thebastion | Day 309 (Closed)

Day 309 (Closed)

Who: Colin, Mitellux
Open: Closed
When: Day 309 (Go Go Super Backdate!)
Where: The Dragon's Swamp
What: Introductions to the apex predator
Format: Action
Warnings: Colin Starfury.

[Colin had noticed the new land out on the edge of the Bastion when it was first brought into being. It's hard NOT to notice that sort of thing when you're paying attention to energy use in your precariously floating city.]

[That said, making his way out here to introduce himself had been something worth delaying. The newbie was a dragon, definitely territorial. She'd need time to establish her new territory and get comfortable with it, especially given how close it was to Paarthurnax's land.]

[Still, now that a week had past, Colin decides that it's high time to make his introductions. If nothing else, making sure a dragon knows you is important when things go bad. It can make the difference between being an evacuee, and a ready source of calories if the situation called for it.]

[With his family ties, Colin knows full well how to conduct himself near Dragons' territory. Paarthurnax doesn't mind his presence, but the new girl? That was almost certainly another story. So here he is, stopping at the edge of her swamp, where the ground isn't even wet. He sits down with a small bag of projects to work on, and he starts working. She'll either ignore him, or her territorial curiosity will make her wonder who this little punk is, working so close to her territory. Colin is patient, he can keep himself occupied no matter if she decides to check him out or not.]

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[Mitellux initially observed from some distance away. After all, it was suspicious that some... elf, was it? An elf with a stature somewhat unusual for that brand of humanoid just sat at the edge of her territory to work on something]

[There were a number of reasons she could mull over why he was there, but scouting out the area at least determined that there was no ambush waiting for her]

[After an hour or so, she finally emerged from the waters near the visitor]

You have picked an... unusual location to work on your contraptions.

Just side projects, curiosities.

[Her bio signature was hard to miss, so when she emerged, it wasn't enough to surprise him.]

Just needed something to keep my hands and mind busy while I waited. I wanted to introduce myself to you without intruding.

[He gives her a lopsided smirk, and he starts putting away his tools now that she's here.]

An introduction, is it?

[Her voice is guarded, devoid of emotion; though her body was tense, ready in case this turned out to be less than friendly]

Very well. My name is Mitellux. And you would be...?

Colin Starfury, engineer, pest of the Bastion, and sole surviving representative of the Corsican Empire in this universe.

[The smirk turns to a smile, and he bows his head in greeting.]

It's nice to meet you, Mitellux. I'd heard you'd been living out on the Skyway for a while now.

[Mitellux let out a small snort (vaguely amused, perhaps?) at Colin's introduction. Pest?]

If we are giving out titles, then I suppose I would be the sole survivor of Imperius Draconis.

What you have heard is correctly, Starfury. I have been living on my own for a short duration.

[... of course, 'short' is a relative term and... Mitellux is an old dragon, even though she appears to only be in the 'mature adult' age range. Colin's bio scans might pick up that she doesn't age??]

[Alas, his scanners aren't that good. If she were a mechanical construct it would be another story, but his biological sensory abilities are basically limited to detecting life and vague medical information.]

[Still, she's being friendly enough for now.]

No need for the titles, I just figured you'd appreciate knowing my origins and my general disposition around here.

[He gestures back towards the rest of the Bastion idly.]

I'm relieved as always to see another survivor, especially one so able to survive out there. It's a refreshing change compared to those we usually get.

Hopefully the place has been agreeing with you?

[Obviously she saw something to it, since she decided to stay, but that would just be rude to point out.]

As agreeable as the last bastion of safety can be after my world has been decimated by this 'Calamity' I have heard about.

[... that... may be some vague emotional pain in her voice, but it's really well guarded to tell for sure]

... so there are many who lack combat experience in this place? But there are certainly enough that I find myself wondering why those lacking would accompany expeditions into obviously dangerous territory.

Sounds about right.

[Yep, he's not gonna hide his own discomfort, that's quite a heavy sigh he's letting out.]

There aren't many people here that I'd say could handle themselves if it came down to it. We've got lots of athletically capable people, mind you. More than enough to do heavy lifting and difficult terrain traversal. More than enough to defend the place if it came down to it. But to accompany expeditions? We can't spread our strength too thin.

Many of the survivors here are just ordinary people, never even lifted a weapon in their lives. Civvies, non-combatants. They've gotta find their way to live.

Edited 2015-06-24 22:00 (UTC)

It would be too much to ask that all of the survivors of the Calamity are those with combat experience, unfortunately.

Still, allowing an untrained individual to be part of a team that is expecting danger is only inviting disaster. I have seen it before, from both foe and ally.

There's a saying amongst the Mrrshan. "We join the hunt with the clan we have, not with the clan we want."

I certainly wouldn't turn down having some better informed survivors here, but that just isn't the case. Those of us who are capable cannot carry the weight of the inept alone.

[He shakes his head.]

Believe me, I've already gauged those we have. I know the ones who will put us in true danger if they join an expedition.

...

[Mitellux just looks at Colin, weighing his words but... really, when it came down to it, this was their first meeting. The dragon had very little knowledge of Colin to judge the worth of what the engineer had to say]

... regardless, my area of expertise is more in relation to exploiting such weaknesses rather than correcting them. I would like if your long term analysis of the fighters of this Bastion holds more water than the one time sample I have observed of a particular individual, but that remains to be seen.

