Mingzhu goes through the doorway and converts, Discern lies to Cure Critical Wounds on the devil. Xrochdyr is healed, he slowly gets up, hissing some, looking over where the holy water burned him. Somehow, he still seems like he's in some sort of terrible pain, clutching a hand over his chest as he walks on... "Thanks, sssk..."
Mingzhu asks, “What is your pain from?”
"Grahhh, hssskh... oh, you might not know. Holy water is extremely deadly to fiends. Of course that's painful." A wince from Xrochdyr... but it doesn't sound to her like it's a physical pain...
She looks back down the hallway then back to him. “There is more to it than that. Are you connected somehow to the other two? As in the further you are away from them the more it hurts?"
"I could have used abyssal fire instead, would have been easier to bear..." Xrochdyr mutters to himself
"No, it's not that." Xrochdyr shakes his head.
"Mingzhu, Xrochdyr just did something that was entirely incompatible with how baatezu normally behave." Silgara says, looking over at the fiend.
"There is something wrong here with this. I do not know what yet but will eventually figure it out." Mingzhu states.
"Besides /everything/ about this place? Ssskh..." Xrochdyr says.
Balan watching the whole thing nods to Silgara. "Gahhh! Fine... it's... when I first broke infernal law to free souls, it was like a... crack in my very being. A break... on the inside. Now it's gotten deeper, grahh... just... no, no, I still needed this. Just... hsskh..." Xrochdyr tries shaking himself, like it would help somehow
"Yes, and it has to do with the three of you that we found down here I suspect." Mingzhu says.
Balan asks, “You are not a normal Baatezu are you Xrochdyr?”
Xrochdyr looks over to Balan. "Well, I've knowingly and willingly violated infernal law and am out of compliance with the Pact Primeval, so, I wouldn't say I'm a normal Baatezu anymore. Why?" He raises an eye ridge.
Balan continues in matter-of-fact way, “You are much more durable and stronger.”
Xrochdyr waves that off, a claw wave. "If you must know, before Abaddazzar dragged me into his experiments, I was due for a promotion to Cornugon soon." He huffs, looks aside "Not going to happen now of course, though."
Balan doesn’t seem to believe the fiend, “I see… That is interesting.”
Xrochdyr stands, though he still seems a bit wobbly, like he's trying to stabilize himself with his clawed hands. "Right, are we ready to head back to meet the others, or did you want to ask anything else?"
Mingzhu scratches her head, "I don't know much about this western stuff. if we are done here and cannot go further then we need to head back.”
"I expect some of the wards are down, but I don't know which exactly it was tied to." Xrochdyr says.
Zsikhou looks around. There's the entry where they came from, there's also still a solid barrier on the left side (From where they entered) as well.
As they stand around, Quasziel and Zarasszia find their way to your position, evidently no longer hindered by the wards that were in place. Quasziel looks over "It seems some of the wards are down. I trust you are ready to proceed further."
“Aye but which way do we go when we return Zarasszia’s door or Quasziel's door?” Mingzhu asks.
Quasziel looks over, speaking up first. "Follow me then." Then turns around and beckons the party over.
Zsikhou hisses in his direction. "With all due respect, that isn't your decision."
Quasziel looks over to Zsikhou "Your continued pettiness is not endearing nor is it solving anything, evil mortal."
Zarasszia shrugs, "I suspect it ultimately does not matter."
Mingzhu goes over to Balan and whispers to him. "Do you think that somehow during their experiments their souls switched bodies?"
Balan shrugs then whispers back, “There is many strange magics, so I do not know.”
The spirit is supposedly somewhere behind Quasziel's door, let us then explore the other door first. The spirit may be sickened or weak. We wish not to engage in fighting when she is with us, I think. So, cleaning up everything beyond Zarasszia’s door makes sense to me."
"Aye, if we cannot proceed further beyond the first door, let us clean up what lurks beyond Zarasszia’s"
Quasziel seems irritated. Zarasszia gives an almost mechanical and detached nod. "Very well, follow me." They head back to the room they entered from; it looks like some of the wards are down, though the ones to the North (Quasziel's door) and Zarasszia's are still up. From the room you fought the Palrethee in though, the ward to the side is down, allowing egress that way.
Mingzhu watches the three outsiders closely. Her senses are telling her something is very wrong. T’kharr says, “Ah, we need to head deeper in via the first path then."
Xrochdyr still seems like he's in some kind of pain, but it's wearing off, or he's learning to deal with it. Quasziel just keeps that perfect, judgmental look to him. And Zarasszia seems detached. Mingzhu tries to sense the motivation of the Angel and why he’s always trying to order everyone around, but she gets no feeling from him.
Xrochdyr nods, "Right, this way then. I could cross this section before..., it's a ward against good, but it's down, so all of us should be able to pass now."
They head down the path. it looks like there's pathways straight ahead, to the left, and to the right. T’kharr asks, “Send Zsikhou to scout the various paths?”
Xrochdyr looks around again, huffing "Ahead was a ward against evil, to the right were wards against good and law separately, and to the left was a ward against chaos."
T’kharr comments, “Noted on the wards.”
Zsikhou nods to them and goes on ahead. After some time spent darting down various paths, Zsikhou comes back "So, the one to our left goes back to where we came from with some turn around, well, to the right of there, there's a section with three layered wards, seems like there were four before, but one's down. Ahead is a room with Yokai, but they can't cross. Left goes back to the entry.
"Off that way, Points north, or ahead in their case. "Looks like most of the wards are still up. Seems like there were some yokai in various rooms, but this one found a clear path to a room with a strange, damaged construct in it. And that way... " He points to the right of their current position. "Single room, seems like it just has some hostile Yokai there. Didn't see anything else of note there."
Mingzhu looks at Xrochdyr, "How did you know that. You could not go down this pathway before?"
Xrochdyr looks at Mingzhu. "I could bypass the ward against good, and the one against chaos. I could not cross the others here."
T’kharr accepts that, “Ok. Left, Left is back to the entry. Left, ahead leads to Yokai barred by a ward
Left, Right leads to a set of layered wards. Ahead is lots of wards, Yokai, and a damaged construct
Right is just a single room with some hostile Yokai. Is that correct?" she counts the paths out on her fingers as she narrates them.
“Yup, that's about right, though ahead has the most rooms. Ahead and left also has the layered wards again.” Zsikhou can't tell how the wards work though, only that he can bypass them.
"Were you able to tell how many Yokai are in left-ahead and right, and what lurks beyond the left-ahead Yokai, or do you think we'll need to clear out the left-ahead Yokai to get an idea if there's a path beyond them?" T’kharr asks the kobold.
"So, there may be things in the other rooms that we need to bypass the layered wards is that the game?" Mingzhu is thinking hard as she asks.
"That sounds like it, yes." T’kharr replies.
"If I'm not mistaken, this complex seems shaped like three layered wheels. I think the layered wards were at the center. Zsikhou says "If we keep going along this inner wheel in either direction, we'll run into groups of Yokai. The Construct can be reached by going ahead and to the outer wheel."
