Witchers of Nifelheim - Part 3

Twilight also walked over to the body, but not to pay official respects. She looked at it, trying to piece something together. She took a bit of a thinking pose for it.

"Peculiar..." She said to herself, though still out loud. "The witcher is dead, but hasn't been targeted for devouring. This isn't the first time we find that, though this one has been dead for far longer..."

She spoke loudly to the group. "Watch out for traps, if this witcher died to those we're not strong enough to handle that. If the cause of dead wasn't a trap, I want to know what creature caused this."

Rogue wrote:"How did we open this thing in the dream again?"

"Beats me" Kaylee looked down at the ground, seemingly thinking: "..I never got that far in my dream"
She crouched down and picked something off the floor. Some kind of tiny object that reflected the light.


"I think we just slammed our shoulder into the door really hard" Rolo squeaked from the depths of your mind.

Rogue wrote:"So we weren't the first, huh? I wonder who they were? I know, I'll cast Speak with Dead and ask... Oh, wait, sorry, wrong rp" Rogue catches himself.

Twilight wrote:Twilight also walked over to the body, but not to pay official respects. She looked at it, trying to piece something together. She took a bit of a thinking pose for it.

Upon closer examination of the skeleton, you spot a strange tiny hole in its sternum. One of the ribs was broken off as well.

"..I will be performing final rights in a moment and burning the remains" Ursula quietly said and looked up at you: "..let me know when you.. completed examining the body.. and I will begin.." she looked at the skeleton again. Her face seemed rather pale, but it could've been Johan's dim lighting.

Twilight wrote:"Peculiar..." She said to herself, though still out loud. "The witcher is dead, but hasn't been targeted for devouring. This isn't the first time we find that, though this one has been dead for far longer..."

She spoke loudly to the group. "Watch out for traps, if this witcher died to those we're not strong enough to handle that. If the cause of dead wasn't a trap, I want to know what creature caused this."

"..the most cruel creature of all" Kaylee straightened up, still holding the tiny object she picked up from the floor and turning it towards the light: "Man"

She slowly walked towards Twilight and placed the tiny object in her hand.
In this dim light, you didn't immediately understand what you were looking at. A small, cylindrical piece of metal, rusted and barely holding together, but the stamp on its end was still vivid enough to make out the text.

7.62mm caliber.




"..what is it?" Johan called from his end of the room.

"A bullet casing.. for an assault rifle, I think" Kaylee switched to Soren and began speaking very quietly, throwing a glance at the merchants and trying to make sure they won't hear:
"It is a new age projectile weapon, considered cutting edge, even by Earthern standards. Went into mass production roughly a year ago, thus still expensive. Not every country can afford to equip its entire military with this.
Those who possess such weapons are rich, or well connected. This begs the question-"


Johan sighed and finished Kaylee's sentence: "...what the hell is a cutting edge, Human weapon, doing in an old Precursor tomb?"

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Rogue wrote:"How did we open this thing in the dream again?"

"Beats me" Kaylee looked down at the ground, seemingly thinking: "..I never got that far in my dream"
She crouched down and picked something off the floor. Some kind of tiny object that reflected the light.


"I think we just slammed our shoulder into the door really hard" Rolo squeaked from the depths of your mind.

"Sure sounds like something we'd do" Rogue nods to Rolo. "I'd like to check out the pyramid statues too, see if they can contribute any more meaning to all this?"

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Rogue wrote:"So we weren't the first, huh? I wonder who they were? I know, I'll cast Speak with Dead and ask... Oh, wait, sorry, wrong rp" Rogue catches himself.

Twilight wrote:Twilight also walked over to the body, but not to pay official respects. She looked at it, trying to piece something together. She took a bit of a thinking pose for it.

Upon closer examination of the skeleton, you spot a strange tiny hole in its sternum. One of the ribs was broken off as well.

"..I will be performing final rights in a moment and burning the remains" Ursula quietly said and looked up at you: "..let me know when you.. completed examining the body.. and I will begin.." she looked at the skeleton again. Her face seemed rather pale, but it could've been Johan's dim lighting.

"D'you mind if I take their weapon?" Rogue asks Ursula, "Who knows, maybe we can reforge it and use it to avenge them, or something?"

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Twilight wrote:"Peculiar..." She said to herself, though still out loud. "The witcher is dead, but hasn't been targeted for devouring. This isn't the first time we find that, though this one has been dead for far longer..."

She spoke loudly to the group. "Watch out for traps, if this witcher died to those we're not strong enough to handle that. If the cause of dead wasn't a trap, I want to know what creature caused this."

"..the most cruel creature of all" Kaylee straightened up, still holding the tiny object she picked up from the floor and turning it towards the light: "Man"

She slowly walked towards Twilight and placed the tiny object in her hand.
In this dim light, you didn't immediately understand what you were looking at. A small, cylindrical piece of metal, rusted and barely holding together, but the stamp on its end was still vivid enough to make out the text.

7.62mm caliber.




"..what is it?" Johan called from his end of the room.

"A bullet casing.. for an assault rifle, I think" Kaylee switched to Soren and began speaking very quietly, throwing a glance at the merchants and trying to make sure they won't hear:
"It is a new age projectile weapon, considered cutting edge, even by Earthern standards. Went into mass production roughly a year ago, thus still expensive. Not every country can afford to equip its entire military with this.
Those who possess such weapons are rich, or well connected. This begs the question-"


Johan sighed and finished Kaylee's sentence: "...what the hell is a cutting edge, Human weapon, doing in an old Precursor tomb?"

"Also worth noting, bullets didn't really've much effect on Witchers thanks to their healing powers, so how did just a few of these down our friend over there?" Rogue adds.

"Deepening the mystery, it seems." Twilight answers in a hushed tone. "That a few of these shells would be strewn around the land would make sense, with the invasions that happen. But to get to a precursor tomb, deep underground, carrying this gun... Then use it on someone? There's something fishy here..."

