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Were he a person of instincts, were he stupid... were he not a Sibling, a certain gnome and a certain ferret would be the proud owners of a couple dozen stab wounds. Luckily for everyone in the building, Sitta was no animal. Because he sure felt like shutting the blabbermouth up. Soon he would be deeply regretting such thoughts. Hatred and violent urges were not becoming of a Sibling. Distracted, he mentally scolded himself for a long while, as everyone else did their stuff.

Dadj, surprisingly was in the same mind as Sitta; he wanted very much to shut the gnome up. He was not a fan of chattery people but he put up with long-lived races like gnomes just because he could actually stand being friends with them. It wsa hard making human friends... They died so soon. He was soon packed and standing ready at the door with a leather cloak strapped over him, the hood shading his face.

Owaja found a lone table by the door and sat with Sunflower, talking to him quietly while she waited. She was well aware of both Dadj and Sitta's sour feelings towards her; the vibe was strong enough to be felt across the room. Never the less, she regarded them with a wide smile when they returned; she wasn't one to be influenced by what others thought anyway.

"That was fast, you guys must be in one heck of a hurry." She said as she kicked her legs off the chair and stood on the tavern's wooden floor before them. "All right, well you guys just hold still while I get the spell ready.

With a single wave of her little hand, the gnome created a spark above the party's heads. It barley made a noise, but before they knew it they were surrounded by a transparent shield of magic that pulsed every now and again with a bluish energy; reassuring them it was indeed there.

Tilting her head back to make sure it covered all that it needed to cover, Owaja gave a single nod of satisfaction while Sunflower made a quick scamper up her side and on to her shoulder.

"Okidokie. Just be sure to stay inside the shield. Since there's more than two of you in here you might fall out if you fall too far behind."

Celestina wasn't oblivious to the mens scowling either. She watched as Owaja created the shield and she stared in amazement. "Wow...Amazing!" She smiled at the woman and nodded. "Let's go. We have to hurry before the rain starts soaking through the buildings..." She started walking then, leading the way because she was the one who knew where they were going. She made sure to stay in the shield. That would be bad otherwise.

The Ranger fell into step with Celestina. He was silent the majority of the journey as the gnome undoubtedly took up most of the talking time. He was sure to hunch just a little so as not to disturb the shield. He wasn't opposed to magic, but he was also unsure of how it worked and he didn't need any more repercussions damaging his life.

(Sam here? Hurray! Your posts are always so awesome)

Brooding in the inside, indifferent on the outside, Sitta walked right behind the wizard. There was something about walking around completely depending on someone else's magic that greatly hurt his pride. It was surely a great sacrifice for a great cause, in Sitta's own way.

The Ranger's attention span was dwindling. He was immediately bored with the silent trek in the acid rain. And he was more bored with the novelty of the gnome as well as her bubble. He wished his companions would be more outgoing and make this interesting, but Celestina was navigating, the gnome was chattering to herself and perhaps her animal and the elf man was comparable to travelling with an angry plank of wood. Dadj let loose a sigh of irritation and lashed out.

"Where exactly are we even going, woman? It seems like we are just rambling along here."

((I don't mind, Sam! It'd be good to have you!))

Celestina's thoughts on their trek were interrupted by Dadj's irritated snapping. "W-well, we're going to that castle I told you about. It doesn't have a name and technically the place it is in doesn't quite exist. So it's just kind of... 'the tower'. I can get us there, but I er...I can't promise getting us back...heh.."

Of course she hadn't mentioned that before now.

He listened to her rambling with shredded patience. When she got to the not existing part, his lips overturned into a frown.

"Does that mean that this place is not exactly within our dimension?" He crossed his arms now and almost stomped.

MEANWHILE, AT THE LEGION OF DOOM

A flash of light and a sound like a gunshot accompanied the arrival of a big, purple lizard and a smaller, green lizard as they tumbled out of a _{plot device} magical spacetime portal on to the grass of yet another damnable forest.

It was always a forest.

The green lizard stood up, while the purple one elected to rise only to a sitting position. Sam took one look at the heavy, laden sky and sighed. She unlatched her satchel and removed one of her Standard Daily Adventurer's Rations (Ready to Eat) and a sealed piece of parchment. She unwrapped the strip of dried meat and let Mort take a bite. She broke the seal on her sheet of paper and nibbled on her ration while reading.

Samantha,

Your assigment is to reach the town called Imbrium, south of your location, and make contact with the locals there. They are suffering from some kind of acidic precipitation, which is destroying homes and crops, and is corrosive to flesh as well. Rumors indicate that the rain is likely magical in nature, no surprise there.

You are to discover the source of this "acid rain," and put a stop to it. As usual, we recommend you seek out the local authority figures and tavern owner to acquire whatever information you can. Our knowledge of the area is limited.

A word of warning: This may be your most difficult mission yet. The sun's light and heat are severely diminished by the unnaturally dark rainclouds, and as far as we can tell, these conditions will persist indefinitely while the culprit goes unchallenged. The coating on your clothes and equipment will help against the rain, but the darkness will be far more dangerous to your health.

Move quickly, and stay safe.

-Jacob

((Sam is essentially somewhere between the tower and the town. It's up to Celestina to decide if she is north or south of the group, and thus whether she will encounter them or not.))

