Fantasy Ascent into Madness

[Tardy Grade]

Adar wore a gaunt mask for a face as he set about his bag. Pushing his shivering worms aside as he searched for something that might help in the situation. The pouch of metal was attractive but he knew that mana was not going to be completely reliable in this instance. Unsure of the extent of their foes ability he decided to instead restrict the creature's movements. Or at least the main 'body' of Roderick. Whatever that was left of the shambling thing...

Grabbing some pegs, rope and his axes he moved a little away from the group still focused on casting and started hammering the pegs as deep as his strength would allow him after having been so drained. Tightening the knots as much as his hands would allow him.

Finally, he looped the rope around the handle and head of axe before beginning a gradual spin. Slowly momentum was gained and he could conjure no more energy to cause it to gain any more speed. His eyes followed the dim flame of the log as it broke into an explosion of embers giving him the best bet with regards to where the enemy might be. His only hesitance came from his difficulty in knowing whether Gniss had managed to dislodge the assailant among all the darkness.

The dreadful noise of birds added to the mix and he threw the bound axe with a final twist of his body to have it fly straight where the damaged form had stood menacingly over Gniss.

"Stay away from this bloody thing if you can!" Adar shouted as heard the axe hit something that sounded more like flesh than dirt or stone. He took that as a hopeful sign before beginning to tug.

"Don't die, people. Hurts my paycheck," he mumbled as he hunkered his feet down against the planted pegs and kept pulling.

 

[C.DEX]

Argis found himself being attacked from every angle, a coating of leeches covering the back of his suit while the bird bared its claws and mauled at him. He proffered a yelp as he felt the suit beginning to wear. The sound of an audible sizzle and pop still echoed through his head since he kicked the log at Roderick, and an idea had crossed his mind. He held back his bile rising up through his throat at the sheer disgustingness of seeing the man's skull cave in as he kept going. Still, he had an issue to attend to; the massive bird on his back, digging its beak and talons into his suit.

Argis stepped backwards, reaching up to grab a wing from the bird to pin it against him and stepping backwards. He tilted, aiming his back towards the fire. He was insulated, but the bird and the leeches had not been. It had been particularly easy to fry the larvae from the man's skull, and his suspicions had been confirmed when a horrible stench filled the air around them as more mana leeches were burnt to a crisp. Still, his issues weren't over yet. The fire had only served to make the bird more panicked, and the weight of the Orc had only assisted in allowing the bird to puncture his suit. Heat from the fire began to make its way in, mingling with blood, as the once airtight thing was punctured open. A gash had arisen on his back, signifying that he had spent more than enough time in the fire. The bird would undoubtedly be injured, but now so had Argis been.

Cyell, on the other hand, was snapping out of it. He tapped the Siphon rune on his arm, written in Rano. It had barely a flicker of mana left, but thankfully enough to trigger the spell. A deal of color had returned to the mage's face as he allowed the party's stolen mana to flow through him, and his sensibilities had slowly returned.

Argis was rolling in a fire. Kytrek was hiding behind a rock. Adar was throwing a pointy weapon at Roderick. Gniss was ... where was Gniss? He cycled through his memories. Gniss was in danger. The mage's eyes flitted open slightly and he pulled his weapon from the ground - a spear with a blade at the end of it, particularly intended to keep him at range from other people. It was a good decision when the enemy in question was a disgusting slew of leeches. "Where's Gniss?" he asked, voice only then returning. Argis had found himself struggling with the bird still, but he managed to spurt out a reply.

"His hand!"

"Oh fuck." Cyell replied, and jolted away from the orb, his weapon in hand, intending to cut for the frail man's arm just as Adar had thrown his axe at Roderick. "Gniss, hold on! Are you okay?!"

 

[Jeda Teq]

Snagging onto a vertebrae of the spine, Adar's axe cleaved into Roderick's lower back. With a tug Adar snapped the man's spine in half. His lifeless legs now being dragged across the ground with a trail of putrid liquid and leeches. The torso, still being controlled, rolled onto its chest. It attempted to crawl away. A pitiful sight to see with its left arm broken at the elbow and Gniss still held firmly in his right hand as young leeches continued to get at her.