"If I'm not mistaken, this complex seems shaped like three layered wheels. I think the layered wards were at the center. Zsikhou says, "If we keep going along this inner wheel in either direction, we'll run into groups of Yokai. The Construct can be reached by going ahead and to the outer wheel."
T’kharr concentrates. “So, three rings?”
"I think so, yes." Zsikhou nods.
T’kharr thinks some more, “And the antechamber, if you will, is in the middle?”
"But the innermost ring is sealed off by those layered wards, on each side I saw." Zsikhou nods.
Quasziel looks over. "I can enter the room with the Construct. I expect we will need to go there."
"I think the big question is are we better off mopping up the inner ring's Yokai first then trying to explore the outer ring for more clues to the removal of wards, or trying to get a handle on the wards via the outer ring then move inward?” T’kharr says while trying to work it out.
"I think it depends T'kharr on where the spirit is, but we do not know that at this time." Mingzhu says. Silgara considers but doesn't offer an opinion here. Fwangzhu and Nor'vee just seem alert and watching for any hostiles. Mingzhu continues, “Ok, well there is a broken construct correct perhaps other rooms have parts that we need to fix it to functioning and we need it to do something. That would be my best guess as of now."
"Well perhaps you should see it before you make such presumptions, then." Quasziel says.
"I'm not presuming anything. I'm taking a guess based on the information we have." Mingzhu retorts.
"Come with me then and I can show you." Quasziel says as he prepares to move forward. She follows him. Balan follows her. They head further in and come to a segment. On the left are heavy wards, forward is a ward, and on the right is one as well.
Quasziel turns to the right, "This one wards against evil. The Fiends will not be able to follow us."
Xrochdyr and Zarasszia look over at the warded section, then a huff from Xrochdyr, opting to wait. Mingzhu stops following him and studies the ward. Also, on the side, it looks like there's some slight evidence of battle in this room. Mingzhu cannot make heads or tails of it. Silgara steps forward but she cannot tell anything about the battle damage either.
Xrochdyr chimes in then with a hiss, "If you're wondering whether that Deva is lying to you, then in this case, he isn't. That really is a ward that blocks out planar evil beings."
T’kharr is the first to step through the ward. Mingzhu looks back. "I'll step through and try to step back here. to see if it’s one way." She does that. She can. She then follows the gnoll.
There's a warded section to the left, and to the right. This room is largely unremarkable, though. It looks like there were some signs of battle here, but it's not clear who was fighting. Either way, Quasziel continues past the warded section to the left.
The rest of the group follows. In the next room, there looks to be a broken binding circle, and there's blood along the edges of it, dried, probably old by now. There's another ward ahead, but Quasziel just moves along through it. There is a broken looking construct on the other side of where they are. As they walk Mingzhu whispers to Balan, “I trust the Yokai better than the angel. I don’t know why." Blan gives a nod without answering.
Mingzhu looks at ward for a moment and pushes through then calls for Silgara figuring she would know more about this thing. "Balan, Silgara? Got any ideas?"
The party steps through. On the other side, it looks like a damaged construct creature, Silgara looks it over. The Construct, however, soon its eyes glow, and it looks up at the party. Silgara looks aside "That's a Marut Inevitable, it's damaged, though..." Quasziel is pacing around where the Marut is held in a binding circle.
Fwangzhu just looks aside. "So, what the fuck is a Marut Inevitable then?"
Silgara looks aside. "Inevitables are beings of pure law, typically enforcers of cosmic law. Maruts are supposed to enforce the law of life and death. Typically, they do things like hunt liches or undead, from what I have heard."
The Marut looks over the party, speaking in a mechanical, monotone voice. "Scanning, Scanning.... WARNING. VIOLATION DETECTED. THREE COUNTS." Its eyes suddenly spark, it fixates on Balan, then on Zsikhou, then on Silgara. "Mortals out of compliance with cosmic law. Termination required."
She Came from the Sea: Book 2
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Winterhawk99
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Winterhawk99
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Re: She Came from the Sea: Book 2
Zsikhou narrows his eyes at the construct, Siangham coming out. "...what?"
Balan scratches his head. “I am unsure what that thing means.”
Even Quasziel looks surprised at that. "Mortals, what have you done to anger a being of law so?" As he moves over to the party's side.
The Marut looks over at Balan. "Violation of law of life and death detected. Correction to anomalous state required. Termination of violators required to restore order."
Mingzhu steps in front of all three. "Whoever you are they are mortals and can be redeemed. You cannot know their future. There is mercy in the celestial court."
T'kharr joins at Mingzhu's side. "The Lord on the Rack extends the offer of his mercy to all mortal souls, for it is by His pain that our burdens are eased."
The Marut looks over to Mingzhu. "Scanning. Subject not in violation. Statements are false and incorrect. Determination of future is irrelevant. Mercy is irrelevant. Compliance with law of life and death is the only consideration. Interference with assigned duties will result in ancillary termination."
Mingzhu shakes her head. “Can anyone translate what that thing said?”
Then it looks to T'Kharr. "Analyzing. Lord of the Rack's mercy is irrelevant. Directives are to be resolved. Anomalies will be corrected."
T’kharr muzzle paws, “Lord ON the rack.”
Silgara sighs, "This Marut for some reason believes that the three of us have violated cosmic law and wants to kill us for it. Seldarine knows why it is doing that. None of us have embraced undeath."
Mingzhu looks at her queerly, “What does undeath have to do with it.”
"Unfortunately, Inevitables are extremely inflexible when it comes to their determinations." Silgara frowns.
T’kharr takes in a deep breath, “Can you explain the violations in detail?” inquiring with the inevitable calmly.
"They're ‘supposed’ to enforce the laws of life and death and hunt down those who cheat it. At least, that's what properly functioning ones are supposed to do." Silgara says.
"Aye. Hopefully some suitable inquiries can provide information useful to us to figure out what's going on." T’kharr comments.
The Marut looks to T'Kharr "Violators are in violation of Cosmic law Fszfzrsszt… crackle of static subsection 7538-C of cosmic ordinance concerning mortal lives. Violation requires correction. Termination of offending violators required."
Mingzhu studies it. “Is there a button on this thing?”
"Subsection 7538-C...can you recite that subsection to us? I'm sorry, I left that book all the way back at the monastery." T’kharr asks.
Quasziel looks over, thinking, before he steps forward. "I see. You are a construct of law. These mortals have somehow cheated death and you must restore proper cosmic balance. However, I do have a solution that will satisfy your directives."
The Marut looks at T'Kharr. "Request for information denied. Request for information pertaining to cosmic law subsections must be directed to the proper quadrone unit."
Zsikhou looks over at Silgara and Balan, confused. Silgara also looks over. "Did... the three of us cheat death somehow...? I don't recall that happening..."
T’kharr raises an eyebrow in thought. “What event should have killed them?”
The Marut looks over at Silgara. "Recollection of violation irrelevant. Violation must still be corrected."
Balan shrugs his shoulders, “I am unsure as well...The only time I could think is with the war scourge.”