She rubs her chin. "At the same time, isn't this place far from the original entrance that the machine people invade? And another thing, there's time to take into account. Circi lives here, making it so that the battle was done before she moved here. And yes, battle, since he or she is holding a weapon."

She looks at the door. "... Lucretia... Who found you first? And how did the military get here?"

Circi presses her palm against the door, "I do not understand." She whispers, "enclosed for years. I'm guessing these skeletons have been here for hundreds if not thousands of years." She kneels down, looking over the skeletons, "I do not recognize these markings." She says quitely before rising back to her full hight and keeping a lookout behind the group.

Rain looks up at the door and attempts to give it a push, "Hmph." She presses her shoulder against the door ready to breach, "Can I get some help?" She calls bringing her shoulder back and then crashing her weight against the door.

Rogue wrote:"I'd like to check out the pyramid statues too, see if they can contribute any more meaning to all this?"

Upon closer inspection, you don't find any mechanism that could be keeping the pyramids afloat. They were small, some 50 centimeters in length and in height, lazily rotating clockwise around their axis. Hovering about a meter above ground, a pale green glow was emanating from somewhere inside their structure. You can't seem to spot any marking on them, a seemingly perfect geometrical shape.

"...wander what kind of magic has powered them all these years" Rolo quietly said: "..or what kind of technology. A self sustaining source of light that kept working for hundreds of years... creepy." Rolo shivered slightly.

Rogue wrote:"D'you mind if I take their weapon?" Rogue asks Ursula, "Who knows, maybe we can reforge it and use it to avenge them, or something?"

"Please do. Its what he would have wanted" Ursula quietly said, looking at the skeleton: "In a war against extinction, we can ill afford to loose any resources, especially as rare and vital as a Witcher's weapon."

She sighed: "If I were to die, it would bring me comfort to know that my blade would still kill many enemies, after I'm gone.." she looked down.

Rogue wrote:"Also worth noting, bullets didn't really've much effect on Witchers thanks to their healing powers, so how did just a few of these down our friend over there?" Rogue adds.

"If a bullet doesn't hit any major organs, we could assume it would take down 1 Health, per bullet" Kaylee said, shifting in place and unintentionally emitting another metalic crack with her prosthetic:

"If someone empties a clip into a Witcher, point blank, it could potentially take down 30 Health, maybe more, in a span of just a few seconds. I imagine if I was a regular pony with no special powers or magic, this is how I'd go after a Witcher.

We have discovered a weapon that can become a potential Witcher Killer. This can become a problem, after the Great Migration takes place..." Kaylee sighed, shaking her head: "..a problem for another day"

Twilight wrote:"At the same time, isn't this place far from the original entrance that the machine people invade?

"Mm" Kaylee nodded: "According to the map and the rate at which we relocated here, from the Ashra island, we can safely assume it would take at least a month to get here on foot, from the Machina Portal.

The question is, were they on foot? Ursula mentioned the invaders bringing war machines with them. One of them could have been a means of transportation.
We did manage to smuggle a humvee through the teleportation pillar, when we first arrived"

Circi wrote:I'm guessing these skeletons have been here for hundreds if not thousands of years." She kneels down, looking over the skeletons, "I do not recognize these markings." She says quitely before rising back to her full hight and keeping a lookout behind the group.

"Sure looks like it." Kaylee nodded: "Must have been one of the early invasions, hundreds of years ago. The bullet casing has rusted completely.. and the skeleton.." she looked away.

As you watch the staircase behind the group, all seems quiet and empty.

Rain wrote:"Can I get some help?" She calls bringing her shoulder back and then crashing her weight against the door.

The door emitted a long thundering sound, as the stone plates were moved from their lodged position, just a few inches.
Kaylee and Johan came over, making the only real light source wildly dance across the room, as the tiny ball of light struggled to follow Johan's footsteps.

The two leaned on the door on each of Rain's sides and nodded, before trying to push at the door again.


The door emitted another very long, stoney screech, before it gave way, suddenly and surprisingly easily. The double doors parted and sung completely open on each side, making you unintentionally take a few steps forward, carried by momentum.

You froze up almost immediately, as you realized you ended up standing on the edge of a cliff.
A colossal cave opened before you, hundreds of meters in length and in height. You couldn't see the caves bottom from this angle, it felt like the door was built very close to the ceiling, hundreds of meters above the cave's floor.


An unnerving, green glow was emanating from below the cliff, from the entire bottom of the cave, illuminating the surroundings and throwing strange shadows over the walls.



Kaylee swallowed and took and unsure step forward. Apart from two stone pillars, standing about a meter tall, at the edge of the cliff, there was nothing else here.
The caves ceiling above was covered with gigantic stalactites. One of which was so large, it was the size of a building, hanging so low, it was about on the same height as your cliff.

This giant stalactite was roughly 50 meters away from your cliff, and you're almost sure you see a small door in it, located roughly on the same height as your cliff.



"...um.." Kaylee hesitated: "...wasn't there supposed to be a rope bridge here?.. connecting this cliff to the stalactite over there?" she vaguely pointed ahead.

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Rogue wrote:"I'd like to check out the pyramid statues too, see if they can contribute any more meaning to all this?"

Upon closer inspection, you don't find any mechanism that could be keeping the pyramids afloat. They were small, some 50 centimeters in length and in height, lazily rotating clockwise around their axis. Hovering about a meter above ground, a pale green glow was emanating from somewhere inside their structure. You can't seem to spot any marking on them, a seemingly perfect geometrical shape.

"...wander what kind of magic has powered them all these years" Rolo quietly said: "..or what kind of technology. A self sustaining source of light that kept working for hundreds of years... creepy." Rolo shivered slightly.

Rogue unsheathes his bayonet and pokes the pyramid closest to him a couple of times, seeing if he can scratch it, stop it moving, or push it around.

Kaylee Brown wrote:A colossal cave opened before you, hundreds of meters in length and in height. You couldn't see the caves bottom from this angle, it felt like the door was built very close to the ceiling, hundreds of meters above the cave's floor.


