[video]

[marmoron]

[The image on the feed is shaky and improperly focused at first on the ground.]

I need help. Medical and otherwise.

[Keith’s voice is terse, strained. The camera moves fo focus on an injured Steak. His coat has been tattered to shreds by their attackers, blood pouring from his ever exposed abdomen, puncture wounds bitten into his sides. Though he’s currently breathing, applying pressure to one of the wounds in his side, he’s several shades paler than he’d like to be and his horns — and this is the most offensive part of all — have been slightly chipped at the tips.]

We were attacked by some weird tentacled creatures -- didn’t look like anything I’ve seen around this planet before. They were… [A beat, a sharp breath as he tries to gather his thoughts.] Sneaking around the temples. Working together. Intelligent. Didn’t want to be seen.

Someone else was there, too. He disappeared, looked like he was in bad shape. Anyone know where he is?

[The camera moves away from Steak, now focusing on Keith who has a fairly deep, bloody gash across his face.]

Are these things the Null? Or .. does anyone know what these creatures are? Seemed like they might’ve been using the stampede as cover to do some recon. Might’ve been able to mess with some emotions, hard to say.

[Steak clears his throat, straightening up as he does so. Most importantly:]

Their attacks are powerful, despite their size. [They’re certainly not as large as some of the Fallen Angels he’s come across at home] No one should fight them alone. [Or, perhaps, at all.]

Comments

audio

[fogsong]

[ It fucking figures. ]

Where'd you see them, which temple? Were they trying to get in? [ She understands there's some dire injuries here but information, given that Hope is gone, is the most important thing to get from them should they succumb. ] What kind of attacks did they employ and did they seem susceptible to anything?

[ She knows this may come off as callous but she's not trying to be. ]

audio

[marmoron]

[It doesn't offend him in the slightest. What does concern him is that apparently nobody seems to be able to tell him what the fuck they just fought. He thought for sure it'd be the Null, but...

But give him a moment. Broken rib and all, making breathing annoying and sharp.]

Hope's. Like I said... looked like they were sneaking around, trying to do recon. They had armored shells to protect 'em from most damage. Used their tentacles and beaks when they needed to attack. They're a lot faster than they look.

[There's a long pause as he catches his breath again.]

We could've probably taken 'em on if they didn't come as a team.

audio

[fogsong]

[ Sharon wonders if it's just luck they came across the strange creatures when and where they did and if there was a reason they were sniffing around Hope's temple in particular, especially given that he's currently gone. ]

Fast, beaks, armored, got it. [ It sounds like creatures that could cause damage if there's a large enough group and if it was a recon group like they assumed then there likely was a larger group. ]

So, what, you'd have taken one out if it'd been two... or three against one? [ That's not exactly confidence inducing. ] Did they run from you or you them? If we can get a direction they appeared to go, we might be able to set up a party to handle them.

[ and other people seem to be jumping to help them medically so she'll stick with her questioning. ]

[marmoron]

One-on-one might've been doable for a skilled fighter. They were coordinating attacks. Had surprise and numbers on their side.

[Vaguely, he's reminded of how the Blades operate in highly specialized teams on recon missions.]

They would've killed us if we didn't get out of there.

[In other words: no such luck on knowing exactly where they would have retreated to. And despite it all, Keith knows that information was valuable enough that attempting to follow them after teleporting to safety was probably worth it. Even with a broken rib and his other minor injuries... but that would have meant leaving Steak behind to fend for himself. As much as he knows this was the right call to make, there's a tinge of bitterness in his voice.]

Couldn't tell you how they got out.

[A beat.]

So nobody here knows what these things are?

[fogsong]

We're asking questions about them, so no. They could be creatures from the planet that the gods didn't know about due to the short amount of time they spent here. [ She'd bitch but now isn't exactly the time. ]

[marmoron]

[Can it truly be said that there are better times to bitch than when injured and miserable though... cuz Keith certainly will be.]

Do the gods have an control over where the door ends up taking the city? How'd that crap even start happening? Were they tryign to get away from the Null or did they just introduce more bullshit for the sake of it?

[fogsong]

It can be all boiled down to them trying to escape the Null, though it doesn't give them a pass on the shit they've done in their attempts. [ womp womp that's hypocritical of her to say when she's willing to do anything to harm them in return for the shit they've done. ] Fear opened the Door, I don't know, about three years ago when it was just down to him and Hope; they both needed people to draw off of to move themselves and bring back the other gods. Our most recent move was the first in which the Door was used instead of Fear.