>>15520035
Yesssss.

Go downstairs; we have to help the others.

You start downstairs, just as you hear a quiet footfall from behind you, and a gun cocking.

"Don't move, you son of a bitch."

An old woman stands at your back, with a pistol leveled at Godfried.

"You think I'm just an ignorant old sow, don't you, Greg?"

Godfried raises up his hands, slowly. "Mary, don't..."

"Don't what? You think I don't know whose fault it was that the seals started breaking? That the Don killed my husband all those years ago?" Her breath is ragged, but her arm stays steady. "I didn't know everything Oscar did, but I picked up enough. And I know a magician when I see him."

Godfried remains silent, not breaking eye contact with her.

"Now, call off these golems before I put a hole in that pretty face of yours." She shouts, waving her gun at you and Hugh.

>>15520460
"If I may speak..." Give her a moment. "...we are not some summoned sentries; we are here to ensure your safety."

>>15520502

"If I may speak..." You say, and the shock on the woman's face tells you she wasn't expecting you to make idle chatter. "...we are not some summoned sentries; we are here to ensure your safety."

"Mary, we came to make sure nothing had gone wrong." Godfried says, looking around. "And by the looks of things, something has indeed."

The gun thunks dully to the ground. Mary McGregor begins sobbing, quietly. "Oh God, how did this happen? Oscar said..."

Godfried lowers his hands, looking at her without speaking a word.

"Those seals broke, and with them, I felt my memory come back. Of all the things he did. What he taught Macquino..." She sobs, looking around at the broken glass. "It's all coming back, and I don't know where I'm even standing."

"It must have been some manner of illusion, Mary." Godfired says, calmly. "Master McGregor was one of the few I could think of capable of breaking it."

"That bastard. He took it all. Oscar's money... And now he let those things out." Mary spits, her ancient fists clenched. "You're not here on his account."

Godfried remains quiet for a second. "No, I suppose not. We were convinced that we could give it up by a mutual acquaintance."

"Where are the others, then?" Mary asks.

"Down below. In the basement." Godfried says.

"I think that's where they were being bound. Oscar didn't-" She pauses for a moment. "Oscar wasn't the kind to do such a thing. I think they may have come with the house."

>>15520603
Objective "Secure Old Lady" is complete. Question and Answer can happen once we secure the house.

"Mrs. McGregor, I know that you are currently disheveled, but you leave, for your own safety. If you would go wait by the car outside..." Let's also use the Meaning of Brotherhood to have Hugh smooth this over; he's far more personable.

Turn to Hugh. "We should hurry; who knows if they have engaged the other creature yet."

Let's make our way down to the basement.

>>15520712

"Mrs. McGregor, I know that you are currently disheveled, but you leave, for your own safety. If you would go wait by the car outside..." You say to her, nodding over to Hugh.

Hugh walks up to her, gently taking her hand. "Here, let me help you, miss."

You and Hugh escort her out the door, and Hugh leads her out to the car.

"We should hurry; who knows if they have engaged the other creature yet." You say to Hugh as he comes back in the door.

The group of you heads through the hallway down to the basement. The rest of the house is a wreck. The grand piano is covered in deep gouging scratches. The bookcases have been felled, and their guts scattered across the wooden floor. You hear the faintest sound from the basement, which seems oddly black, even to your vision.

Godfried steps up to the door, opening it. You can see his eyes go wide as he does so. "What? So the seal... It wasn't on the creatures..."

>>15520924
"What? What do you see?"

>>15521134

"What? What do you see?" You say, coming around to the door of the basement.

On the interior is a deep cavern, the strong scent of mushrooms and moisture seeping out of it. The depths seem to stretch on, eerily, and you can hear the sound of the creature you encountered before, somewhere in the black, calling out in an eerie high shriek.

"It's another world." Godfried says, simply.

>>15521160
"...what?" Give a good sonar down into THE VOOOOOIDDD! "H-how...?"

I know our history is really spotty, but do we know the slightest notion about what he's implying.

>>15521206

"...what?" You screech back down into the cavern that is far too big to be there. "H-how...?"

"Suffice to say, Master McGregor was heritor to a powerful group of magicians. I suspect one of them created a permanent gateway here, and never bound it up." Godfried thinks for a moment. "The specifics, I cannot say. But, this was bound up and then unsealed very recently." He reaches into a pocket, pulling out a small, fragile looking amulet.

"It's a good thing the air is breathable. Else our friends may well have already been dead." Godfried mutters.

>>15521332
A little over our heads, but we'll deal.

"Why would anyone want to-..."

"Hugh, be careful; I'm not sure what else to expect down here."