An unnerving, green glow was emanating from below the cliff, from the entire bottom of the cave, illuminating the surroundings and throwing strange shadows over the walls.



Kaylee swallowed and took and unsure step forward. Apart from two stone pillars, standing about a meter tall, at the edge of the cliff, there was nothing else here.
The caves ceiling above was covered with gigantic stalactites. One of which was so large, it was the size of a building, hanging so low, it was about on the same height as your cliff.

This giant stalactite was roughly 50 meters away from your cliff, and you're almost sure you see a small door in it, located roughly on the same height as your cliff.



"...um.." Kaylee hesitated: "...wasn't there supposed to be a rope bridge here?.. connecting this cliff to the stalactite over there?" she vaguely pointed ahead.

"That was a while ago, I guess the rope must've decayed" Rogue calls over to Kaylee, "We'll need the pegasi to carry the rest of us across."

Circi looks down, gazing down into the liquid below, "I can hear their cry's." She whispers, "Thousands of story's being told amongst the dead." She kneels down her ears perked and carefully swiveling in random directions, "How unfortunate." She mutters.

Rain looks to Circi for a moment, "she's certainly a strange one." Her attention suddenly turns to the merchants, "Alright! Who wants to be flown across first!" She looks around at the party, "Any takers?"

Rogue wrote:Rogue unsheathes his bayonet and pokes the pyramid closest to him a couple of times, seeing if he can scratch it, stop it moving, or push it around.

It seems the pyramid was made of a relatively sturdy material, the bayonet didn't leave any notable scratch marks. You managed to stop its rotation easily enough and push it off its axis for a while, but you felt a small, growing force that pushed back against the bayonet.

The pyramid began slightly shaking in protest and once the interference was removed, it jumped back to its original axis and made a few rapid spins, as if to compensate for the ones it didn't complete in time, before returning to its normal, lazy spins.

For some reason, it reminded you of a magnet. There was something about the way the pyramid moved, the forces it exerted on the bayonet, that felt similar to two magnets getting attached to each other, and one being forced away from the other.

Circi wrote:Circi looks down, gazing down into the liquid below, "I can hear their cry's." She whispers, "Thousands of story's being told amongst the dead." She kneels down her ears perked and carefully swiveling in random directions, "How unfortunate." She mutters.

"Circi don't look!" Ursula called in alarm: "..its dangerous..."

Rain wrote:Her attention suddenly turns to the merchants, "Alright! Who wants to be flown across first!" She looks around at the party, "Any takers?"

The merchants visibly grimaced, slowly getting back on their feet: "You know what's bubbling at the bottom of this cave right? The Shimmer. The primordial soup of existence.
If you stare at it for too long, your mind will undo itself, piece by piece. There will be nothing of you left, but an empty shell. A husk, consumed by insanity. Some believe death would be preferable"


"You seriously want to risk flying over that?" the other merchant said.


Kaylee nervously shuffled in place: "..we just have to.. make sure we don't look down.. right?"

The merchants exchanged looks. They look like they're really not into it.

"I can take Rogue across" Johan called from the center of the room.



"...right. Lets not waste time then" Ursula took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her rapier materialized in her lap, burning bright green, yet not harming her body or clothing.

Gently, she lifted the rapier and touched the skeletons shoulder, with the tip of her burning weapon. The green fire burned bright on the rapier, then slowly, steadily moved on to the bones.


"...your watch is over now, brother" Ursula quietly said:
"May your soul return to the Shimmer in peace.
And from your body, flowers will grow."


The skeleton was briefly engulfed in green flame, before it was extinguished, leaving behind a pile of ash. The rapier vanished from Ursula's arm. She reached for her belt, unclipping a small leather pouch and gathered some of the ash into it, before tying it shut and placing it back on her belt again.


"...it would be proper to scatter the ashes outside, in the forest" Ursula quietly said, then looked up at you:
"I know this is grim and not something you want to hear, but life on Nifelheim is often short and cruel. If I die... I want you to do the same for me.. as I just did for this Witcher..." Ursula looked back at the ground again, then slowly got back to her feet.


The charred, shriveled Witcher weapon remained on the cold floor. Ursula ducked, picking it up and strapped it between a few leather straps on her back.




"..shall we go?" Johan quietly asked.




"Mm" Kaylee quietly nodded. Then looked at everyone around her: "...say... I've been thinking...

I think Twilight's hypothesis is correct. This Witcher's body wasn't consumed. Just like Alder's. It is the same modus operandi.

At this stage, I believe its reasonable to assume, there is a Machine World task force, operating on Nifelheim at this time.



They could have entered through the Ashra teleportation pillar, same as us. Maybe some time before we did, or after.
Technically speaking, we spent 3 days laying in a coma, back on Earth, after the Equestrian fleet attacked the pillar and it exploded. During those three days, someone could have went in, before us.


A Machine World task force. Maybe with Rumbas. Giant, robot spiders would have the strength to toss people around like ragdolls.
This task force, could have tried leaving Ashra island, same as us. They stumbled into Alder's Marauders. Killed them.

Then tried crossing the ocean, north of our fleet path. They stumbled into the territorial waters of the Drowned Serpent, beat him up, forced him to escape in a blind, terrified panic, until the Serpent ran into our fleet.



We reached the mainland. Maybe they did too." Kaylee nervously sighed, wiping the sweat from her face:
"...we need to consider a very real possibility of a hostile Machine World task force, operating somewhere close to our geographical position. I can't fathom their objective, but if its the same guys causing the invasions... they're gonna stir a lot of trouble for everyone. Our group. And the locals.

We need to consider how we should approach this"



Ursula nervously shuffled her wings: "...well.. um... I already fired a unique warning flare, declaring a Machine World Invasion, when you guys first arrived at my village. By now, the kings of Nifelheim already know of the situation and probably took the necessary precautions."


"Yes, but the issue is, they're probably looking for us, instead of the real threat" Kaylee grimaced.
Then blinked and slowly looked at the two merchants, off to the side.