"Arise, Kniges. Awake, Gniss. An enemy stands before you. You must fight."

Mystical words poured into the ears of the dragonborn. HIs fractile eyes opened and with clouded vision he saw panicked feet darting around the camp. The soothing calm that once washed over him was swiftly replaced with the anxiety of battle. He struggled to his feet. HIs tail propped him up as he leaned slightly back. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. A roped axe soaring through the air, a bird catching fire, and where there were once allies now stood foes. Kniges swallowed hard in an attempt to rid himself of the confusion. With shallow breaths he wrapped his hands around the handles of his hatchets. His grip weak even though he squeezed as hard as he could. He knew what had to be down. Kniges would not fall here. He would claim the heads of his enemies. ALL of his enemies. The dragonling inhaled deeply then released a powerful Draconic roar that rippled the mana in the atmosphere. This was an instinctive battle cry of a Dragon on its last legs. With new found vigor Kniges lashed out at the person closest to him, Adar, with his powerful tail.

The fire burnt off the leech that was latched onto the bird. Its body writhed with pain as young leeches squirmed inside it and fire torched its feathers. Fear gripped the creature tightly after hearing a dragon's roar. The creature attempted to escape but it appeared to be wrestling more with Arigs. The Orc seemed as if it would never let go. With escape on its mind the large bird put its other wing around the Orc. The bird kicked to its feet and began to run towards the forest with Argis in tow.

 

[Lyro]

For the first time in days, Gniss was at peace. Her worries, her ambitions, her secrets had been taken from her, leaving only a warm, fuzzy void in their wake. It was pleasant, in an ill-defined sort of way. That lack of definition bothered her, but even that worry was shortly taken care of as the world darkened and she felt herself drifting asleep. Wherever she was, it was safe.

"Awake..."

The voice felt like little more than a whisper in her mind, and yet something about it made it seem more real than anything else. A part of her seized upon the word, desperate to escape the fog that had clouded the rest of her mind, and it was as if a lightning bolt had struck her for the second time in 24 hours. The effect, being vectored over the air by Kytrek's yell, lacked the intensity of Cyell's earlier revival, but it was enough to break through some of the haze in the pixie's mind, while also providing some fuel to her tiny mana-starved body.

Still, it was not enough to completely break the leeches' hold on her. She opened her eyes slowly, staring passively at the larval creatures that now surrounded her hungrily. She knew this was wrong, all wrong, and yet she struggled to bring herself to do anything about it. The fog began to close in on her once more.

"-- moronic, half-witted, overgrown joke of a lizard!" Kytrek finished yelling at Kniges as he assaulted their new guide.

"This is not your enemy, Kniges. Focus!"

Mind control spells were tricky business at the best of times, and Kytrek was no expert on them, but he fumed internally at the dragonborn's reaction. Yes, he should have accounted for the target's mana depletion, but he had been in a rush. At least Gniss hadn't...

Gniss. He still hadn't seen any sign from her. She must have been even more strongly affected than Kniges. She had been in direct contact too. That couldn't have been good. Cyell seemed to have noticed it too, and was now hurrying towards her, while Argis was frolicking with birds for whatever reason. Kytrek stepped out from where he stood, his shadow spell now completely gone, and unslung his rifle... then paused. The orb was still active. What was it doing? Could it be a focus for the leeches' power? Whatever it was, he didn't like the look of it.

Swinging his rifle up to eye level, he steadied himself, breathed in deep and took aim. First, the pathetic remains of the man fleeing the scene. More specifically, his remaining arm. Fire. The bullet connected with the arm right around the wrist, provoking another explosion of leeches and unsavory-looking liquids where it struck him and making the hand fall off. Good. Second shot. Aimed right at the center of the orb. Fire.

"Gniss!"

he cried out once more, louder and with greater intensity than before.

"Captain! We need you! Now!"

Gniss's eyes shot open, awareness of her surroundings flooding back in. She had let herself be trapped. Tricked. And she was needed. Rage began to boil within her. Rage against herself. Against this mission. And against her prison. With as powerful a roar as she could muster, she leapt to her feet and punched against the surrounding writhing mass of leeches with all her strength.