Zsikhou looks to Balan, raising an eye ridge. "Was a close call there, but figured it was just that... what about myself and Silgara though?"
Balan shakes his head. “I am truly unsure.”
Quasziel looks over to the Marut. "There is a way that satisfies your directives. These mortals lived when the laws of the multiverse said they should not have. However, there is magic to rectify it, as well as oaths that can bring one in compliance. There is a way to solve this, if the mortals swear their lives to me, a divine being of law who can revive the dead in a manner that is in compliance with cosmic law, subject to the rules and restrictions thereof, then that will satisfy the violation, and they will be in compliance." The Deva just looks to the construct with that same, extremely intense look, not even bothering to look at the party as he says that.
The Marut then looks to Quasziel, seeming to run some calculations. A spark of static, resolving something, before speaking. "Proposed solution is acceptable for rectification of violation specified. Mortal units in violation will be required to swear binding oath enforced by cosmic law to Deva unit to be in compliance."
Mingzhu looks incredulous. “I would not do it. There is something wrong with this celestial. I cannot put my finger on it yet, but it is my belief it would be wrong."
Fwangzhu snorts, "What fucking tipped you off?" Nor'vee just nervously fiddles with his crossbow.
Zsikhou looks over to Quasziel, a death glare in the kobold's eyes. "I already have a master."
Quasziel looks over to Zsikhou. "I can already tell you have failed them. So no, you do not."
Balan grunts, “My god is the only one who has my binding.”
Silgara looks over as well. "Is this for real...? I don't even...?" She looks nervously between the Deva and the Marut.
The Marut looks to Balan. "Rejection of offered remediation will require fallback to termination of offending units. Do you reject compliance?"
Quasziel looks over to Balan. "Do not be selfish and fight an enforcer of cosmic law because you believe yourself above the consequences of whatever you did to break it."
T’kharr looks at the Marut again. “Can you describe what events these alleged violations consist of?" The Marut doesn't reply, seemingly focused on Balan, Zsikhou, and Silgara right now.
Mingzhu looks down at the circle the Marut is in. “If the other circles are correct. This thing cannot break its circle without going against its nature. Is that right?"
Silgara tries to inspect the circle... "Mingzhu that circle is broken..." She says.
Mingzhu stares at the machine. “So, you are saying it can get out?”
"Yes, it can." The elf says
The shamaness narrows her eyes and looks at the Deva. "You knew. even though you could not come here before somehow you knew."
Balan studies the Marut for a moment. While he is doing that, the Deva looks over at Mingzhu. “Do not make accusations of me, mortal. I could come here, yes. But I could never find a way to unlock the ward here. So, my presence here solved nothing."
The Marut looks over at Balan. "Do you accept compliance for remediation steps?"
Balan points to the Deva and asks the Marut. “Did you kill the human by that one’s command?”
Mingzhu steams at the Deva, “Yet you broke you're own cosmic law by bringing doom upon an innocent. Isn’t that, right? Why isn’t this thing after you too?"
"Negatory." The Marut says as he looks at the shamaness, "Potential violation committed by Deva-unit is outside the purview of this unit's jurisdiction."
“What have I done to break your cosmic law.” Balan asks.
The Deva looks over to Mingzhu. "My actions did not violate cosmic law, mortal."
The Marut looks to Balan "Violation There's a bunch of grinding static as it tries to articulate something, but it just comes out garbled subsection 7538-C. Occurred at More static, not making any sense, just garbled buzzing. Query irrelevant. Will you comply with remediation step?"
Balan shakes his head. “It is relevant. What is 7583-C?”
Silgara looks over worriedly. "I ... Inevitables operate under their own logic in terms of cosmic law, nothing else matters to them. Unless we can talk it down in those terms, I think our only way out of this one is by destroying it. Fortunately, it's already damaged so if it comes to that, it shouldn't be as strong as a normal Marut."
Quasziel looks over "There was some unspecified incident where you should have died, but you were spared. The three of you, that is. But that sparing of you went against cosmic law. So now the Marut's directive is to rectify that."
Fwangzhu snorts, "That or this big hunk of junk is just fucking broken."
"As Silgara said. It's damaged so it could be wrong all together." Mingzhu insists.
T’kharr thinks and asks, “How are damaged or malfunctioning Inevitables dealt with?"
Silgara shrugs "I believe they are sent back to Mechanus for repair, or... I'm not sure." She sighs
"Of course, if we want to prove to this Marut that it is somehow malfunctioning...."
Nor'vee looks over..."Is it bad Nor'vee is wishing that law-yokai was here with us now?... No, Nor'vee will get that thought out of head. Can't trust Yokai." The nezumi shakes his head.
Mingzhu bites her lip then says, “Think Silgara. I do not wish to fight this machine if we do not have too. I am not sure if it has a soul or not."
"At least as I understand it with planar beings, their souls and bodies are sort of... the same thing." Silgara considers, "I... " She tries to think of something.
The Marut looks over. "Stalling of resolution will not be tolerated."
Silgara looks over. "The only way I can think of getting out of this without a fight is to somehow prove to the Marut that it's out of compliance with cosmic law and can't therefore enforce it, but I have no idea what to say in that regard."
“If we were meant to die at one point and were sparred then it was of our gods will not the cosmos, so your judgement is invalid.” Balan says.
"Assertion invalid. Gods are prohibited from reversing death without proper channels being followed. If done this would put them in violation in addition to you." The Marut says. It remains fixated on Balan, Silgara, and Zsikhou...
“It’s a machine. if we just keep taking pieces off it will turn off wont it?” Mingzhu asks.
Quasziel looks over at Mingzhu with some irritation. "You are speaking of destroying an enforcer of cosmic law for your own selfish purposes."
“It’s obviously already broken.” Balan intones.
Mingzhu slaps her forehead, “It’s a machine. it doesn’t have feelings. it isn’t even alive.”
Zsikhou gets his Siangham ready. "Well unless one of us comes up with something clever, we're going to need to destroy this thing."
The Marut looks over to Zsikhou. "Aggression detected. Resistance will result in termination. Interference by non-violating parties with this unit's duties will result in termination."
"Well...we don't know if that'd drop a bunch of stuff from uh...Mechanus on us." T’kharr smirks.
Silgara sighs, "I don't know enough about the specifics of how Inevitables operate to adequately speak with them. I suspect the only ones who do in our immediate company are Quasziel and Xrochdyr."
Quasziel looks over. "I have already given you a way out that satisfies the construct's mandate. Be satisfied with that and take the deal, mortals."
Fwangzhu snorts, "Fuck it lets just trash this thing."
Mingzhu snorts, “I kind of agree with the badger. this thing doesn’t belong east of the dragon wall.”
"Jurisdictional claim invalid." The Marut says to Mingzhu. Then it examines Balan. “Prior remediation agreement: Accept {Yes/No}. Noncompliance will be handled by fallback procedure: Termination of offending units."