The two were listening to the conversation and looked at Kaylee with an emotionless expression.
"...subtle" one of them quietly said.


"Hehehe... whoopsy.." Kaylee sheepishly smiled, realizing what she just said out loud.

"We know where you come from." the other merchant replied: "You speak Nifel like children. And speak the Machine tongue not nearly quietly enough."

"You.. don't mind?.. I mean.. about us" Kaylee quietly asked.


One of the merchants looked away. The other replied: "We are just here for artifacts. Something valuable to sell later. That was the deal, yes?"

Circi looks back at Ursula, "The shimmer does not bother me Diana. You cannot flay an already flayed mind." She whispers, "If you could see into it as I do you would understand the beauty and majisty behind it."

Rain smiles at the merchants as they admit their knowledge of them, "Well since that is out of the way, good thing we brought you with us. I think we made it very clear we mean no harm to you or your world, or anybody else for that matter." She places her hands together, "We did promise artifacts however. So anything not of use to us, goes to you. I think that's fair." She looks to Kaylee, "I brought it up at alders death. I was right all along!" She chuckles, "Now the bigger question. Do we hunt them down and kill them for crimes against humanity? Or do we find out their location and find out what their objective is? I'm thinking if they have a spider that information would be in its memory. We all still have our phones. If we can download the spiders memory we can find out the teams objective through some file digging."

Circi looks to Kaylee's leg, "That explains alot actually." She looks up at the girl, "How did you lose it. Indulge your memory's onto me."

Twilight casted her gaze slightly down. "This isn't exactly the place for extensive discussions about such possibilities. I rather get out of there before talking about what's the situation at this point."

She spread her wings and took the air.

"If anyone wants to tag along, speak now."

Radiance takes flight along with Twilight. Remaining silent the entire time. Always listening to make sure they wouldn't get ambushed.

C̷O̴N̴S̶U̸M̵E̵ wrote:Rain smiles at the merchants as they admit their knowledge of them, "Well since that is out of the way, good thing we brought you with us. I think we made it very clear we mean no harm to you or your world, or anybody else for that matter." She places her hands together, "We did promise artifacts however. So anything not of use to us, goes to you. I think that's fair." She looks to Kaylee, "I brought it up at alders death. I was right all along!" She chuckles, "Now the bigger question. Do we hunt them down and kill them for crimes against humanity? Or do we find out their location and find out what their objective is? I'm thinking if they have a spider that information would be in its memory. We all still have our phones. If we can download the spiders memory we can find out the teams objective through some file digging."

"We aren't judge, jury, and executioner" Rogue responds to Rain, "We don't've the authority to find them guilty or carry out whatever sentence best fits, not to mention the fact that we're also in a different county with its own legitimate judicial system that takes priority over our own, and I don't really want to add extraterritorial killer to my CV. They should be caught, yes, but not hunted."

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Rain wrote:Her attention suddenly turns to the merchants, "Alright! Who wants to be flown across first!" She looks around at the party, "Any takers?"

The merchants visibly grimaced, slowly getting back on their feet: "You know what's bubbling at the bottom of this cave right? The Shimmer. The primordial soup of existence.
If you stare at it for too long, your mind will undo itself, piece by piece. There will be nothing of you left, but an empty shell. A husk, consumed by insanity. Some believe death would be preferable"


"You seriously want to risk flying over that?" the other merchant said.


Kaylee nervously shuffled in place: "..we just have to.. make sure we don't look down.. right?"

The merchants exchanged looks. They look like they're really not into it.

"I can take Rogue across" Johan called from the center of the room.

"Sounds like a plan" Rogue nods, resheathing his bayonet and joining the others by the door.

Circi wrote:"The shimmer does not bother me Diana. You cannot flay an already flayed mind." She whispers, "If you could see into it as I do you would understand the beauty and majisty behind it."

"I.. d-don't want to.." Ursula stuttered, looking away: "..it scares me.. what I might see in there, if I look" she wrapped herself in her arms.

Rain wrote:"Now the bigger question. Do we hunt them down and kill them for crimes against humanity? Or do we find out their location and find out what their objective is?

Rogue wrote:"We aren't judge, jury, and executioner" Rogue responds to Rain, "We don't've the authority to find them guilty or carry out whatever sentence best fits, not to mention the fact that we're also in a different county with its own legitimate judicial system that takes priority over our own, and I don't really want to add extraterritorial killer to my CV. They should be caught, yes, but not hunted."

"I'm worried about the convoy.." Ursula quietly said: "They have a Witcher escort but.."

"...they probably never dealt with a metal spider before" Kaylee finished her thoughts: "And there's so many civilians there.."

Twilight wrote:"This isn't exactly the place for extensive discussions about such possibilities. I rather get out of there before talking about what's the situation at this point."

She spread her wings and took the air.

"If anyone wants to tag along, speak now."

Rogue wrote:"Sounds like a plan" Rogue nods, resheathing his bayonet and joining the others by the door.

Radiance wrote:Radiance takes flight along with Twilight. Remaining silent the entire time. Always listening to make sure they wouldn't get ambushed.

Listening to the surrounding area, you don't sense any life signs within your detection range. Everything seemed quiet and dead.


"You guys coming?" Kaylee asked, looking back at the merchants.

"Pass"

"Pass.." both of them replied with a grimace: "We'll wait for you here.." they said and slowly took a seat by the wall, crossing their legs. The prospect of flying over the Shimmer had unnerved them quite heavily.



Johan took Rogue and unfolded his giant batpony wings. Ursula flew closer to Sinner and took her into the air.

The nervous flight to the massive stalactite in the distance began. Ursula looked pretty rattled, often closing her eyes for seconds at a time and staring up at the ceiling for most of the journey.

The glow of the Shimmer faintly reflected off of the caves walls and ceiling, casting strange shadows and engulfing the cave in a pale, ghostly light. Sometimes, from the corner of your eye, you thought you saw shadows of people, cast upon the walls, impossible shadows, with no possible origin or explanation.