 

[Tardy Grade]

The snapping of an enemies spine is usually a welcome sound. Usually though ... the spine snapping meant the end of the enemy ... so why could he not shake the feeling that ... Adar hauled in the rope again as fast as he could but found nothing but viscera on the axe blade and handle. No chips though thankfully. Bone was usually the worse natural adversary for any edged surface but it would seem that he got lucky. But that sentiment quickly seemed to fade when he could hear the continued groans of Gniss. He'd failed to do enough it would seem to assure her safety.

"Just hold on! I'll try again!" Adar promised through the void and tried to remember where he'd first flung his axe. Quickly binding the rope to his arm he made sure it was still attached without issue to the pivots he'd nailed into the ground. The axe dripped its coating over his hand but he just began to crawl towards the 'noises'.

As he crawled on the ground he saw a limp Gniss. "I got a visual, guys! I see her." he bellowed before quickening in that direction. Halfway to her though she suddenly and violently arose. Now all Adar could see were her feet and ..."Fuck me..." he back-pedal-crawled as leeches moved in their strange manner. Clutching the ground and slinking towards him and her feet. Wildly swiping at some of the 'leeches' that covered the ground he decided to face them head-on rather than risk losing sight of them from above by standing. Cutting and smashing them with near maniacal glee. "Feed me bird-people meat why dontcha? Eat some of this! Some of that! And a-" but then pain.

Pure. Blinding. Pain.

For a moment he thought he'd somehow caught fire. The axe fell from his hand but stayed close due to the wrapping around his arm. Curling into a foetal position he tried to bring his hands to his face but he could barely form a connection to them.

Later when asked about this Adar would say that not for even a moment did he think he was dying. Dying wouldn't have hurt as bad.

 

[Jeda Teq]

The violent urges washed away from Kniges' mental scape. As he concentrated the effects of the mesmur spell began to wane. He still felt ill as the orb continued to drain tree mana he that was drawn to him.
The dragonlimg shook his head and smirked. The situation was something less than chaos. His party seemed to be fumbling around with no clear since of direction. A man hiding behind a rock, another crawling on his belly, the grey-tard stabbing at what appeared to be a corpse. Gniss appeared to be so frail she got tangled up in the corpse. To top it all of Argis had gotten himself kidnapped by a bird. In his mind it was confirmed that the party was useless without him.

He took his dagger and threw it as best he could at the bird carrying Argis. He didn't have enough mana to warp it but it would serve as insurance if it hit. As his blade cut through the air two shots popped out. One followed by an adorable yet viscous scream and the second followed by the brightest light Kniges had ever seen. His eyes dilated completely and his scales changed from matte black to a neon purplish white color. In that moment he felt better than he ever felt before. In that moment he felt like he could do anything, no, he knew he could do any and everything he wanted. The sensation left him as quickly as it came for his young reptilian body could not handle such a burst of impossible energies at once. His body locked up and his mind began to swim with things that made no sense.


The overload of mana into the Rodericks torso forced the fat leech on its neck to pop off. The sacs of undeveloped young and round body made it hard for the thing to move. The hoard of leeches began to move in circles, some latching onto others. Their senses were thrown off as to were mana was coming from.

 

[C.DEX]

Argis yelped as the bird dug its claws into his suit further, passive mana in the atmosphere breaching it more than had already happened. The pain was complimented by a static in his mind, itching at his ability to stay coherent. It was now or never, especially as a surge of adrenaline had kept him from passing out outright. Then, the bird screamed out, its side penetrated by the knife that Kniges had thrown. The serious of events that had followed had happened in just a few seconds.

Feeling himself slipping deeper into the fold of overexposure mana sickness, Argis reached around the bird, his fingers just barely grazing the hilt of Kniges' dagger. He tore forward and grabbed the hilt, ripping it out as he forced another scream from the bird. The instincts of the thing had long since kicked in, ironically causing a detriment to itself as it kept the less-than-amused orc dangerously close to it. Following up on the inevitable, Argis plunged the knife into its throat, stifling the thing's gurgles.