"Hm. If you can be quiet long enough to let me pray to the Lord on the Rack, I might be able to ask him to summon aid from Mechanus in making their...clearly off-kilter representative whole and sound in both body and mind?" T’kharr yells.
Silgara whispers aside, "I don't think they're going to give us the hours necessary to do that."
"Or do we move onward and leave this room behind for now?" T’kharr asks.
"If the three of us try to flee, I suspect it will attack." Silgara mentions. Quasziel also looks over at the group, seeming impatient.
The Marut looks over at Balan. "Awaiting response to prior inquiry."
“I am not willing to bow to this one.” Balan gestures to Quasziel It is a waste of my honor and time, and you construct are wrong of what you say.
"We will have to return later with an answer in any case." T’kharr pleads.
"Remediation rejected. Falling back on initial rectification procedure. Commencing termination." The Marut advances.
Balan scratches his head. “I am unsure what that thing means.”
Even Quasziel looks surprised at that. "Mortals, what have you done to anger a being of law so?" As he moves over to the party's side.
The Marut looks over at Balan. "Violation of law of life and death detected. Correction to anomalous state required. Termination of violators required to restore order."
Mingzhu steps in front of all three. "Whoever you are they are mortals and can be redeemed. You cannot know their future. There is mercy in the celestial court."
T'kharr joins at Mingzhu's side. "The Lord on the Rack extends the offer of his mercy to all mortal souls, for it is by His pain that our burdens are eased."
The Marut looks over to Mingzhu. "Scanning. Subject not in violation. Statements are false and incorrect. Determination of future is irrelevant. Mercy is irrelevant. Compliance with law of life and death is the only consideration. Interference with assigned duties will result in ancillary termination."
Mingzhu shakes her head. “Can anyone translate what that thing said?”
Then it looks to T'Kharr. "Analyzing. Lord of the Rack's mercy is irrelevant. Directives are to be resolved. Anomalies will be corrected."
T’kharr muzzle paws, “Lord ON the rack.”
Silgara sighs, "This Marut for some reason believes that the three of us have violated cosmic law and wants to kill us for it. Seldarine knows why it is doing that. None of us have embraced undeath."
Mingzhu looks at her queerly, “What does undeath have to do with it.”
"Unfortunately, Inevitables are extremely inflexible when it comes to their determinations." Silgara frowns.
T’kharr takes in a deep breath, “Can you explain the violations in detail?” inquiring with the inevitable calmly.
"They're ‘supposed’ to enforce the laws of life and death and hunt down those who cheat it. At least, that's what properly functioning ones are supposed to do." Silgara says.
"Aye. Hopefully some suitable inquiries can provide information useful to us to figure out what's going on." T’kharr comments.
The Marut looks to T'Kharr "Violators are in violation of Cosmic law Fszfzrsszt… crackle of static subsection 7538-C of cosmic ordinance concerning mortal lives. Violation requires correction. Termination of offending violators required."
Mingzhu studies it. “Is there a button on this thing?”
"Subsection 7538-C...can you recite that subsection to us? I'm sorry, I left that book all the way back at the monastery." T’kharr asks.
Quasziel looks over, thinking, before he steps forward. "I see. You are a construct of law. These mortals have somehow cheated death and you must restore proper cosmic balance. However, I do have a solution that will satisfy your directives."
The Marut looks at T'Kharr. "Request for information denied. Request for information pertaining to cosmic law subsections must be directed to the proper quadrone unit."
Zsikhou looks over at Silgara and Balan, confused. Silgara also looks over. "Did... the three of us cheat death somehow...? I don't recall that happening..."
T’kharr raises an eyebrow in thought. “What event should have killed them?”
The Marut looks over at Silgara. "Recollection of violation irrelevant. Violation must still be corrected."
Balan shrugs his shoulders, “I am unsure as well...The only time I could think is with the war scourge.”
Zsikhou looks to Balan, raising an eye ridge. "Was a close call there, but figured it was just that... what about myself and Silgara though?"
Balan shakes his head. “I am truly unsure.”
Quasziel looks over to the Marut. "There is a way that satisfies your directives. These mortals lived when the laws of the multiverse said they should not have. However, there is magic to rectify it, as well as oaths that can bring one in compliance. There is a way to solve this, if the mortals swear their lives to me, a divine being of law who can revive the dead in a manner that is in compliance with cosmic law, subject to the rules and restrictions thereof, then that will satisfy the violation, and they will be in compliance." The Deva just looks to the construct with that same, extremely intense look, not even bothering to look at the party as he says that.
The Marut then looks to Quasziel, seeming to run some calculations. A spark of static, resolving something, before speaking. "Proposed solution is acceptable for rectification of violation specified. Mortal units in violation will be required to swear binding oath enforced by cosmic law to Deva unit to be in compliance."
Mingzhu looks incredulous. “I would not do it. There is something wrong with this celestial. I cannot put my finger on it yet, but it is my belief it would be wrong."
Fwangzhu snorts, "What fucking tipped you off?" Nor'vee just nervously fiddles with his crossbow.
Zsikhou looks over to Quasziel, a death glare in the kobold's eyes. "I already have a master."
Quasziel looks over to Zsikhou. "I can already tell you have failed them. So no, you do not."
Balan grunts, “My god is the only one who has my binding.”
Silgara looks over as well. "Is this for real...? I don't even...?" She looks nervously between the Deva and the Marut.
The Marut looks to Balan. "Rejection of offered remediation will require fallback to termination of offending units. Do you reject compliance?"
Quasziel looks over to Balan. "Do not be selfish and fight an enforcer of cosmic law because you believe yourself above the consequences of whatever you did to break it."
T’kharr looks at the Marut again. “Can you describe what events these alleged violations consist of?" The Marut doesn't reply, seemingly focused on Balan, Zsikhou, and Silgara right now.
Mingzhu looks down at the circle the Marut is in. “If the other circles are correct. This thing cannot break its circle without going against its nature. Is that right?"
Silgara tries to inspect the circle... "Mingzhu that circle is broken..." She says.
Mingzhu stares at the machine. “So, you are saying it can get out?”
"Yes, it can." The elf says
The shamaness narrows her eyes and looks at the Deva. "You knew. even though you could not come here before somehow you knew."
Balan studies the Marut for a moment. While he is doing that, the Deva looks over at Mingzhu. “Do not make accusations of me, mortal. I could come here, yes. But I could never find a way to unlock the ward here. So, my presence here solved nothing."
The Marut looks over at Balan. "Do you accept compliance for remediation steps?"
Balan points to the Deva and asks the Marut. “Did you kill the human by that one’s command?”
Mingzhu steams at the Deva, “Yet you broke you're own cosmic law by bringing doom upon an innocent. Isn’t that, right? Why isn’t this thing after you too?"
"Negatory." The Marut says as he looks at the shamaness, "Potential violation committed by Deva-unit is outside the purview of this unit's jurisdiction."
“What have I done to break your cosmic law.” Balan asks.
The Deva looks over to Mingzhu. "My actions did not violate cosmic law, mortal."
