Zephyrian
As they restock their supplies, the Nephilim waits by the exit. His Kitsune ally approaches him, her voice soft and calm as she asks, “How are you holding, Master Zephyrian?” Zephyrian smiles softly at her, before he says, “Well enough, our target is in reach, and we know of this hideout now, so we have a choice, my student. Continue with the ruse, or begin a different angle.” She begins to think on this fact, as the other three approach, having restocked their equipment. Zephyrian speaks as they near him, “We make a decision now, continue, or change approach one final time? They have definitely lost our tracks from the many times we have already changed our approach, but we have the opportunity to confuse them completely, if we have not lost them. They will search the soldiers for us, when we will instead be in position to strike.” His Sun Elf ally speaks with a malicious grin, “Your call Sir, we’re so close that they can’t stop us.”
Zephyrian looks at the others, and sees the same thoughts laid out clearly in their expressions. It was his call, and he knew what they had to do. “Get some proper gear, and drop the disguises. Better safe than sorry, when we can make one final twist for any Queendom Agents.” They each move away, heading to search for clothing and gear similar to their old outfits, which had been ditched to allow them to use the military uniforms. Zephyrian walked to a crate labeled “Light Armors”, and opened it, glancing down and into it. He smirked at the choices he now had, and he began pulling them out. Checking each. There was a leather breastplate, with one steel pauldron attached to it, a lot of colored gambesons, and a full leather cuirass with pauldrons.
He reaches for a dark blue gambeson, and the leather breastplate. He removed the military cloths, dropping the beret to the side with it. He kept the trousers, as they were not distinctly military despite being military issued. Putting on the articles, he continued to rummage through the crate, soon pulling out leather greaves, and putting them on instead of the clearly military boots. He walked away to another crate, this one reading “Caps”. Popping it open, he immediately saw his favorite style, one he couldn’t help but think made him look like some kind of beast-slaying hunter, born into a bloody world. He reaches down, taking the thin tyrolean hat with frayed ends and a disconnected flattened back. He sets it on his head, and refastens his sword and belt, ensuring he is well prepared for moving around.
As he finishes, he hears a voice, “Sir, we’re ready.” He turns his head to look at them, and smirks, seeing them all in their best. The Kitsune was in plate armor, a halberd on her back, and the visor of her sugarloaf helm was up, letting her face be seen, longsword and shield fastened properly to herself. The Sun Elf was in a wide brimmed hat, with a long flowing robe, holding a staff and book with intricate patterns on it. The twin Moon Elves were in long cloaks, bows and quivers slung over their shoulders. Zephyrian nods in response, before he says, “Let's get to it then.” He began walking to the exit, followed by his team.
Lake of Codex
Lake was happily riding shotgun in its Sylph’s mind. Watching the world through the floating water monster’s eyes. Slowly they floated along, headed towards Codex, intent on studying their mistress’ form, and learning the secret to a physical form. Slowly and silently, they floated just above the grass. As they went along, a noise could be heard in the distance. It sounded as if the wind had been trapped and released out of a small hole rapidly. The Sylph began floating towards the sound, and Lake became happy that it had allowed the Sylph to be curious on this mission.
Approaching the noise, they found a group of Animated Armors, standing guard around a group of shaped copper objects, one of which has glass embedded into it. Floating closer, an Animated Armor raises its spear, and holds the Sylph at bay. The Sylph was unhappy with this, and nearly lost its calm and attacked. Luckily, it held itself calmly, and made a few angry burbles at the Grandian Armor. This caused someone else to take notice, and look around the copper objects, revealing herself. Lake was confused for a second, as it saw the physical form of the Grandia Core. The Sylph continued to burble angrily, as the Core approached, her outfit different to the one Lake had seen during their meeting. It was very heavy looking linens, with goggles, a glass face shield, and a belt filled to the brim with metal objects. She approached, and spoke, “Guard, you can put down the spear.” The Armor lowers the spear, causing the Sylph to calm down, though it was still pouting at being threatened like that.
The Core spoke again, “What can I do for you, little one?” She smiles warmly at the Sylph, leaning down onto her legs to look it in the eyes. The Sylph points to the objects, tilting its head in confusion. The Core looks at the objects and asks, “The machine? Would you like to take a closer look as I work on it?” The Sylph burbles happily, bringing its hands together in gleeful excitement. The Core begins walking back to “the machine”, as she says, “Come, come. Join me as I work. Your Dungeon may find this interesting.” The Sylph follows, as the Core continues, “This is the next step for Grandia’s Knights. I first need to ensure that steam and pressure work the same here as it does where I come from.” This sentence intrigues Lake, but it cannot order the Sylph around at the moment, and also does not know how it would ask such a complex question through a medium. The Core crouches beside the machine, pulling one of the metal objects off of her belt, and placing it against an object that fit perfectly within.