Then, the orb burst. Mana washed over them all like a flash flood, including Argis. He had been lucky enough to be a distance away from it, but even the ambient mana had been too much for the unadjusted man. A pounding migraine shot through his head, and he hadn't noticed as the bird had slowed to a crawl, collapsing on the turf next to him.

Cyell had let out a small sigh of relief as Gniss burst through the rigor'd hand swelling the area around her with leeches. She was fine. Probably. Mostly. Unless one had latched onto her, but by comparison that would be pretty easy to tell. The effects of the orb bursting had hit him particularly hard, however, as he had nearly been adjacent to the thing. Being robbed of one's mana so quickly and then given a superfluous amount was never easy, and something that even trained Uptrekkers would have a hard time dealing with.

He collapsed onto his elbows, yelling out in a deal of pain. Thankfully, Gniss had found her own way out. Thankfully, Roderick was ... as 'dead' as he could get. Argis had taken care of the bird - though he was admittedly passed out next to it - and Kniges, Adar, and Kytrek had been resolving the rest. Thankfully, the team had accomplished all of that before the mana could tear them apart. Otherwise, they would have been in trouble.

There was one last unfinished thing, however. Cyell groaned, pushing himself up with the bladed pole he'd used to slash at Roderick's hand. He flipped it as if fishing and then speared the fat leech that had formerly attached itself to Roderick's spine. Then, he stabbed it into the dying fire, soon finding himself back on the ground.

There wasn't much to say after that. Between catching his breath and dealing with the sensation of being overloaded on mana, Cyell just breathed quietly for a moment. His eyes poked up after a deal of time, landing on the others.

"Everyone alive?"

 

[Lyro]

Gniss stood breathing heavily, surrounded by the corpses of the leeches she had fought on her way out of her fleshy prison. Occasionally one she had thought dead wriggled weakly, immediately prompting her to step forward and punch a life-ending hole in its slimy black body. A fresh trickle of blood oozed from the corner of her mouth, where she had accidentally bitten herself again, though she hardly noticed it. Instead, she focused her efforts on calming herself, pushing back against the primal impulses that urged her to fight, to destroy, to feast. She was angry at herself and at the ease with which she had been trapped, but also at the others, for making her feel weak; all the others had been awake and fighting long before her, even the baby lizard they were dragging around. "I'm fine," she answered Cyell curtly, wiping some of the ooze off her suit. She brought up her arm to her face and wrinkled her nose at the smell; they would all be in need of a wash after this - well, almost everyone, she thought with a look at the professor, who was only now moving towards them. "Where is Argis?" she added, as she looked around but was unable to locate him. She began to flap her wings to get a better view, but immediately gave up on the attempt when it became clear her body would need to soak up more mana for flight.

"I see him," Kytrek said as he hurried towards the figure lying prone on the ground. He kneeled beside him and reached out to his suit to examine it. As he did so, he noticed his hand was beginning to shake, the effects of his rushed spellcasting catching up to him. He gritted his teeth, rubbed away the tears starting to form in his eyes, and got to work. "His suit's been punctured," he said in a strained tone. "He's injured. Not life-threatening, but serious enough. More concerning is the mana dose received. Mental shock prompted shutdown. Now sleeping." He coughed as he tried to disguise the sob welling up in his throat and stepped back, fingers reaching past his glasses to pinch his eyes. "I'll get the necessary from the rocket," as he slung his gun back behind him and began to walk towards the ship. "Best to avoid mana-based treatments after what he's been through. Stay here and recover. Careful with Kniges."

 

[Tardy Grade]

Adar had been knocked out somewhen during the pain passing his threshold. It'd been a long while before that had happened. Whether it was when some gambling arrears went unpaid or that time he'd had his arm stuck under a huge boulder he could not be certain. The experience wasn't without its merits though. Like a full system flush, he could feel like... though weakened, all the channels in his body had cleared up in the process. As if someone gave him a new set of lungs. Each tasteful of air just a little bit sweeter.

He imagined that some of his other mana-related senses were equally affected but he'd have to regain the ability to move before trying them all out. By the time he'd come to most of the group was doing a party-check. With pricked-up ears, he took in the overall tidbits. While they'd taken a battering, no one had bitten the dust. Argis had prevailed over the bird, Gniss the hand and he supposed that in light of there being no bush, Kytrek had taken care of the rock.