The Marut looks to Balan "Violation There's a bunch of grinding static as it tries to articulate something, but it just comes out garbled subsection 7538-C. Occurred at More static, not making any sense, just garbled buzzing. Query irrelevant. Will you comply with remediation step?"
Balan shakes his head. “It is relevant. What is 7583-C?”
Silgara looks over worriedly. "I ... Inevitables operate under their own logic in terms of cosmic law, nothing else matters to them. Unless we can talk it down in those terms, I think our only way out of this one is by destroying it. Fortunately, it's already damaged so if it comes to that, it shouldn't be as strong as a normal Marut."
Quasziel looks over "There was some unspecified incident where you should have died, but you were spared. The three of you, that is. But that sparing of you went against cosmic law. So now the Marut's directive is to rectify that."
Fwangzhu snorts, "That or this big hunk of junk is just fucking broken."
"As Silgara said. It's damaged so it could be wrong all together." Mingzhu insists.
T’kharr thinks and asks, “How are damaged or malfunctioning Inevitables dealt with?"
Silgara shrugs "I believe they are sent back to Mechanus for repair, or... I'm not sure." She sighs
"Of course, if we want to prove to this Marut that it is somehow malfunctioning...."
Nor'vee looks over..."Is it bad Nor'vee is wishing that law-yokai was here with us now?... No, Nor'vee will get that thought out of head. Can't trust Yokai." The nezumi shakes his head.
Mingzhu bites her lip then says, “Think Silgara. I do not wish to fight this machine if we do not have too. I am not sure if it has a soul or not."
"At least as I understand it with planar beings, their souls and bodies are sort of... the same thing." Silgara considers, "I... " She tries to think of something.
The Marut looks over. "Stalling of resolution will not be tolerated."
Silgara looks over. "The only way I can think of getting out of this without a fight is to somehow prove to the Marut that it's out of compliance with cosmic law and can't therefore enforce it, but I have no idea what to say in that regard."
“If we were meant to die at one point and were sparred then it was of our gods will not the cosmos, so your judgement is invalid.” Balan says.
"Assertion invalid. Gods are prohibited from reversing death without proper channels being followed. If done this would put them in violation in addition to you." The Marut says. It remains fixated on Balan, Silgara, and Zsikhou...
“It’s a machine. if we just keep taking pieces off it will turn off wont it?” Mingzhu asks.
Quasziel looks over at Mingzhu with some irritation. "You are speaking of destroying an enforcer of cosmic law for your own selfish purposes."
“It’s obviously already broken.” Balan intones.
Mingzhu slaps her forehead, “It’s a machine. it doesn’t have feelings. it isn’t even alive.”
Zsikhou gets his Siangham ready. "Well unless one of us comes up with something clever, we're going to need to destroy this thing."
The Marut looks over to Zsikhou. "Aggression detected. Resistance will result in termination. Interference by non-violating parties with this unit's duties will result in termination."
"Well...we don't know if that'd drop a bunch of stuff from uh...Mechanus on us." T’kharr smirks.
Silgara sighs, "I don't know enough about the specifics of how Inevitables operate to adequately speak with them. I suspect the only ones who do in our immediate company are Quasziel and Xrochdyr."
Quasziel looks over. "I have already given you a way out that satisfies the construct's mandate. Be satisfied with that and take the deal, mortals."
Fwangzhu snorts, "Fuck it lets just trash this thing."
Mingzhu snorts, “I kind of agree with the badger. this thing doesn’t belong east of the dragon wall.”
"Jurisdictional claim invalid." The Marut says to Mingzhu. Then it examines Balan. “Prior remediation agreement: Accept {Yes/No}. Noncompliance will be handled by fallback procedure: Termination of offending units."
"Hm. If you can be quiet long enough to let me pray to the Lord on the Rack, I might be able to ask him to summon aid from Mechanus in making their...clearly off-kilter representative whole and sound in both body and mind?" T’kharr yells.
Silgara whispers aside, "I don't think they're going to give us the hours necessary to do that."
"Or do we move onward and leave this room behind for now?" T’kharr asks.
"If the three of us try to flee, I suspect it will attack." Silgara mentions. Quasziel also looks over at the group, seeming impatient.
The Marut looks over at Balan. "Awaiting response to prior inquiry."
“I am not willing to bow to this one.” Balan gestures to Quasziel It is a waste of my honor and time, and you construct are wrong of what you say.
"We will have to return later with an answer in any case." T’kharr pleads.
"Remediation rejected. Falling back on initial rectification procedure. Commencing termination." The Marut advances.
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Re: She Came from the Sea: Book 2
T’kharr comments as it goes on the attack, “By the Broken God...I hope we don't get a deluge from Mechanus for defending ourselves against this hunk of junk."
Zsikhou gets the jump on it and tries to strike it twice with his Siangham. The weapon does no damage. Silgara casts Grease on the floor. The Marut falls down in a prone position. Zsikhou tries to use that as an opportunity but slides by it like an ice skater before he can strike. Fwangzhu goes into a rage and strikes out with his halberd. He shears the knuckle bolts off of its left hand. Mingzhu casts Prayer on the group. Balan drives his blade into its knee but only catches metal he cant seem to break through to the wiring. Nor’vee shoots at it. Two bolts bounce off the Marut’s armor and one goes into an elbow gap. Sparks fly out of the hole.
The Marut attempts to get up. Balan and Fwangzhu take the opportunity to strike it again, but their weapons simply bounce off its metal pieces. However, the sheer weight of the blows puts it on its back. T’kharr casts Bless on the group. Quasziel looks over with some disdain, shaking his head, but not involving himself in the fight. "How disappointing, mortals."
Again, Zsikhou tries to chip away at the machine with his weapon. It hardly damages the outer surface. Fwangzhu takes another swing with his axe hitting it this time in the shoulder. Sparks and grinding sounds come out of the seam that he hit. Balan again tries to strike a gap in the knee, but his mark is off and the sword bounces off the knee cap harmlessly. Mingzhu dumps her canteen and casts Animate Water. A small water elemental is formed. She tells it to get inside and rust everything. Balan steps back several feet. He sheathes his sword and draws out his bow. Nor’vee shoots a bolt into its neck. More grinding of gears can be heard.
The Marut again tries to get up but both Zsikhou and Fwangzhu are ready. They both strike it. Fizzing and popping sounds issue from the depths of its body. Static electricity starts to spark all over it. T’kharr bonks it with her staff. It does nothing. Zsikhou stabs it again to almost no effect. Fwangzhu manages to bury his halberd deep in its chest. The Marut vibrates while the sounds of gears grinding against each other start to slow down. There is a huge crushing noise deep within its chest then the whole of it stops with a vivid smell of ozone mixed with gear oil smelling up the room. The Marut is destroyed.
Mingzhu dispels her water elemental. Quasziel scowls at everyone as the Marut is destroyed. "Well mortals, by your greed and disrespect for cosmic order, you have destroyed a servant of law."
Mingzhu looks him straight in the eye, “Your next if you don’t shape up.”
T’kharr sighs, “Well, it wouldn't let us take the time to address the situation properly."