They disappeared, the moment you looked in their direction. But moments later, when you resumed your flight path, they would appear, just on the very edge of your vision. Taunting you, convulsing, crying, laughing and fighting.
Strange shadows of people who weren't there, cast upon the walls of the cave, by the Shimmer. There was no logical explanation for it. It could've been just nerves, just a play of the light, the Heightened Senses showed nothing, no signs of life.

But the entire flight path to the stalactite, you just couldn't shake the feeling, as if something from the Shimmer was watching you, trying to silently draw your attention.




Kaylee heavily swallowed and tried to start making conversation, just to keep everyone's minds off the Shimmer:

"..I think it was 5 years ago now.. I was.. am a warship captain, in the Machine World. There was a war. A group of powerful mages, who called themselves the Architects, unleashed a campaign of destruction upon the world.

They were trying to become immortal. Trying to invent new, powerful spells. Trying to push the human body, beyond its capabilities. Testing its limits.
They needed bodies for their experiments, living and dead."



She looked at Circi, as she continued:
"The Architects' soldiers attacked a coastal village in Verria. One of their operations, of mass abduction to fuel their experiments.

My warship was nearby on patrol, so we answered the village' distress call. We were a cruiser class warship, intended for ship to ship combat. Our artillery was too heavy, too inaccurate to start lobbing shells at the village, trying to hit only the enemy, while avoiding civilians.

And the ground assault unit aboard our vessel was minimal, ten guys from special forces. Not nearly enough to cover a village of that size. So we asked for volunteers among the crew, people who trained for basic combat but it wasn't their primary job.

Mechanics, artillery experts, navigators. They weren't front line combatants, they didn't have the same training as the ground special forces, but we needed people on the ground, so we asked and they went."



Kaylee looked ahead, at the stalactite in the distance:
"I insisted on taking part in the ground assault. Left my executive officer in charge of the ship and went in with the troops.

The battle was ugly. Civilians were everywhere, it was hard to tell them apart from the enemy, hard to protect them. Our forces got completely mixed in with the enemy soldiers in the village and it turned into chaos. People got flanked, killed in the back by their enemy. It was bad.



At one point, I saw a civilian laying on the ground, he got pinned down by a piece of debris. I knelt next to him, to administer first aid and try to free him from the rubble. Then I noticed an enemy mage targeting both of us.

I didn't have time to react, didn't have time to reach for my weapon and I couldn't move the civilian out of the way, he was pinned, hard.

So I... I shielded him with my body" Kaylee nervously sighed:



"My leg was blown off, almost all the way up to the hip. I think I blacked out several times from the pain and the blood loss. When I woke up, I was already back on the ship, staring at the infirmary ceiling. One of the soldiers must have seen what happened and stepped in in time.

I spent the next month writhing in pain, in the infirmary of my ship, crying myself to sleep every night because the painkillers weren't strong enough to block out the pain of the wound.
My fiance... my best friend at the time, just sat next to my bed, helpless, holding my hand, because there was nothing else she could do.


She had to divide her time between being the acting captain of the ship and trying to soothe my pain in the infirmary... she told me not to go.. you know?
She told me not to go into that battle, because it wasn't my primary job and I didn't have the necessary training for a frontal ground assault.

I was a ship captain, not a front line fighter. It wasn't the same. But even then, laying in bed of that cramped, tiny infirmary, crying in pain for a month, I never regretted it. Sacrificing a part of my body, for a life of another human being, seemed more than a fair trade to me.

The civilian I tried to save, survived, and so did I. There was nothing else I could've possibly asked for.
The only thing I regret, was the pain I brought to my best friend, when she had to sit by my bed, helplessly holding my hand, as I cried and whimpered in pain... for almost a month.
I.. never wanted to put her through that"



Kaylee sighed. The stalactite was almost in reach:

"They wanted to shelf me, after that injury, you know? Early retirement. 'You've sacrificed enough of yourself', they told me, 'You don't owe the Union anything else, its alright, you don't have to keep going'."


Kaylee caught a strange mischievous smile, mixed with a trace of sadness: "
"I told them off pretty hard.
Said, 'I don't need a leg to sit on my ass all day, watching the ship bridge and telling folk what to do'.

Left the infirmary a week before the doctors recommendation, limped my way with some crutches to the bridge and resumed command of some mission the ship was conducting at the time, still with my stump bandaged and all.


I don't regret it, you know, loosing my leg. After all the pain, the suffering, dealing with shitty wooden prosthetics, the phantom pain, if you'd ask me now, I'd do it all over again.
Trading it for an innocent life, it was worth it."


Kaylee wistfully smiled, as you reached the door in the stalactite.






Doing a horizontal circle in the air for momentum, Kaylee accelerated and drop kicked her way through the door, swinging the stone doors wide open. It was extremely dark inside. No life signs showed up in your senses.

Still blinded by the faint Shimmer outside, your eyes didn't immediately adjust to the dark in the room.

Johan and Ursula flew in, setting their companions on the stone floor of the room.

Kaylee Brown wrote:Doing a horizontal circle in the air for momentum, Kaylee accelerated and drop kicked her way through the door, swinging the stone doors wide open. It was extremely dark inside. No life signs showed up in your senses.

Still blinded by the faint Shimmer outside, your eyes didn't immediately adjust to the dark in the room.

Johan and Ursula flew in, setting their companions on the stone floor of the room.

"Square up, what we got?" Rogue says, immediately moving into a defensive position with his shield until his eyes adjust to the light levels.

Circi quietly listens to Kaylee, "my my... How tragic." She shakes her head, "In a rather small town somewhere in the southern hemisphere of Nifelhime there was me. Not only me but a villages worth of people, about 20 in total not counting Witcher guards." Her voice cracks forcing her to clear her throat, "It was a quiet afternoon, I'll admit I was lazy back then as I was in the middle of the most peaceful of naps. when a small but skilled parasite hord decided the village was easy pray." She looks down, "They were right. They swept in unannounced, hit us from all sides, I never seen Parasites move like that. The few Witchers we had were quickly overwhelmed. As they begin to clear houses a loose fireball must have struck one of houses as it was an inferno. The home was my neighbor's house, her name was Stacy (and she had it going on) and she was my best friend at the time. I don't believe she made it out of that house."