Edited 2015-06-25 07:46 (UTC)

You'll have time, assuming you have the patience. You've met the party that went out, and I assume by now you've seen Paarthurnax. That's a fairly good sampling thus far, though there are still quite a few... ah... outliers.

[He smiles.]

I'm sure you can formulate your own opinions without me trying to influence them. Besides, I've hardly got room to talk. Half the Bastion would rather I fall off the edge of the skyway, while the other half couldn't picture living without me.

[the dragon lets out a snort at that]

When people from different worlds are forced to band together, it's only inevitable that you would find many disagreeable with you.

... has there been any actual hostile action taken amongst the residents here?

Edited 2015-06-25 19:47 (UTC)

Nothing overt.

Plenty covert.

[Colin's definitions of BOTH of those words may be somewhat skewed.]

Most of the inhabitants of this place can co-exist with each other, barring the occasional dustup.

I would be lying, however, if I said everything was fine. There's at least one saboteur in our midst who we have been unable to track down.

A saboteur, in this sort of situation?

[She narrowed her eyes slightly at that]

This sort of problem should be corrected as soon as possible. Perhaps I may be able to assist in sorting out this problem.

At least one. I'd bet plenty that it's at least a duo.

But whoever it is, they're careful. A little sloppy in execution, but they're taking great pains to avoid being caught in the act.

[He sighs, and he smiles.]

If you want to help, I wouldn't turn it down. My own lodgings are a fortress, but the rest of the Bastion is substantially less well guarded. The apartments have been broken into, as has the storage shack. And I suspect there've been issues in places that haven't been observed.

[He keeps a VERY close eye on the farm and the monument, but those don't seem to be the targets anyway.]

Edited 2015-06-25 20:07 (UTC)

Have you already had any skilled with tracking assist in this endeavor yet? If not, I may be able to discern a lead... assuming that there are any recent break-ins that have not already been tampered with.

I've had our resident vampire try, but we've lost the trail each time.

[Yep, he's a little annoyed by that one.]

There hasn't been anything recently that I know of, sadly.

What can you tell me of what the saboteur, or saboteurs, have done so far?

Home invasion and theft, primarily. They broke into and ransacked the Bastion's caretaker's home in search of documents that had fortunately been moved just beforehand.

There have also been plenty of objects lifted in the dead of night. Most recently, a week ago, while the expedition was out meeting you, our compasses had been taken and thrown over the edge of the Bastion.

[He gestures off in the distance, towards the edge of the side. And yes, he's phrasing it like this purposely. He KNOWS dragons don't like thieves and intruders in general...]

[Mitellux even more so than most dragons. It was even one of her distinct duties to track down the rare humanoids that thought it'd be a smart idea to try to grab some of a dragon's hoard and run in a world that was ruled over by the dragons themselves]

Do you have any leads as of yet? Likely suspects?

My suspicion is Mancer survivors. I don't know whether or not you've heard of them yet, but they're the intellectually bankrupt think tank that caused the calamity in the first place.

At present, they're the only ones that I can imagine to have motive to steal documents of this sort and to try to sabotage efforts in the Bastion.

That doesn't mean they're the only possibility, nobody here is innocent by any measure of the word. But they're the ones I consider most likely. Unfortunately... I haven't been able to get any proof to back up my suspicions. They've been very careful to hide anything that could tie back to them.

I have... kept largely to myself for some time since assisting in helping transport the core to the Bastion, so no, I know very little about these "Mancers". Who amongst the inhabitants would claim to be part of this group?

The only one here who is definitely a Mancer is Nathan. He's the aforementioned caretaker. He's young, he was an apprentice just before the calamity. It's unlikely that he ransacked his own room, but it's not impossible. I don't think it's him though, most of what's getting taken belongs to him.

[There's a thought... It may be worth investigating since most of what's happening IS tied directly to Nathan.]

Otherwise, nobody has claimed ties to them. We've just seen signs that there's likely at least one of them still alive. Tracks and tampering at an old Mancer facility. Active machines that shouldn't be active.

If he's the one being targeted... is there anybody that would have reason to dislike these 'Mancers'? Or this Nathan specifically, has anybody shown antagonistic behavior toward him?

[She won't pursue the other line of thought about the facility. She didn't feel she could gain much more information concerning that]

Nathan and Zulf have been at each others' throats a fair amount. There's racism so heavy between the Caelondians and the Ura that you could bog down a hill giant with it.

But I don't think it's Zulf, he's got a vested interest in the Bastion's well-being.

The problem is, we don't have enough information to really give a solid clue to who could be doing this. I've been discreetly trying to find this waste of genetic material for over two months now.

[H-haha Mitellux knows lots about racism. Specism?]

... this Zulf... are there any more of his kind that resides within the Bastion?

[The unspoken statement there implying that she has no clue which of the two are Caelondian or Ura]

There are a small handful of them, yes.

Zulf is the dour one you'll see smoking out on the edge of the Bastion. Good sort, just... he's had a lot of things go wrong in his life.

There's also Zayna and Zahi. I like Zahi, but he's a soldier. A GOOD one. Smart. If he's an enemy, he wouldn't show it. I'm definitely trying to keep an eye on him, but I can only do so much.

Zayna is his daughter, also a soldier. But she is... less refined, less collected. Definitely more overtly unkind, but whether or not she could do this, I have no idea. They brought some of our wounded here when they first arrived.

We also had a group of Ura arrive here after negotiations with their camp, but they arrived AFTER our problems started.

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Day 309 (Closed)

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