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The Sylph gets to see the glass part of the object, and Lake realizes it is an extremely thick glass pane, holding water inside of the machine. The Core speaks as she works, “This is a ‘Steam Heart’. It is one of the devices that powers Grandia. Smaller versions are utilized for our mounted troops, who push the steam through their weapons, scalding their enemies, while ensuring they remain well protected, and capable of defending themselves even when disarmed. It also allows us to create armors that are much larger and bulkier than traditional equipment.” The Sylph is confused by the explanation, as is Lake, but having larger and more dangerous monsters is a big plus.
The Core continues, “It works by heating the water to well past its boiling point, at which point, steam rises and collects. This steam is usable as additives to weaponry, or can be recycled and cooled rapidly back into water, to go through again. The pressure caused by this process is utilized in pushing pistons and other devices, which then causes rotational power, which can then be transferred into electrical power with a few other devices. This electrical power is used for lighting, heat, cooking, and so many more things. We even had a prototype called the ‘Arc Coil’, which would have utilized smaller versions of the required machines to allow our Knights to fire lightning from their lances.” The Sylph was still confused, which the Core seemed to realize, on the other hand, Lake was beginning to roughly understand, despite the additional knowledge that it did not need to know.
The Core smiles warmly as she continues, “I can power it on to show you, if you would like? Perhaps we can even figure out a way for your Dungeon to assist us in our collection of water.” The Sylph doesn’t seem to know how to respond, but it was clearly ready to see the Steam Heart in action. The Core reached for a small handle, and yanked it up, revealing an empty space underneath. She holds her hand forward, and a line of fire flies under the Steam Heart. The Sylph flinches, but is curious nonetheless. Lake was confused by this action, as it seemed to do nothing, but as the Core closed that opening once again, this time rapidly, she spoke, “Take a look at the water.”
The Sylph floats back to look at where the water was, and as it sat still, small bubbles of water began to form, and the Sylph grew confused. Lake immediately began to understand. The fire was to heat the water, not be applied directly to the Heart. After a few seconds, the water began to boil and Lake was fascinated. This fascination quickly dissolved as it noticed the Sylph was absolutely mortified. The Core stood and approached, speaking, “What do you think? Interesting, no?” A few protruding parts began moving up and down, making noise, as steam quickly began filling the heart. Lake could see some steam moving through thick glass tubes, which revealed the mist to them. With a hiss, steam poured out of an opening at the top, and the Sylph began to run, absolutely mortified, and intent on leaving the area before it was forced to become steam too. Lake felt a little bad about just leaving, but it could talk with Grandia later, and express interest in the Steam Heart project.
Sebastia Rin
Sebastia arrived, calm as can be, only to hear panicked yelps of nearby people. Looking around, she sees disheveled individuals, each Human or Beastman. They were dressed in clothes that were not so ragged as their appearances dictated, and this confused Sebastia. The town-like area that they were building was still under construction, but it was looking far more built. After only a few seconds, she felt a presence watching her, confused and worried and uncomfortable. Sebastia knew who it was, and she felt she should leave quickly, to allow her less discomfort. She spoke calmly, “Kaede is with Isabel. You should check on her tomorrow morning. That is all, Luné. I will be back when I am done.” She opens another rift, about to step through it as she feels sadness through the bond. Even when uncomfortable, and not wanting to respond, Luné was sad to see her leave, but she had her duty to this world. She must step through that rift, and she does.
Quint Radoc
Radoc watched Sebastia suddenly disappear again, and frowned. He began heading towards the main house, intent on checking if Luné is ready to hear his philosophy. Though as he walks, he hears her voice, “Mr. Radoc, I need you to go to the town, and check on Kaede. She is with Priestess Jordan.” With a sigh, he turns and begins walking, “Understood, I’ll return as soon as I have what we need to know about her condition.” He is silent after this, simply letting Luné tell him about what she wishes to know, all of which is boiled down to how Kaede is feeling, and what happened to her. He walks silently, heading on his way to check on his unnecessary compatriot.