Tyler

I'm waiting on @Pasion Pasiva who I believe is waiting on @Roen.

I will have to follow this since I'm trying to follow as much of the Ursa Madeum drama as possible. Because one day, they will all be my pawns.

Nikki Stratton: A Lovecraftian fangirl with a mutated dragon eye who has an insanity-inducing demigod screwing with her mind.

@Aleksei Alright, I think that's it. Twas a good thread!

Cedric took the crystal and nodded, figuring it would be a useful item to have. He quickly slipped it into a pouch attached to his cloak, which he now wore again since they were in a public place. "Thank you again, Cedric. You stay safe as well, and I look forward to us meeting again - soon, hopefully." the elf bid farewell. The armored mutant watched her as she turned and strode away, feeling like he was watching the woman walk off into the sunset, never to be seen again. But she had a means of communication with him now, so that feeling was probably unfounded. "Until then." he said after her, keeping his own goodbye short and simple. As she moved out of earshot, the minion climbed back onto the wagon, where his master awaited him. Cedric could tell Rodan did not approve of the budding emotional connection, however little it had yet progressed. Still, the Mutator had seen fit to trust both Cedric and Shanti, which was remarkable given the Triumvirate's recent debacles that resulted trusting the wrong people. "Her success or failure will reflect on you, Cedric, remember that." Rodan spoke, "I will not suffer another unpunished betrayal." "She won't betray us. Whether she is able to help us or not remains to be seen, but I'm confident her heart is in the right place." Cedric answered, "I accept responsibility for whatever happens." "As it should be." Rodan nodded. Cedric looked away from his master and took up the reins of the horses. As the cart rolled out of town, the mutant looked back at Shanti, just as she stepped out of his line-of-sight. He wished he could have thanked her more for her help at the festival, for her support and assistance in rescuing the survivors that were now with them. But he'd have to settle for uttering a soft "thank you" under his breath as the cart turned the corner, to reveal the long road home stretching out before it...

@Abigail666 You'll have to correct me if I'm wrong, but I interpreted your post as meaning that Persephone re-entered the building and is back on the upper level inside, same as where Cal just arrived.

Persephone found the access corridor itself empty, though by the time she reached the interior entrance to the office room, she would find a pair of guards standing on either side of the door. One had a double-barreled shotgun, the other a shortened lever-action carbine. They seemed on edge, probably a result of all the commotion going on around them, which meant they'd be harder to sneak up on. "You hear that?" one of them whispered. "Naw, I heard nothin'." the other shook his head. "Serious, I swore I heard a gunshot inside the building!" the first man gulped. "If ya right, then ya best shut up and watch that thar hallway." the second man pointed down the hall, in the opposite direction as were the vampire woman would be approaching from. There was a couple seconds of silence, before suddenly the entire building went wild with industrial alarms, blaring from nearly ever corner of the structure. The two guards raised their weapons into firing position, but neither had a target just yet... The mercenary who had just arrived on the scene hesitated a moment in confusion, then hastily threw his arms in the air. "You son of a bitch!" he exclaimed, eyes wide as he gazed down at his comrade's shattered face, "Shit! Don't shoot, please!" He quickly threw the rifle off his shoulder, then backed away. His eyes darted side to side, looking for the easiest route of a escape, but he didn't make a move to run just yet. At least not until alarms started to blare inside the building. They were old, industrial alarms, but alarms nonetheless, and it was apparent somebody had figured out the building had been infiltrated.

@Aleksei I skipped ahead just a little, hope you don't mind.

"You are now bound by that promise, Cedric." She seemed fairly confident in that statement, as though she elected to believe that the odds weren't as against them as they clearly were. The optimism in the woman was impressive, though perhaps it was merely naivety. Either way, he didn't intend to disappoint her, should they cross paths again, or at least he wouldn't by breaking the promise. He couldn't guarantee the experience would be at all enjoyable with him in this form, however. The woman then responded to his inquiry about her intentions, for which the response was far more vague and uncertain. Her quest seemed to take great precedence, even if she didn't seem to know just where it would lead her. Despite her mild manners and apparent lack of martial skill, Shanti struck Cedric as a far braver woman that most would give her credit for, or she herself would admit. It took a different level of brave for a person to work toward goals or stand up for beliefs when they hardly had the power to confidently know they could defeat the opposition in their path. "I wish you well on your mission." Cedric gave her a light head-bow, the least he could do to show respect for her determination. He looked back to the wagon, where Rodan was still healing wounds and pitching his cause to the survivors. No doubt the Triumvir would want to provide Shanti with instruction before they left. Thus, the mutant led the woman back to the Mutator, who provided Shanti a piece of parchment with directions to a small number of locations where she could send people she thought could make potential recruits. One of the those locations was this very tree grove, in fact. Rodan promised he'd have agents at each place to help lead the people back to him. Following that, the group departed on the wagon, taking Shanti a short distance down the road to a small village, where she would be able to acquire transport elsewhere. Here was where they were to part-ways. "It is a dangerous world to travel alone." Cedric stated, as both he and her stepped off the wagon, "Take care of yourself."

@Bkfootball No rush yet, just letting you know you're currently up.

@Abigail666 @LightningBolt @PandaHat Another reminder to all hands that any one of you is free to post when you can.

Ooo 😣 And here I thought 8-10 hour drives were bad.

@Aleksei Hey, probably just a couple more posts and we'll be done. You think?

I'll start with my most well-known character: Rodan Allagi: Just don't let him touch you!