Noting a lack of feeling in one arm he found his arm had been too tightly wound with rope and his already grey fingers seemed almost a tinge of blue. Gritting his teeth he began the slow process of unwinding it roll by roll.

"Don't suppose you guys were aware of 'shadowmen' and 'worm-people' before you'd asked me to join y'all?" he rasped out though his throat was parched. He saw a small barrel rolled to the side of the make-shift trap camp but decided 'not' to have anything else from this place. Once bitten, twice as afraid of eating bird people as they say.

 

[Jeda Teq]

Shining like a dull beacon; Kniges stood in place frozen as if he were a grand statue with magnificent wings flared out. His scales clung to the energy like a greedy tyrant. Radiation pulsed through his body nourishing latent fibers in his muscles. Over time over time his scaly armor began tighten around him. His hide began to peel and tear allowing a gap for the overflow of mana to escape back into the aether. Beams of mana shot out of the small lacerations expanding them. As the mana met the air it became a feint cloud that hovered around the dragonling.

It would be a couple minutes until he began to make sense of his own mind again. He would lack the intellect and language to describe his thoughts clearly. All, in his head, was back to normal. He regained movement of his body once again. The first thing he began to do was scratch as if he had hives. Flakes of silver mana infused scales floated to the ground revealing whitish pink flesh underneath. "Does it matter if we did or didn't? It's not too late to depart." Mana sparked from Kniges' as he spoke. When he noticed the corpses laying on the ground he walked towards the dead avian couple. He scrunched his nose as he neared them. The smell of Rodericks bodily fluids assaulted his senses, but after that ordeal his stomach was audibly growling.

 

[C.DEX]

Cyell looked toward Kytrek as he began his walk away, not feeling amazing himself. He had seen glimpses of the man's version of mana instability perhaps once or twice, and he knew well to let him attempt to work through it himself. There were others in their party a deal more injured than he was, as well. Gniss had been assaulted by leeches, and Argis was still lying on his back a distance away from them. Sighing from exhaustion, Cyell climbed to his feet and meandered toward the injured orc. "I'll help."

The blood mage grabbed the arm of Argis, pulling it to the opposite side to attempt to flip him over. His own arms felt weak throughout the ordeal - an oversaturation of mana took hold in Cyell in a more physical way before it had a mental one. It felt as if he'd had low blood pressure, viewing everything through a detached tunnel. Still, he was able to flip the orc. His wounds came into view, mostly from the bird putting him in a clinch. They didn't necessarily look life-threatening, but it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that he could bleed out if he hadn't been treated.

Cyell began dragging Argis toward the fire - an involved process. A few minutes later, he dropped the limp orc's hand and began huffing, exhaustion overcoming him. There was a tear in the orc's suit, which was an issue if they wanted him conscious anytime soon. He pulled the small, hockey puck-sized disk that they had been advised of off of Argis' person, but promptly decided that it wouldn't particularly matter; it was shredded.

He glanced up toward Adar. "If you would have come across this guy without us, you wouldn't be alive." Cyell noted. "-- Not because of us that we came across him, it's because of us that we're all alive. And you."

Cyell reached to touch his own tattoo, and a burst of uncontrolled fire came from his hand. It wasn't controlled enough to attempt to use it for healing. He pulled mana from his own body, channeling it directly. His hand became as hot as ember or white hot charcoal. Thankfully, Argis wouldn't be awake for what he was about to do.

"Anybody else have any injuries?"

 

[Tardy Grade]

"You speak like this was my choice. Some of you might be able to 'afford' flights of fancy and adventure all you want. Others? Us? We need to earn to get by. My 'way' was to be Guide... to those who venture. Whether you find glory in life or death is of little consequence to me. Only your journey is my concern. A contract was made and I'll see my end upheld. Don't forget it was the actions of your group and the resulting disturbances that saw me fall from the ceiling, not even a day prior. Hardly happenstance." Adar scoffed at the words of scaly cretin. Even now his hunger was not abated. At least he was a survivor.

