Matt Attacks

07-11-2020: Game Thirty-One: Matt Attacks
 
There was magic in this world once, but they stole it all away.
 
The brothers still had at least two days of travel to reach Humus since they were traveling only by night. Astride their steeds, they noticed a massive shadow closing in with the moonlight above. Subtly craning their heads, they noticed that a young Roc was following them. Something would have to be done.
 
They attempted to guide their mounts lower, but Koffi was thoroughly unsuccessful and separated from the group. Lyle led a charge upwards to save his friend, Jetto studied the big bird looking for a weakness as he turned. Abel tossed a Bola into space, shifting towards the bird as well. Senna convinced their vampiric friend to try to scare off the bird, or perhaps use his mental talents to persuade it to depart: She sang a song of battle turning her bird around as well.
 
Koffi smashed the enormous bird with his morningstar, striking a vicious blow but not quite getting it to back off. Pyotr attempted to use his mental abilities as Sennas mount closed in, taking some time to get a handle on the strange mind of a beast the size of this one: who he still had trouble believing in.
 
Lyle charged forward, piercing the heart of the beast with his mighty glaive. His vicious blow radiated some healing energies to the injured mount of Koffi, and the bird was nearly struck senseless by the violence of the impact. Jetto rushed in, creepy arms extending and lashing out at the injured beast: pummeling at the already injured hide. Abel took aim and hurled a javelin with all his might, and although it was a good hit it didn’t end up doing much damage in the end.
 
Pyotr decided against trying to contact its mind again, noting how angry it was. It had decided to leave the brothers, but the brothers had not quite finished with it. A series of vicious blows, and it was raining down blood and feathers on the ground beneath. The brothers were able to safely land and prepare to spend the next day sleeping. They set watches, through the day passed with relative ease. There was a great deal of Bird meat to be eaten, and fresh!
 
The next night, the brothers were closing in on the borders of the Trolloch federation. They unfortunately did not speak the language they were initially spoken to in (Giant), but when they noticed the fully loaded electric Ballistae stations being pointed in their direction they halted their flight. In common, eventually the trolls manning the wall asked for the purpose of this incursion into their airspace.
 
The troll jumped off the wall, shattering his legs in the process for an unnecessary demonstration of their abilities to regenerate. Senna produced the Ring Installation letter, and he inspected it noting how it was sealed with the official insignia of Barlizzar. They were given clearance and travel papers to fly directly to the city of Humus, no stops allowed in between.
 
A short flight later, they found themselves over the city of Humus. Long-since used to desert conditions, the dancing water lights in the central plaza were mesmerizing to say the least. The brothers made their way to the Air port dodging various ships, creatures, and beings which didn’t especially care about dodging some yokels from out of the country. Several harried minutes later they had landed and secured their hippogriffs in a convenient stable.
 
Opportunities were simply greater here than they were in the city of Barlizzar: More traffic came through, the people were more varied, and all sorts of different food and drinks (in more than one sense) were available to those who were looking for them. Business went on day and night in the city of Humus where strange sculptures, machines, and installations sat atop almost every building taking measurements of traffic, weather, and myriad other things scientists in the area were studying.
 
The brothers had to dodge various ‘recruitment drives’ from laboratories they passed who were always looking for unwitting foreign subjects to experiment upon. Even in the night, the city was lit up by thousands of lights, and they were refreshed by a constant drizzle of cool rain.
 
A drunken man approached the group, breaking out in song. His songs were quite raunchy and mostly directed at Senna, who brushed him off after a few digs for information about the local population.
 
They found themselves in a richly decorated plaza, frescoes of different corporations circled around the outer edge of the plaza: Clearly a perk of high-value investment in the program. The brothers decided that their own insignia, a bandolier bristling with potential would be the very next to be installed.
 
A foul-mouthed, poor-mannered fellow who Senna recognized as Old-Guard Jymlund nobility attempted to stir up some trouble with the brothers. Senna disarmed the situation with a lovely duet with a local bard as her accompaniment.
 
A circle of armored soldiers with magical staves stood around a central table where a lavishly adorned merchant sat doing her business, while her minions counted gold at a nearby table carefully stacking and setting them into metal cases. Their serpent-guard helmets seemed of high quality, as did their armor and staves.
 
Pyotr wanded off into the streets, following a drunken old man who had spoken against this ‘foreign incursion’ into their ‘pristine country’. Drunken old fool was apparently tasty.
 
They heard about At least thirteen different groups claiming to be rightful ruler of Jymlund, All three Corporations from the Ashlands, A delegation of orcs and a delegation of dwarves from Tauk Savuruk, Old-Guard Jymlund nobles, Old Masters of the Shattered collective, Sentient machines, Several nobles from the Giovan Dunes, and various other fringe groups. Essentially everyone interested in a piece of the Ring-Gate action (or simply private access) was here to get in on the ground floor.
 
Jetto wandered off and heard about the ‘opportunity of a lifetime’, a ‘miracle tonic’, for a very modest fee he too could partake of this modern marvel: A serum which would surely cause some serious personal growth.
 
After a brief investigation he learned that it was an attempt to conscript him into the Behemoth corporations armies. Not wanting to sacrifice his freedom for a frivolous experiment, he elected to inspect his alternatives.
 
The Jyymlund noble left the plaza sullenly, somewhat satisfied. Senna and her random bard companion berated him with a very insulting song as he left the area.
 
A pale human woman sat at the central plaza bristling with Jafaa.
 
Senna led her brothers to the group and offered the down payment for startup, and offered a little extra in order to get bumped up in the order. Their questions were answered in terms of timelines, upkeep, costs and taxation opportunities. A ‘Jafaa tech specialist’ would be kept on site at each location for any technological needs. As it turns out the ‘Jafaa’ were a group of well-trained soldiers, who claimed to be but were in fact not actually the creators of this technology. She seemed to know the nature of Pyotr as well, at which he was a bit surprised.
 
They negotiated ‘moving up a tier’ in investment levels, with a potential cost in gold or perhaps Krimsonite gems: “The tears of the crimson king “. A brief diplomatic chat later, she revealed a bit more about the technology although most of it went over the brothers heads. Apparently she was the daughter of some incredibly powerful fellow known as Joe. The female Jafaa present was not happy with all the information she was offering, but Senna convinced her to share a little more.
 
She was excited to learn about the services the Bandolier brothers could offer in lieu of simply offering gold pieces. They offered a more local sort of force than armoured snake soldiers trampling around on the local population. She finally offered her name as well: Penelope.
 
She offered nicknames for all the Bravo Brothers: Mr Fantastic, Iron Man, Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, Ten-Foot-Pole, and DEVO.
 
Jetto asked for a demonstration of ‘her immense powers’, and she obliged him. Penelope put her hand on Jettos head, dug through his thoughts and carved a window into the air. Shortly thereafter a picture of the forest where the alpha brothers had gone appeared, and she started gesturing to the left and right. She suggested their bosses were dead since it was just a tomb. Then she indicated they were not currently available due to their being ‘off-plane’. She offered a rolled up message along with a candle for nightly communication attached, and Penelope threw it through the window: they saw it land. One problem solved.
 
She continued to go on about how she was no longer able to teach anyone that was here on the world, since it was just so good (how effectively magic had been stolen from all those present).
 
Able continued to pantomime and act like a monkey for his own amusement. A man selling bananas approached him, offering his wares.
 
The bandolier brothers had met a powerful new potential ally, and the potential for future growth at this point was hard to put into words. Who knew where it would lead.