"And what gives you the right to threaten me, mortal? Your arrogance shows." Quasziel sneers "I gave you mortals a way out."
“I’m tired of your own arrogance angel. We should contain you forever down in this dungeon. Silgara, can you do that?” Mingzhu asks while still looking at the celestial.
"I'm afraid I do not know the planar binding spell." Silgara says.
Zsikhou looks over. "I can always execute the angel if it is warranted."
Quasziel looks over. "And there you let your true colors show if you would side with an evil mortal over a servant of the heavens."
“You’re no servant of the heavens. Not anymore, and it shows.” The shamaness retorts.
"You have no place to make such a judgement, mortal." Quasziel says. Now that the Marut is gone, they can see what looks like a latticework of gears on the wall behind where the Marut stood. "In any event, it is done now. I expect there will be consequences for your actions, mortals." Quasziel says, "But for now, I still need to escape this place." He goes to grab one of the gears from the fallen Marut, then place it in the gearwork wall, a panel slides open and opens what looks like a lever.
Mingzhu watches and comments, “Could this be the way to bring the inner doors open?”
"Yes, this is one of the outer locks. If what I saw from before is accurate, two remain." Quasziel pulls the lever, shutting down the wards near this particular section.
"Funny how the angel knows just what gear to put into a device he supposedly has never seen before." Mingzhu comments accusingly.
"I did not say I could not be here before, Mortal. I said I could not resolve this myself." Quasziel says.
Eventually, Xrochdyr and Zarasszia enter the chamber. Xrochdyr's claws have some fresh blood on them.
T’kharr studies the devil. “Had to deal with an interruption of your own?"
Xrochdyr flexes his claws and stretches his wings "Ran into some maurezhi (a form of ghoul). Dealt with easily enough."
Zarasszia looks around, noting the trashed construct, then looks over "I see the wards are down, so I presume you were successful in what you set out to do here."
Mingzhu kicks the dead Marut. “We had to kill it as it wanted to kill three of the group.” Zarasszia looks over, then shrugs
"Aye, it was not able to explain the situation fully either. I will have to make inquiry with the Lord on the Rack in my next morn's prayers to understand what the heck it was prattling on about." T’kharr says.
Xrochdyr huffs, tail flicking "Not my first time dealing with Inevitables. The dumb things are so fixated on their instructions to the exact letter that they end up breaking what they're supposed to be doing more often than not." Xrochdyr raises an eye ridge, then shrugs "Welcome to dealing with Inevitables, then."
He looks over. "Perhaps I might be able to explain it? If you told me what happened."
Quasziel huffs, "We should not waste time consorting with fiends more than necessary."
Mingzhu says, “Well, the machine said that Balan, Silgara and Zsikhou were in violation of some rule it said a number. Avoiding death or something.”
T’kharr fills the rest in. “Aye, it refused to explain what situation put them in violation despite more than one inquiry by me into it. 7538-C was what it stated the party members were in violation of though.”
Xrochdyr looks at Mingzhu. "Marut Inevitables are supposed to enforce the laws on life and death. If they detect that a mortal has cheated death, they are dispatched to kill the mortal." He considers, thinking. "Of course they have a very specific, and oftentimes unrealistic perspective of what constitutes as cheating death..." He pauses, thinking, then huffs, “I'm familiar with that subsection and its clauses. Illegal method of revival or avoidance of death. Or in layman's terms, where someone or something interceded on your behalf to prevent death where it should have occurred."
"Or in other words, whoever interceded to save you screwed up their celestial paperwork? Given that none of the party are undead..." T’kharr states.
Mingzhu turns to her. “Is that so. Can we beat the ever-living crap out of the celestial if this is true? He tried to subvert Balan’s, Zsikhou’s, and Silgara’s wills by trying to make them pledge into his service.”
"According to the Inevitables, the avenues for mortals returning to life are extremely specific. If anyone goes outside those defined terms, then they're considered ‘in violation.’" He shrugs, "As in one is supposed to utilize proper forms of resurrection magic and not overstep or skip in requirements. And there are also laws for certain planar beings or entities in meddling with mortal affairs, such that if one intercedes and bypasses those requirements, then they and the mortal in question are in violation." He then considers, looking at the circle. "That or the Marut was simply mis-assessing, it's containment circle is broken, meaning that at some level it likely embraced chaos." Then huffs, then looks over to Quasziel, narrowing his eyes "That is.... /technically/ a remedy.... it's also something that would make most baatezu jealous. That is not something to be proud of." He hisses.
Zsikhou looks over to Mingzhu, then to Quasziel "Do you want this Celestial dead? Will carry it out. Right now, if you like."
T’kharr rubs her muzzle. “That was definitely a possibility I was considering. Had it been willing to give us the time to do so, I would have beseeched the Broken God to dispatch a unit from Mechanus directly to assess the situation and make any repairs needed."
Mingzhu smirks, “So, the angel is no better than a yokai like you then Xrochdyr?”
Quasziel glares. "You were in breach of cosmic law, and unlike this fiend who has broken it, I still have respect for it. And I offered you a way out, and instead you chose to strike down an enforcer of cosmic law out of selfishness. Do not judge me."
Xrochdyr huffs, "I expect I have done many, many more evils than this Celestial has." A flex of his claw, looking at Quasziel squarely. "It should not be a contest!" He hisses "Grah, just another reason cosmic law is a bad joke, always just ruins everything." He then looks over to T'kharr "Word of advice? Don't rely on beings from Mechanus. They're entirely inflexible and unless you know their procedures inside and out, it won't turn out well. Not because they're inherently malicious but because they're too devoted to following a broken system that it's just going to end in ruin."
Mingzhu then looks at the group. “What are we going to do about the angel. It’s obviously broken too.”
Zarasszia looks over to Mingzhu. "As am I and Xrochdyr, if that is relevant."
Quasziel looks over to Mingzhu. "For now what you mortals should do is keep working to get out of here. You should at least be able to comprehend that. Now if you are done whining, we have work to do."
Mingzhu replies, “At least you two function within a group. this so-called angel can’t seem to get it.”
"If you were less impudent and more cooperative and understanding of your situation mortals, then you would find that I do get it." Quasziel says.
Zarasszia looks over. "I believe that he is far too used to commanding respect among mortals just for being a Celestial."
Xrochdyr hisses, "It might have helped before if he ‘actually’ behaved like one."
Quasziel looks over to Xrochdyr "Your taunting is meaningless, fiend. Only corrupted mortals would listen to those such as you."
T’kharr shakes her head, “Respect is something that cannot be commanded."
Fwangzhu snorts, "Well ripping his fucking wings off is still an option if he keeps giving us shit, right?"
“Maybe you should consider your own situation without us you stay right where you are. I, Balan, and T'kharr can create food forever or just leave your sorry ass right here Quasziel. How about we do that.” Mingzhu retorts.
Quasziel looks over at Mingzhu. "You cannot and will not command me, Mortal."
Enraged Mingzhu states, “I want a feather from that angel.”