Sinner looks to the walls of the cave, "A small scouting party of sinners must have seen the rising smoke and realized their town must be next. However they all knew that was a mistake on the parasites part. They sent a small team of sinners, Various mutations but each well fit for a fight. Healthy and well built. I was hiding in a basement and only had a small window to watch through. The parasites dragging the still living remains of my townsfolk to reap for their level." She shakes her head, "The first sinner to get there was named Davis, I thought it was so strange at the time. He had blades fixed to his upper and lower arm. They didn't extend out. It was as if the bone inside his arm had flattened or grew the blades extending down the length of his arms. He moves swiftly and fought like a passionate ballerina. He danced his way through the parasites. Partying and lashing out at his attackers. That's when the first parasite goes down. What follows up is an all out sinner strike, flawlessly pushing the parasites back and doing what the Witchers couldn't, and they did it all with their bare hands. They searched buildings for survivors and they found me. I didn't know whether to be terrified or thankful. A short stocky woman with a scorpion tail, her name was rose, threw me over her shoulder much to my protest. They fired their own flare, thick black smoke followed in its wake as it rose before exploding into a black skull, it's features glimmered with small explosions within as a sign of their victory. I fell asleep on our way back. I can't remember when I woke up but when I did, I awoke within the sinners hometown. I didn't know how to react so I secluded myself. It was the townsfolk who had to luer me out of my room. From there I was offered everything, a change of life, a chance at self defense, and a welcoming and loving community that offered to show me their customs and way of life. I declined the offer at first but they didn't give up on me, I made so many friends in a short timespan, they hid nothing from me. I learned that each sinner had a story behind their transformation, they talked about the pain they went through to get there, but the hard work and acceptance that made it all worth it. I started to go out with these sinners, listening to story's, training with them. Every now and again I would suffer small cuts and frequent sickness but at that point I knew what I was getting into.

When I was finally ready to become a sinner, I reflected on years of practice. I saw my friends, my saviours and the eldest gazing at me. Some were smiling which I found hard to believe in itself, but they all said I was destined for great things. I accepted the bite." She rolls up her sleeve showing a massive bite mark on her shoulder, "I was dead within minutes. I spent an eternity in the blackest of blacks, I felt as though I was meditating but It's hard to be sure. When I awoke I found myself crawling with life, quite literally mind you. As I sat up a pile of insects poured from my chest pushed out by my new healing factor, but that didn't stop me from accidently pressing my hand against my ribcage." She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a decently sized chunk of rib, "It was horrifying, I was scared out of my wits but I was reassured this was something that happens to all sinners. Months later I'm healthy, I'm well built, and I'm at peace with what I've become. I have saved countless lives both Witcher and townsfolk yet our race still gets slandered for the way we look." She shrugs, you swear you can see a hint of the slightest smile as she looks away, "It doesn't matter. I made the right choice."

"I'm.. glad to hear that Circi" Kaylee slightly smiled.


Ursula was looking ghostly pale and on the verge of parting with her lunch, as she squinted into the room:
"Um.. Circi.. Kaylee.. thank you for sharing this with us.. I understand that this was a very private memory, that you don't often share with others.. I'm sorry those things happened to you.. and I'm glad to hear you've found a healthy way to accept it and push past those hardships, and that they made you stronger.. I'm glad to hear those things... But-"

Ursula visibly shivered, seemingly growing closer to parting with her last lunch:
"-if this was your idea of calming us and trying to take our minds off the horrors of this place, guess what, Epic fail"



"Wuehehe.. whoopsy" Kaylee sheepishly laughed: "I guess I got a little carried away"


"Guys.." Johan called, sending his ball of light to hover in the center of the room: "Look"





A round room, built in the shape of a half sphere came into view. It was filled with bizarre looking statues, carved into its walls. They depicted some sort of creatures, completely alien and unfamiliar to you. They reminded you of bipedal, winged wolves, more than anything, their jaws agape, eyes staring blank into space.


Some sort of object was built out of stone in the rooms center. Initially, in your dream you mistook it for an old fountain. But up close it vividly reminded you of a pedestal of some sort. Some kind of universal way of presenting something important, to all those who entered.




In the ghostly light of Johan's spell, the glaring issue of the pedestal was painfully vivid.
It was empty.


It presented nothing, and nothing laid on its top, except a fine layer of dust.




Taking a step forward, Johan made his ball of light involuntarily move, casting shadows and light across the room, light which revealed corpses, old skeletons strewn about, along the near wall, closest to the entrance.


There were four of them. Skeletons with shattered bones, some with several holes in their skulls. The entire floor was filled with bullet casings that faintly clattered under your feet.
Kaylee ducked and picked up something that looked like a grenade pin, that nearly crumbled under her fingers.


"God" she quietly whispered.



"Its not here.." Johan quietly said, alarm creeping into his voice: "There's nothing on the pedestal! The Dark Machine isn't here! There's nothing in here!"

"Calm down" Kaylee called: "...the ball of light barely disperses the darkness. We need to check every corner of this room, every wall, every single detail in here, before we draw any conclusions. We need to make sure we don't miss anything."



"Uh.. guys.." Ursula called, looking down at the four skeletons: "...one of them is not like the others"

Following her line of sight and trying to deduce the situation, three of the skeletons were once clearly Witchers. You spotted charred Witcher weapons strewn under their arms and feet.


The fourth body was not like the others. You couldn't even see the skeleton clearly.
It was encased in a hard, armored, environmental suit. A different design, but still reasonably similar to the ones you wore when you first came into Nifelheim.

"Wow, I can't believe we came here just to find we were too late." Twilight snarks. Her frown indicated that, while she felt her guess was correct, she wasn't happy about it.

She looked between the corpses. Then she rubs her chin. After a few second of thinking, something clicked in her mind, her eyes grew, her face going pale.