"And as for this..." he pointed at the spread out remains of both victims and victimiser. "Surely their presence here can't be random chance? So close to that 'vessel' of yours..." he turned his head to gaze on the distant structure as she attended to the unconscious Argis. Drawing such a correlation might not have been astute of him but he had just been made to suffer a lot in the past few moments. I took the scent of searing flesh to remind himself decided it was best not to antagonise anyone further until their mutual situation was resolved. Then they could part ways and he'd be left about his business as he had been before he fell upon them.

After all ... how much longer could he possibly be stuck with them?

 

[Jeda Teq]

Kniges grabbed the leg of the larger avian. "I am the Great Kniges. Of course I wouldn't be harmed from such a trivial encounter:" He responded to Cyell Placing his foot on the avian's pelvis he yanked the leg from the socket. Dull red blood drizzled from the corpse. Adar's words perturbed the black dragon. The bald tiefling spoke as if he knew them. As if none of them struggled to get where they were today. Even now the grey skin Cyell was still semi useless, but he provided decent entertainment.

"You're more pathetic than the half dead Orc runt," He pointed at the unconscious Argis with the leg in his hand, "If you feel you didn't have a choice to join." His sharp teeth tore into the thigh of the leg as he approached Adar.

"You're right, YOU are a GUIDE. So I suggest you stop pointing a finger at your employers and start pointing your fingers at where we need to go when it's time. That is if you enjoy having fingers." He took another bite of the leg. His acidic saliva pre-digesting parts of the flesh. "there could have been a number of things that lead to this situation, I can guarantee you that that thing was here long before we arrived." His words were still infused with the sparks of mana. They had not special effects. It as just a clear sign that the Dragon-kin was still seething with mana.

 

[Lyro]

Gniss listened to the others' chatter in silence, her mind still processing the anger she felt. When Cyell asked if anyone was injured, she looked down at herself for a few seconds, taking some time to register her appearance. As far as she could tell, she looked fine, apart from a few tears in her suit that she could patch up. She couldn't remember what the leeches had done to her while she was under their control, but she could not feel any pain or see any injuries, so she assumed they had not physically harmed her. She refused to speculate on the why of that.

"We will not tarry long," she said suddenly, her scratching voice nearly interrupting Kniges. "Regardless of why it showed up here of all places, this is not somewhere we want to remain any longer than we have to. We will rest briefly, either in the rocket or outside, as you please. Sleep if you wish to. I will finish preparations from inside the rocket." She moved to stand next to Argis, climbing on a nearby rock to get a better look at his features. She frowned as she studied his injury. "We may have to prepare a stretcher for him if he cannot recover soon enough. I can carry it." She looked up at the rocket. "What's taking him so long?"

Kytrek finished climbing the rungs to the ladder, stumbled through the opening and slammed the hatch door behind him, sliding down to the floor as he did so. He brought his hand up to his eyes, sliding his glasses up as he wiped away the tears that were now freely flowing down his cheeks. Not now, he thought to himself, as he slowly forced himself to get up and find the equipment he was looking for. He knew from experience it was best to not dwell on what was making him cry, as it was probably nonsense, but he still felt the emotions keenly so soon after using so much uncontrolled magic. He took a few slow, deep breaths, and began to climb down the ladder to the ship's bulk supplies.

 

[Jeda Teq]

Kniges waited impatiently at the dilapidated camp. Fed up with the smell of decay and disease he had manipulated the dirt to bury Roderick. His foot tapped against the ground as he gnawed on the meatless femur. The hollow bone crunched fairly easily. "Argh! That's it. I'm tired of waiting." he tossed the leg aside then concentrated on the ground before him. using his creation magic the young dragon forced his hand into the dirt then began to pull up. The materials of the ground were pulled together and packed tightly as an object was being crafted. The object he created was a wheel barrel. With a sour look on his face he pushed past Cyell and grabbed the Orc by the collar of his suit then flopped him into the barrel like a sack of potatoes. Before Cyell could get a word out Kniges glared at him with his basilisk stare, "SHUT UP! It's light dimming and the nocturnal's are coming out. We could get another visit from our inky black friend. It might not be so easily dissuaded next time and none of you are in any condition to fight." He looked at the rest of them as he made the second part of his statement then began to roll Argis to the ship.