Silgara sighs, "Well, I can't put him in a binding circle. Regardless I am hoping that sending him back to Mount Celestia might end up repairing whatever spiritual damage he has taken."
Quasziel looks over to Mingzhu "And I will not give you one."
“Zsikhou, can you get a feather from it?” Mingzhu asks.
T’kharr tries to make the shamaness see some sense. She shakes her head at Mingzhu in a pleading way. Zsikhou gets out an unholy dagger. T’kharr almost pleads with the two, “Probably best not to aggravate them.”
Mingzhu retorts, “He’s already aggravated me.”
Quasziel looks at Zsikhou. "If you do attack me evil mortal I will have no qualms with smiting you." One of his hands goes to his greatsword.
Xrochdyr huffs, flexing his wings. "Aggravating as he is right now, we might still require him to get out of this complex. Unless you believe there is too large of a betrayal risk."
T'kharr steps between Zsikhou and Quasziel. "Stop, both of you, or else you both wind up on a dinner plate."
Zsikhou looks up to T'kharr, then slides the dagger away. "Fine."
Mingzhu says, “It’s alright, Zsikhou. Now we know the angel fears.”
Quasziel looks to T'kharr, annoyed. "You should know better than to threaten me, mortal. But clearly you do not." Then he looks at Mingzhu. "Do not think I fear you, mortals. But I will not allow myself to be sullied or attacked by an evil mortal."
"Anyway" T’kharr looks around for where they can head from here. "Shall we head back into the inner ring, or?"
Mingzhu smiles, “It’s alright Quasziel… I know your name. That should be enough.”
Xrochdyr looks over, "I expect there's another section now unlocked that we could not go to before. If the layout on this place is consistent, then the levers are all on the outer ring. I expect the lever room Zarasszia could enter can still only be entered by her, or we can go to the new path."
Calmed down a bit, Mingzhu studies the situation. “We should clear out this section then go to the new section. we should leave nothing that can use the situation to get behind us.”
Xrochdyr points left of where they entered the current room. "Should be that way. We don't know what's there, so stay sharp, sssk."
Mingzhu looks at the rest. “I said my peace. Anyone wish to take other options?”
T’kharr reasons it out. “Ah. Let’s clear out this section, yes, then move onto the next." The companions head back in to clear out the rest of this section. That is if there is anything left to be done before heading back to the outer ring.
Zsikhou gets the jump on it and tries to strike it twice with his Siangham. The weapon does no damage. Silgara casts Grease on the floor. The Marut falls down in a prone position. Zsikhou tries to use that as an opportunity but slides by it like an ice skater before he can strike. Fwangzhu goes into a rage and strikes out with his halberd. He shears the knuckle bolts off of its left hand. Mingzhu casts Prayer on the group. Balan drives his blade into its knee but only catches metal he cant seem to break through to the wiring. Nor’vee shoots at it. Two bolts bounce off the Marut’s armor and one goes into an elbow gap. Sparks fly out of the hole.
The Marut attempts to get up. Balan and Fwangzhu take the opportunity to strike it again, but their weapons simply bounce off its metal pieces. However, the sheer weight of the blows puts it on its back. T’kharr casts Bless on the group. Quasziel looks over with some disdain, shaking his head, but not involving himself in the fight. "How disappointing, mortals."
Again, Zsikhou tries to chip away at the machine with his weapon. It hardly damages the outer surface. Fwangzhu takes another swing with his axe hitting it this time in the shoulder. Sparks and grinding sounds come out of the seam that he hit. Balan again tries to strike a gap in the knee, but his mark is off and the sword bounces off the knee cap harmlessly. Mingzhu dumps her canteen and casts Animate Water. A small water elemental is formed. She tells it to get inside and rust everything. Balan steps back several feet. He sheathes his sword and draws out his bow. Nor’vee shoots a bolt into its neck. More grinding of gears can be heard.
The Marut again tries to get up but both Zsikhou and Fwangzhu are ready. They both strike it. Fizzing and popping sounds issue from the depths of its body. Static electricity starts to spark all over it. T’kharr bonks it with her staff. It does nothing. Zsikhou stabs it again to almost no effect. Fwangzhu manages to bury his halberd deep in its chest. The Marut vibrates while the sounds of gears grinding against each other start to slow down. There is a huge crushing noise deep within its chest then the whole of it stops with a vivid smell of ozone mixed with gear oil smelling up the room. The Marut is destroyed.
Mingzhu dispels her water elemental. Quasziel scowls at everyone as the Marut is destroyed. "Well mortals, by your greed and disrespect for cosmic order, you have destroyed a servant of law."
Mingzhu looks him straight in the eye, “Your next if you don’t shape up.”
T’kharr sighs, “Well, it wouldn't let us take the time to address the situation properly."
"And what gives you the right to threaten me, mortal? Your arrogance shows." Quasziel sneers "I gave you mortals a way out."
“I’m tired of your own arrogance angel. We should contain you forever down in this dungeon. Silgara, can you do that?” Mingzhu asks while still looking at the celestial.
"I'm afraid I do not know the planar binding spell." Silgara says.
Zsikhou looks over. "I can always execute the angel if it is warranted."
Quasziel looks over. "And there you let your true colors show if you would side with an evil mortal over a servant of the heavens."
“You’re no servant of the heavens. Not anymore, and it shows.” The shamaness retorts.
"You have no place to make such a judgement, mortal." Quasziel says. Now that the Marut is gone, they can see what looks like a latticework of gears on the wall behind where the Marut stood. "In any event, it is done now. I expect there will be consequences for your actions, mortals." Quasziel says, "But for now, I still need to escape this place." He goes to grab one of the gears from the fallen Marut, then place it in the gearwork wall, a panel slides open and opens what looks like a lever.
Mingzhu watches and comments, “Could this be the way to bring the inner doors open?”
"Yes, this is one of the outer locks. If what I saw from before is accurate, two remain." Quasziel pulls the lever, shutting down the wards near this particular section.
"Funny how the angel knows just what gear to put into a device he supposedly has never seen before." Mingzhu comments accusingly.
"I did not say I could not be here before, Mortal. I said I could not resolve this myself." Quasziel says.
Eventually, Xrochdyr and Zarasszia enter the chamber. Xrochdyr's claws have some fresh blood on them.
T’kharr studies the devil. “Had to deal with an interruption of your own?"
Xrochdyr flexes his claws and stretches his wings "Ran into some maurezhi (a form of ghoul). Dealt with easily enough."
Zarasszia looks around, noting the trashed construct, then looks over "I see the wards are down, so I presume you were successful in what you set out to do here."
Mingzhu kicks the dead Marut. “We had to kill it as it wanted to kill three of the group.” Zarasszia looks over, then shrugs
"Aye, it was not able to explain the situation fully either. I will have to make inquiry with the Lord on the Rack in my next morn's prayers to understand what the heck it was prattling on about." T’kharr says.