"Guys." She started, a slight tremble in her voice. "I may have a theory on what's happening... And I'm sure parts of it are slightly off, but there's no denying... This might be much worse then we thought." She took a deep breath. "Is it okay if I vent it out? Because I know Kaylee began to cry the last time I let something of this magnitude out of my system."

Kaylee Brown wrote:"Uh.. guys.." Ursula called, looking down at the four skeletons: "...one of them is not like the others"

Following her line of sight and trying to deduce the situation, three of the skeletons were once clearly Witchers. You spotted charred Witcher weapons strewn under their arms and feet.


The fourth body was not like the others. You couldn't even see the skeleton clearly.
It was encased in a hard, armored, environmental suit. A different design, but still reasonably similar to the ones you wore when you first came into Nifelheim.

"Hello, Machinefolk" Rogue says to the body, kneeling down so he can get a better look at the suit, to see if there was a country's flag or manufacturer's logo engraved or printed anywhere. "From what we know of these guys, they're pretty competent. I think it's safe to assume the Dark Machine's now in their possession, whatever it is..."

Twilight wrote:"Wow, I can't believe we came here just to find we were too late."

"A couple hundred years too late" Kaylee said, frowning at the grenade pin: "..the metal rusted completely."

"It looks like even Lucretia didn't know it was taken." Johan said, looking around: "I guess it makes sense, if she was in a coma this whole time."

Twilight wrote:"Guys." She started, a slight tremble in her voice. "I may have a theory on what's happening... And I'm sure parts of it are slightly off, but there's no denying... This might be much worse then we thought." She took a deep breath. "Is it okay if I vent it out? Because I know Kaylee began to cry the last time I let something of this magnitude out of my system."

Kaylee caught an annoyed, deadpan expression and blinked very slowly.


Johan looked towards Twilight: "We need to explore every possibility, no matter how small. Its the only way we can get to the bottom of this.."

Rogue wrote:"Hello, Machinefolk" Rogue says to the body, kneeling down so he can get a better look at the suit, to see if there was a country's flag or manufacturer's logo engraved or printed anywhere.

Studying the environmental suit, it seems all the paint had faded away and peeled off over the years. The suit now held an even, dark orange, rusted color. You can't seem to find any markings or logo's engraved or printed anywhere.

A long, horizontal hole became visible in the suit almost immediately though. It seems something extremely sharp had cut through this persons stomach once, opening up the suit in that area. The edges of the hole had visibly melted.


For some reason, the suits visor was open, moved toward the top of the helmet and exposing the pony's skull underneath. A single giant hole was visible in his forehead.

Rogue wrote:"From what we know of these guys, they're pretty competent. I think it's safe to assume the Dark Machine's now in their possession, whatever it is..."

"I.. I'm not sure.." Ursula said, thinking: "...no Machine folk ever returned to their world.
Every invasion was crushed, in the end. By us, or by parasites. But none of them ever made it back through the portal.

This was true for every invasion. All the Machine folk that ever set foot on Nifelheim, died here. Our memory libraries are full of first witness accounts. I can almost say with complete certainty, if the Machine Folk removed the Dark Machine from this tomb, then its still somewhere in Nifelheim...

..we never gave them a chance to get back to the portal.. ever. This was true for every invasion"

"Maybe the goal wasn't to escape then, but staying here for a long term plan." Twilight said, scratching her head.

"Let's put some facts on the table. When Ursula came here, she was taken in by humans already present. The humans who came before her had to discover everything from scratch. And I'm gonna be honest, if not for Ursula's kindness, we would be dead. Hell, general Glasgow was probably one of the lucky few who could tame it on his own. And afte that, the humans who came here first were able to secure locations wide enough for establishments, even cities and their own civilization. That couldn't have been done if the parasite horde was as strong and vicious as it is now, as it's something we're trying to outrun."

She began pacing around. "Thus, 250 years ago a plan was set in motion to create a glysteria warding zone, a plan that was supposed to have been finished 25 years ago. Sadly, there were complications, and the evacuation has to be rushed. Though, if the humans were able to keep them at bay for 1000 years, what changed 250 years ago?"

She looked at the throne. "Our glysteria have a visceral hatred for Lucretia, calling her the enemy, even though she died long before humans arrived. The reaction could almost be seen like a reaction to a particulary deadly predator. Something could have been done by her to earn that title, though whatever it was, it wasn't enough to wipe them out. Later she began to haunt us, perhaps asking us to restore balance. And that balance is the machine..."

She looked towards the rust. "Whatever happened here, happened very long ago. And if my guess is correct, then we can make a timeline. The start of this will be the moment "the dark machine" was created. For a time, there were no precursors or humans, until about 1300 years ago. Then, for a 1000 years, humans were able to carve their own place in this world, always seeking a way back. However, during that time, a different force entered. A bunch of 'machine folk soldiers'. Their attacks were repelled, and every invasion was defeated. Or so it is written."

She let out a sigh. "Perhaps some were able to slip through, their weaponry capable of surviving this wilderness and even glysteria infections. Maybe able to found a place to operate from. Or enough to get the dark machine..."

She looked toward the pedestal again. "What if the Dark machine was indeed a weapon to slay glysteria, or at least weaken certain aspects? The technology to weaken the parasites exists in witcher hand, why not elsewhere? For all I know, they reverse engineered it from the dark machine. But what the witchers created wasn't as powerful as the original. And when it was stolen, well..." Her gaze was casted down. "Suddenly the glysteria were far more powerful and numerous then the witchers expected, or hoped."

She folded her arms. "Who took it? For what purpose? Where is it now? And, an especially terrible thought, what if the machine folk who are invading already have the power of glysteria on their side? Be it either as rogue witchers or ambitious parasites using those soldiers. The possibilities are endless, and each is scarier then the next."

She shook her head. "I might have some details messed up, but I fear there's been some trouble brewing for a very, very long time."

Twilight wrote:the humans who came here first were able to secure locations wide enough for establishments, even cities and their own civilization. That couldn't have been done if the parasite horde was as strong and vicious as it is now, as it's something we're trying to outrun."

