his communicator with a laugh.

Almost a moment later, he spotted the armored transport heading to his direction.

The Nevadian turned to his comrade, tipping his head towards the direction of good Captain.

"You're certainly swift." Held replied with an impressed tone, "I thought I would have time to find a good bar....But, no matter."

Besides, I'm getting a bit leery of Threshling booze....

"I haven't gotten a chance to take the lay of the land yet myself....Any idea on the condition the planet is in?"

The Nevadian frowned slightly. He had some inkling of the damage that could have been done, if Auroc had his way. The Majin had certainly been quite through in his endeavors, despite his foppery. It was a minor miracle on it's own that so many countermeasures managed to be undone.

But, even then, years of abusing the planet, and corrupting it's very essence with his will, and the actual attempts made to unmake it...Well, even if not the worst case scenario, it would have been an act of the Kami's for it to emerge completely unscathed.

"I'll ask the Queen's permission, but I'll see if we set up shop on the city outskirts. We can focus some of our efforts here, at the epicenter, but I'm half expecting to find more remote areas are in need of assistance also."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

This was not good. Her powers of observation somehow weren't working, at all. To make matters worse, none of her ki techniques seemed to work. With hope, she had her magic, and she was still armed; if a fight broke out, she wouldn't go down without a fight. Tch. None of this is good. Every second that passed only worsened her situation. Not only did most of her powers not work, but she was going to have to come away with some of her money.

Her Saiyan money was kept on her personal data device. She was fortunate in that she also kept some gold coins she pilfered after one of her successful conquests years ago. She kept them on her as a reminder of where she had come from, but she wasn't going to be going anywhere unless she parted ways with them. She sighed and pulled out a light blue pouch with ten gold coins inside.

She placed it on the bar and slid it over to him. "Start talking."

He nods and takes the coins.

“Auroc, the majin guy, yeah? He had an ongoing busy here. Real quiet, real sneaky, yeah? Liked to keep tabs on things and people.”

He hops down and starts walking to the back room.

“Follow me, sweetheart.”