Xrochdyr huffs, tail flicking "Not my first time dealing with Inevitables. The dumb things are so fixated on their instructions to the exact letter that they end up breaking what they're supposed to be doing more often than not." Xrochdyr raises an eye ridge, then shrugs "Welcome to dealing with Inevitables, then."
He looks over. "Perhaps I might be able to explain it? If you told me what happened."
Quasziel huffs, "We should not waste time consorting with fiends more than necessary."
Mingzhu says, “Well, the machine said that Balan, Silgara and Zsikhou were in violation of some rule it said a number. Avoiding death or something.”
T’kharr fills the rest in. “Aye, it refused to explain what situation put them in violation despite more than one inquiry by me into it. 7538-C was what it stated the party members were in violation of though.”
Xrochdyr looks at Mingzhu. "Marut Inevitables are supposed to enforce the laws on life and death. If they detect that a mortal has cheated death, they are dispatched to kill the mortal." He considers, thinking. "Of course they have a very specific, and oftentimes unrealistic perspective of what constitutes as cheating death..." He pauses, thinking, then huffs, “I'm familiar with that subsection and its clauses. Illegal method of revival or avoidance of death. Or in layman's terms, where someone or something interceded on your behalf to prevent death where it should have occurred."
"Or in other words, whoever interceded to save you screwed up their celestial paperwork? Given that none of the party are undead..." T’kharr states.
Mingzhu turns to her. “Is that so. Can we beat the ever-living crap out of the celestial if this is true? He tried to subvert Balan’s, Zsikhou’s, and Silgara’s wills by trying to make them pledge into his service.”
"According to the Inevitables, the avenues for mortals returning to life are extremely specific. If anyone goes outside those defined terms, then they're considered ‘in violation.’" He shrugs, "As in one is supposed to utilize proper forms of resurrection magic and not overstep or skip in requirements. And there are also laws for certain planar beings or entities in meddling with mortal affairs, such that if one intercedes and bypasses those requirements, then they and the mortal in question are in violation." He then considers, looking at the circle. "That or the Marut was simply mis-assessing, it's containment circle is broken, meaning that at some level it likely embraced chaos." Then huffs, then looks over to Quasziel, narrowing his eyes "That is.... /technically/ a remedy.... it's also something that would make most baatezu jealous. That is not something to be proud of." He hisses.
Zsikhou looks over to Mingzhu, then to Quasziel "Do you want this Celestial dead? Will carry it out. Right now, if you like."
T’kharr rubs her muzzle. “That was definitely a possibility I was considering. Had it been willing to give us the time to do so, I would have beseeched the Broken God to dispatch a unit from Mechanus directly to assess the situation and make any repairs needed."
Mingzhu smirks, “So, the angel is no better than a yokai like you then Xrochdyr?”
Quasziel glares. "You were in breach of cosmic law, and unlike this fiend who has broken it, I still have respect for it. And I offered you a way out, and instead you chose to strike down an enforcer of cosmic law out of selfishness. Do not judge me."
Xrochdyr huffs, "I expect I have done many, many more evils than this Celestial has." A flex of his claw, looking at Quasziel squarely. "It should not be a contest!" He hisses "Grah, just another reason cosmic law is a bad joke, always just ruins everything." He then looks over to T'kharr "Word of advice? Don't rely on beings from Mechanus. They're entirely inflexible and unless you know their procedures inside and out, it won't turn out well. Not because they're inherently malicious but because they're too devoted to following a broken system that it's just going to end in ruin."
Mingzhu then looks at the group. “What are we going to do about the angel. It’s obviously broken too.”
Zarasszia looks over to Mingzhu. "As am I and Xrochdyr, if that is relevant."
Quasziel looks over to Mingzhu. "For now what you mortals should do is keep working to get out of here. You should at least be able to comprehend that. Now if you are done whining, we have work to do."
Mingzhu replies, “At least you two function within a group. this so-called angel can’t seem to get it.”
"If you were less impudent and more cooperative and understanding of your situation mortals, then you would find that I do get it." Quasziel says.
Zarasszia looks over. "I believe that he is far too used to commanding respect among mortals just for being a Celestial."
Xrochdyr hisses, "It might have helped before if he ‘actually’ behaved like one."
Quasziel looks over to Xrochdyr "Your taunting is meaningless, fiend. Only corrupted mortals would listen to those such as you."
T’kharr shakes her head, “Respect is something that cannot be commanded."
Fwangzhu snorts, "Well ripping his fucking wings off is still an option if he keeps giving us shit, right?"
“Maybe you should consider your own situation without us you stay right where you are. I, Balan, and T'kharr can create food forever or just leave your sorry ass right here Quasziel. How about we do that.” Mingzhu retorts.
Quasziel looks over at Mingzhu. "You cannot and will not command me, Mortal."
Enraged Mingzhu states, “I want a feather from that angel.”
Silgara sighs, "Well, I can't put him in a binding circle. Regardless I am hoping that sending him back to Mount Celestia might end up repairing whatever spiritual damage he has taken."
Quasziel looks over to Mingzhu "And I will not give you one."
“Zsikhou, can you get a feather from it?” Mingzhu asks.
T’kharr tries to make the shamaness see some sense. She shakes her head at Mingzhu in a pleading way. Zsikhou gets out an unholy dagger. T’kharr almost pleads with the two, “Probably best not to aggravate them.”
Mingzhu retorts, “He’s already aggravated me.”
Quasziel looks at Zsikhou. "If you do attack me evil mortal I will have no qualms with smiting you." One of his hands goes to his greatsword.
Xrochdyr huffs, flexing his wings. "Aggravating as he is right now, we might still require him to get out of this complex. Unless you believe there is too large of a betrayal risk."
T'kharr steps between Zsikhou and Quasziel. "Stop, both of you, or else you both wind up on a dinner plate."
Zsikhou looks up to T'kharr, then slides the dagger away. "Fine."
Mingzhu says, “It’s alright, Zsikhou. Now we know the angel fears.”
Quasziel looks to T'kharr, annoyed. "You should know better than to threaten me, mortal. But clearly you do not." Then he looks at Mingzhu. "Do not think I fear you, mortals. But I will not allow myself to be sullied or attacked by an evil mortal."
"Anyway" T’kharr looks around for where they can head from here. "Shall we head back into the inner ring, or?"
Mingzhu smiles, “It’s alright Quasziel… I know your name. That should be enough.”
Xrochdyr looks over, "I expect there's another section now unlocked that we could not go to before. If the layout on this place is consistent, then the levers are all on the outer ring. I expect the lever room Zarasszia could enter can still only be entered by her, or we can go to the new path."
Calmed down a bit, Mingzhu studies the situation. “We should clear out this section then go to the new section. we should leave nothing that can use the situation to get behind us.”
Xrochdyr points left of where they entered the current room. "Should be that way. We don't know what's there, so stay sharp, sssk."
Mingzhu looks at the rest. “I said my peace. Anyone wish to take other options?”
T’kharr reasons it out. “Ah. Let’s clear out this section, yes, then move onto the next." The companions head back in to clear out the rest of this section. That is if there is anything left to be done before heading back to the outer ring.