>>15521398

"Why would anyone want to-..." You ask him.

"There are things beyond this world. Some say they inspired the ancient people's legends of hell, heaven, what have you." Godfried checks his guns as he speaks. "Knowledge of them is kept quiet. Some believe they hold something they want. In the end, I've never seen someone get what they desired from it."

"Hugh, be careful; I'm not sure what else to expect down here." You say to him.

"Well, it's very dark, save that odd greenish glow." Hugh says, sounding a bit cautious. "I don't know, something..."

>>15521484
Begin the descent; we have to find the others.

"How has something this monstrous been kept contained?"

>>15521499

"How has something this monstrous been kept contained?" You ask Godfried, as you pass into the chill, empty cavern. You can feel a haze of frozen mist about your ankles, and the sound of the creature far off screeching, its voice too high for anyone but you to hear.

Godfried seems to think for a second. "Well, it's not this realm that was contained. Suffice to say, a door to it was kept closed using both willpower and a hefty dose of rituals and knowledge of how we believe our world works." He thinks for a moment more. "It's difficult to explain, but when we went through that door, we did not step into some realm contained in an old basement. We stepped into another place linked to that doorway."

Looking back for a moment, you can see that where you came from, the door still stands open, the walls around it nonexistent, but the house still on the other side of the portal.

Your head snaps back around as you hear a monstrous roar, and a loud screeching.

"That must be them!" Godfried announces, keeping his guns pointed straight ahead. You rush along behind him, Hugh trailing, and the path begins to slide down, slick stone leaving you with no place to steady yourself.

You fall, wings extending reflexively to stop your descent. Though Godfried has none, his coat billows out, and though he impacts the warped ground fifteen feet below you hard, he appears practically unharmed.

The creature is there, locked in combat with a transformed Fredrick and Renee. Renee has a knife in one hand, and is bleeding from part of his face and shoulder. Fredrick's heavily muscled form is wrestling with the monster, each snarling as they tear at each other savagely.

Have Hugh look for an opening to punch the creature's face in; we'll use our sonar to piss it off.

Also, can we get the list of what we've learned?

>>15521704

Yes, just gimme a sec here.

You have learned many things, but after passing into this world, they all seem to have flown from your mind.

The time for new learnings is at hand.

>>15522443
Hm...interesting...

Well, the plan is still the same. Send Hughs in to aid in the battle while we fire off sonar to piss the creature off.

>>15522669

Hugh rushes in, while you unleash a sonic scream at the creature. The huge body of Fredrick's alternate form shudders, and he flies off of the monster, clutching his ears. The creature is similarly affected, but you stop as Hugh impacts it, driving its head down into the ground.

Renee stabs in through one of its feet, pinning it to the ground. The creature releases a sonic scream that makes your vision waver and drives Hugh back off of it. It turns, wheeling on Renee, who releases his blade and starts to backpedal.

>>15522792
Protect Renee! He bleeds easily...like most things in the world...by comparison.

Once we get our bearings, dive the creature. Protect our friend!

>>15522808

You dive at the creature, bringing your talons across its face. It shrieks, and you feel bone crack under the swipe.

You feel heavier.

Renee gets back, keeping his hands up, as though ready to punch the creature if it gets close. "It knocked my gun away." He explains. "Nearly got my hand too."

A throaty growl shakes through the air as Fredrick stands back at his full height, and rushes at the thing, his horns stabbing into it as he drives into its lower back. The creature is tipped over, seeming groggy from your attack.

>>15522836
Go in for the kill; if we manage the final blow, at least make it painless and clean.

>>15522849

Fredrick soon has the thing pinned, his wide hand-like claws pinned into its back on either side and his body laying atop its back, like a wrestler.

You grab its head, and as it begins to emit a low humming noise, you twist it with all your might, and with a popping crack the creature goes limp.

"DON'T SHOUT!" Fredrick growls at you, pointing an oversized finger your way, then turning back around.

"What he means is thank you." Renee says, sighing and looking more tired than he had a few minutes ago. "Please tell me you found Mary."

"We did." Godfried says, keeping his guns beaded on the other passageways. "The one that got out got away."

"One?" Renee says, shaking his head. "The one we went after ran too. This was another one."

>>15522875
...uh-oh.

"We should hurry back to Mrs. McGregor; we told her to wait by the car..."

>>15522892

"We should hurry back to Mrs. McGregor; we told her to wait by the car..." You say, lifting Renee up. Hugh helps Godfried, who is still looking around. The four of you fly back up the steep cliff that got you down in the first place. Fredrick looks up, shuffling on his legs a bit as he crouches, then jumps up between you.