The "coating" was a variant of the same magical serum used to protect against rust monster venom. Although it offered protection against the death rain, it would not last forever.

Sam rolled up the letter and replaced it in her satchel. She looked around. Within a small distance around her, black drops hung in the air, seemingly immobile. They moved a little faster with every passing second. She raised the hood of her cape. Mort would be fine, between his thick hide and the multiple layers of wool and leather cladding that he wore.

((Magical portal comes with a Time Stop at no extra charge. It wears off in under thirty seconds and doesn't move with Sam or Mort.))

Sam, on the other hand, needed to get moving. She pulled on a pair of thick leather gloves - now only her tail was exposed. The skin there was thicker than anywhere else, and it was the one part of her that she didn't need. It also the only part of her that could fully regenerate, although it would take weeks for it to come back from nothing.

Without a word, she swung up in to Mort's saddle, who by now was already standing. As... "unique" as his mental faculties were, even he could tell now was not the time to mess around. After a moment for Sam to glance at her compass, they were off at a gallop. She kept her head down to keep the rain out of her face. Where it touched her clothes or gear, the water coagulated in to a white powder. Where it touched her tail, it sizzled, but she didn't feel anything. Yet.

Together, rider and steed traveled south through a land silent save for the sound of the rain. The sky was everywhere black, and they were afraid.

Celestina smiled weakly at Dadj, afraid the man might actually hit her. "Well...not precisely. B-but it's not really in a 'different' dimension either. It's...hard to explain. It's kind of in a dimension all its own, I suppose. That made it safer for those magic users to practice without worrying about harming local weather or life." She sighed. "No doubt my companion stepped 'outside' for a moment, here, and decided to play his tricks."

She stopped suddenly, making sure Owaja knew to stop too. "Something's coming." Head turned left and right, before her eyes noticed the strangest thing she had ever seen. A green lizard riding a larger purple lizard! Celestina wasn't quite sure what to do for a minute. She knew Owaja didn't have enough to cover the large lizard, but perhaps the green one? However, that would do no good. They couldn't backtrack now and the lizard needed to get to safety, so instead she'd wave her arm around.

"Hello! You there!"

The least she could do was give directions.

The hooded rider tugged on Mort's reins as she sighted the group, but of course it was unnecessary. New people! It took him a few seconds to skid to a halt in the muddy grass.

Sam pulled her hood back a little so they could see her face, and to get a better look at them. They clearly had some method of shielding themselves from the rain. She raised her voice to be heard over the downpour. "Hey! I was sent here to put a stop to this awful weather! Do you know anything about it?"

Mort looked from one individual to the next, trying to assess which of them was most likely to be in charge of the food. He looked even goofier than usual in his bulky clothing.

Was that a normal sight in those lands? The elf gave that idea a second of thought as he carefully examined the newcomers. Animals, most likely. Then Sam spoke. And Sitta acknowledged that she was at least able of coherent thought, not to mention speech. Still, his hand rested close to his blade's hilt.

"We are on the same quest. Join us if you wish, but do not stall us. This is hardly the time for formalities."

He would have normally resumed walking, but the gnome who was making the shield was standing still, making him mutter an almost annoyed "Move." Almost.

Dadj had the oddest feeling of de ja vous when Sam and Mort came into sight. It was hard for him to keep up with acquaintances with the amount of time he spent traveling and somehow mixing himself up in these sorts of messes. He shook it off as someone he met along time ago who this newer person resembled. Or something. He was not one for greetings and in fact he was impatient to get to this weather-meddling wizard. He hoped for the sake of fighting that this place they were headed did not reside in another dimension, or else he would have to sit outside and wait.

Celestina's plan to show them somewhere safe was broken when the woman spoke of a similar task. "A-ah, but I don't think our shield is big enough." Not for the purple one, at least. She didn't want to push Owaja past her limits after all, they still had such a long way to go.

"But we are going to stop the rain, and your help would be appreciated."

A scowl was given to Sitta as he prodded Owaja forward with a blunt word. "Be nice, if it weren't for her you would be bits and pieces of bone right now." A bold statement. They were rare, but she gave them.

"Man, what luck! Thought I'd be here all week. Anyway I'll be fine, my clothes are treated." They could see for themselves the fine white ash that constantly built up on her cape and pants and then was smeared away by the rain. "And Mort here will last longer than me. Since I'm the most mobile, I'll scout ahead. We can save the pleasantries for later."

Without another word, Sam turned Mort about and they sauntered off in to the woods ahead to check for any foul plots and nefarious traps.

With wide eyes, Owaja watched as the odd looking newcomer run ahead on her strange looking mount. All the while, Sunflower was scurrying around the gnome's shoulders, baring his sharp little teeth and fluffing his fur to make himself appear larger. Of course, this did nothing to subdue the beast, and it was uncertain if it even noticed the snarling ferret trying it's best to appear threatening.

Plucking Sunflower from her shoulders, Owaja spoke a reassuring word into his ear and placed him on top of her head before turning to face Celestia and the rest of the group.

"So which way am I going now? Are we fallowing the new lady and her...thing?"

"Hey, I'm following you guys! Did you forget your map or something??"

Her voice came from up ahead and to the right. She was already pretty deep in to the woods, but the red of her cape was just visible every now and then.