Behind Kniges was a shimmering trail of flakes. He placed a hand on the ladder and took a deep breath. Suddenly he felt too tired to fly, let alone carry Argis up. He just wanted to sleep. The instinctive urge to find shelter drove him up the ladder without thought. Surely the others were capable of getting Argis inside. He leaned against the door using his weight to open. A low sobbing tickled his ears. Wary of his surroundings he readied his hatchet. "Yo, Kytrek. You in here?" He called out.

Following the sounds of the sobbing Kniges found Kytrek in the lower deck outside the supplies. The man's face was sopping wet with tears and snot. The young dragon cocked his head to the side and raised a brow at the sight of the man, "Have you been here crying the entire time? Oh man, the rock eater is going to get a kick out of th..." the broad lizard rocked back then fell forward. His weapon sliding across the ground to The old man's feet. Shortly after he began snoring. Kniges had shed his skin. The thick scales that protected and drew in mana were now scattered about the land.

 

[Lyro]

Kytrek stood up in alarm the moment Kniges entered, hastily drying his eyes with his sleeves, before rounding on the dragonborn in anger. "You shouldn't--" he started, before Kniges collapsed in front of him, forcing him to leap backwards to avoid getting hit. "Ugh, what now..." he muttered angrily to himself as he looked at the mess of scales now scattered about the floor of the ship. He raised a hand to his eyes again, wiping off the last remnant of the tears. The overwhelming sadness he had felt just moments before had now vanished, replaced by a seething hatred of the dragonborn. He watched the weakened-looking creature lying before him, an unnatural urge to step on it and hurt it rising, but he only sighed as he forced himself to relax and control himself. As always, he thought dejectedly. "Not worth it," he commented as he bent down to pick up the last of the supplies he had been gathering from a nearby supply locker, then started heading back out of the rocket.

Gniss looked up from studying Argis's injury, frustrated at her inability to perform any kind of magic. "Metallurgist," she called out to Adar, "I don't suppose you know anything that could help this one?"

 

[Tardy Grade]

Adar raised his head to acknowledge the approaching Kytrek.

Putting aside his petty grievances, he remained huddled beside the recently treated Argis. Smell of burnt flesh in the air. The orc-kin had a formidable constitution that was enviable by most of the other races. That trait was showing it's full worth in the unconscious but still breathing form laid before them. "She's done a good job sealing the wound. Not much scarring though I haven't heard many orcs complain about those. I could give him something to keep him on his feet once he comes too ... though it might cause more bleeding if there are any tears..."

Rifling his bag he took out a one of his more 'earthen'-looking worms and held it up to a light source. In it's near transparent form you could loosely tell it's organs apart and he saw what he wanted. "Ah! Good, they're almost ready." before massaging over its coelomate innards. "That's it ... just a bit m-" and with a viscous plop.

On the ground by their feet now lay a goopy layer with brown specks the size of fingernails. "Caca beans," he explained as he used his hand to casually pick them out and wipe the excess excretory material. "Better known as Miner's Delight. Makes you feel 5 years younger for a few hours of intense work."

Popping one into his mouth before producing an audible crunch and savouring its flavour.

"The moment he's conscious again you can give him a few and then let his body handle the rest." Holding the fragrant beans out to Kytrek.

 

[Jeda Teq]

After a very eventful day the adventurers spent the next two recuperation. After the mana explosion most had been bathed in the radiation. For the mission to be a success Gniss needed everyone to be coherent and in a stable state. At least the base line to the start of their mission. Some had already been far of. As a result Gniss, as captain, ordered them to rest.

Kniges walked idly behind the rest. Not really paying attention to his surroundings and poking his fleshy skin. The entirety of his suite was stored in his pack. Without his scales he felt as if he were being strangled inside it and refused to put it on. "Hey, Baldy!" The young lizard barked at Adar who was leading the pack, "Are you sure we're going the right way? It feels like we've been walking down hill. We're supposed to be going UP" To emphasize his point he pointed to the upperground with his hand and wing 'hand'.