"Sorry. But that hurt." Fredrick growls at you. "Didn't know you were making that noise."

Renee looks up ahead. "It could still be in the house. These things don't seem like they've got Mary in mind. More importantly, how do we get this place to stop being linked up here?"

"It's probably got some runes around the doorframe." Godfried says, as you get near to the door. "I'll take a look, you all deal with the creature."

"What if it heads your way?" Hugh asks him.

"I've still got a bit of luck left in me." Godfried says. "I should be alright even if that happens.

>>15522917
"It's a long story, Fredrick, but sight isn't the only way to experience..." Then, give a basic sonar search, looking for any of the sound distortions; pay particular attention to the area around Mrs McGregor. After that, we'll let Fredrick and Renee rest while the stonesb4hoes go off and search for the creature, but not before some questions.

"That other world...is that where those creatures came from?"

"Did you notice anything peculiar about these creatures? Do they have any sense or motive? Or are they just lusting after their next meal like beasts?"

>>15522935

"It's a long story, Fredrick, but sight isn't the only way to experience..." You say, letting out a longer screech as you come out through the door. Fredrick lets loose a soft growl as you do so. You detect no vibrations in the air, liek the other creature left. Mrs McGregor seems to be alright in the car- At least, nothing else is outside.

"That other world... is that where those creatures came from?" You ask them.

"It appears so." Renee says. "They crawled on the tops of the corridors. I've never seen anything like it."

"They could have been bound as guards, perhaps. By a much older magician." Godfried thinks aloud.

"Did you notice anything peculiar about these creatures? Do they have any sense or motive? Or are they just lusting after their next meal like beasts?"

Fredrick's lip raises, showing sharp teeth. "Smarter than animals, but not by much. Fight like them, but stronger. They seem more like ambush hunters n' such."

>>15522992
Since there's not immediate danger, let's tend to the wounded and play 20-questions:

"Renee, Fredrick: are you both alright?"

To Renee: "I hope you did not sustain too grave injuries..."

To Fredrick: "Apologies for the noise earlier, but I found that it was very effective at disrupting the creatures."

To Godfried: "You appear to be the most knowledgeable about this...doorway. What strange land is that, and what are these creatures called?"

To Hugh: "I fear our night has just begun..."

Then, general: "These creatures seem very adept at hiding; I fear that we will be unable to locate it for now..."

Anyway, I'm gonna make one more post for Sorc Quest, then I'm heading for bed. Thanks for the thread, OP. :3

>>15523022

"Renee, Fredrick: are you both alright?"

Renee coughs a bit. "Well, my nerves kept me out of danger, but the adrenaline fallout's killing me." He raises an eyebrow. "Huh. Guess you wouldn't know what it feels like. Let's just say I don't want to run any marathons in the next half hour or so."

Godfried clutches at his arm. "I think it's leaving me too. This hurts a lot more than I thought it did."

Renee pulls out some bandages, treating Godfried's wounds.

"I hope you did not sustain too grave of injuries..." You say to Renee.

"Ah, well I might have some bruises, but I managed to keep back. Had it not been for the big guy taking my hits, I would be a lot worse off." Renee says, nodding to Fredrick.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking." Fredrick growls, cracking his knuckles loudly.

You turn to Fredrick. "Apologies for the noise earlier, but I found that it was very effective at disrupting the creatures."

"Not all it disrupted." Fredrick says, grimacing a bit. "Most people... Well, people I guess, they can't hear that high of a noise. You and I can." He feels at a wound on his neck. "Guess cause we're not people."

"Fred." Renee says, sounding a bit sad.

"You appear to be the most knowledgeable about this...doorway." You say to Godfried. "What strange land is that, and what are these creatures called?"

"It's another dimension, some would say." Godfried tries to explain. "As for what they are, and where it is, I have not the damndest idea. My training was focused around the energies of the universe, not the places beyond it."

"Sounds like you mages could use a wikipedia." Fredrick chuckles, his voice cracking.

"I fear our night has just begun..." You say to Hugh.

"You feel it too?" Hugh says, seeming oddly serious. "Gabriel, something..." He thinks for a moment. "Something in the air, I guess. It feels like a storm, or the moment when the killer's just about to be caught." The gargoyle shivers. "And that place, it seemed-" He looks back at the door. "It seemed familiar."

"In what way?" You ask him.

Hugh shakes his head. "I don't know."

"These creatures seem very adept at hiding; I fear that we will be unable to locate it for now..." You say to the group.

"Then let me try to remove this gate." Godfried says, taking off his jacket. He begins prying at the door. "Otherwise, we may have to worry about more than one."