"Hey... yeah..." Ursula fell into thought very quickly: "...we only have written accounts of that time, but all the historical records said the same thing -
When humanity was first exiled to Nifelheim, the land was lush and thrived with life. Hadedashi, Istachi, various animals and spirits, covered this planet and lived in nature in harmony.

There was no sign of the parasites, at first. No blast lands. No scorched earth. No horde. I.. haven't even thought about that before"


Ursula squinted at the floor in thought: "Historic records say, the parasites appeared suddenly, without warning.
Our ancestors didn't know about parasites at the time, of course. Their eyes couldn't even see them.
They believed an alien plague had descended upon them, suddenly, with no visible source. People started to whither, started to die.

In panic, our ancestors gathered their belongings and ran, trying to outrun the plague. And where ever they went, the land was lush and green. There was no sign of blast lands.
Eventually, they ran far enough, settled down and established the first city, Rakshata.



This all begs the question however." Ursula frowned: "If the parasites lived on Nifelheim, long before humanity did, how come the entire globe wasn't a giant blasted desert? How come the parasites population didn't swallow the entire planet?

Its like, their world domination campaign only began, shortly after humanity got dumped into Nifelheim"

Twilight wrote:Sadly, there were complications, and the evacuation has to be rushed. Though, if the humans were able to keep them at bay for 1000 years, what changed 250 years ago?"

"Ever since the official formation of the Witchers, humanity began to push back against Glystaria.
The parasites weren't nearly as numerous as they are now, and covered a small patch of land, up the north-east.



In the Year 564, counting from the day of the Exile, our scholars proclaimed the "Age of War and Darkness"

The parasites numbers grew exponentially and it became painfully obvious that if nothing was done, they would outnumber us and swallow the world.
A plan was charted, to begin a coordinated war against them.


The Witchers gathered and trained a massive army. Built massive strongholds and fortified cities, perfecting the parasite repelling Obelisks.
We attempted to retake the planet."


Ursula sighed: "The war ended with failure and catastrophic casualties. Our population numbers plummeted, we reached the edge of extinction.

The Parasites were deemed unstoppable and predicted to overrun the planet in a manner of decades.


So the Witcher Kings devised a plan to halt the parasites advance, while rapidly fortifying their toughest strongholds.


In the Year 1110, The Age of Migration was proclaimed and all efforts were thrown into to escaping this dying world. And fleeing back to the Machine One.

It has been so, until the current year, 1288."

Twilight wrote:Then, for a 1000 years, humans were able to carve their own place in this world, always seeking a way back. However, during that time, a different force entered. A bunch of 'machine folk soldiers'. Their attacks were repelled, and every invasion was defeated. Or so it is written."

She let out a sigh. "Perhaps some were able to slip through, their weaponry capable of surviving this wilderness and even glysteria infections

"I understand your skepticism, about the accuracy of our historical records" Ursula nodded: "In a world without Witchers, Machine Folk could only keep records on paper. It was so with us as well, for a time.

But roughly 100 years after our Exile, the Witchers discovered a new, magical way to keep records."



Ursula shifted in place: "We call them 'Memory Orbs'.
Special spheres, created of a unique material, that allow a Witcher to store a single memory, within the spheres depths.

The Memory Orbs are unique. The memory stored inside them, cannot be faked. Cannot be altered.
Any who touch such an Orb, can see the memory stored within, from a first person perspective, from the eyes of the person, who stored the memory there.


Sometimes, the Memory Orbs show a more accurate, more detailed picture, than what the person in question could recollect on his own.

In battle, men get injured, get scared, get angry. A fog of war often covers their vision, making them miss critical details around them.
But their subconscious mind sees everything. And when such memory is deposited into an Orb, it can be reviewed and all the details spotted, even those that the host missed."



Ursula shifted her weight to another leg again: "We have whole libraries, filled with nothing but Memory Orbs.
By the time the Machine World invasions began, we had already mastered the technique. And every first witness account, every memory of the invasion was stored, copied multiple times and distributed among Nifelheim.


It was important, to learn how the Machine Folk operate, where they come from, where they go. Which spells are effective against them, which aren't.

Watching those memories was vital to coming up with a strategy against a superior, more numerous foe.
Every green recruit watches at least one of those memories of the invasion"


Ursula placed a hand on her chest plate: "I myself watched the memories of several invasions.
Twilight, I can guarantee with a hundred percent. The recollections were accurate.

No Machine Folk ever made it back to their world.
Even now, the Machina Portal is guarded 24 hours a day, the whole year round, by a special Witcher unit, uniquely trained to combat Machines and their Metal Masters.


You can even see it on our maps, the 1st and 2nd Defense Line, around the Machina Portal.
No Machine Folk ever escaped Nifelheim.



If they took the Dark Machine, its still somewhere in Nifelheim"

Twilight wrote:And, an especially terrible thought, what if the machine folk who are invading already have the power of glysteria on their side? Be it either as rogue witchers or ambitious parasites using those soldiers. The possibilities are endless, and each is scarier then the next."

"..what if Machine Folk harnessed the power of Witchers?.." Ursula looked down with a hopeless expression:
"...then my people are truly doomed. And once the Great Migration happens, we will be slaughtered on the other side"



"..we're not gonna let that happen" Kaylee bit her lower lip: "We have connections on the other side. World leaders who'll listen to us, before acting. We'll take care of things, after the Migration happens"


Ursula looked down at her boots: "..I'm afraid.. I don't share your optimism."


Kaylee looked around the dark corners of the room, where Johan's light didn't reach:
"...lets... continue looking around. We don't really have any leads yet and we can't leave empty handed, after traveling for so long"

Kaylee Brown wrote:This all begs the question however." Ursula frowned: "If the parasites lived on Nifelheim, long before humanity did, how come the entire globe wasn't a giant blasted desert? How come the parasites population didn't swallow the entire planet?

Its like, their world domination campaign only began, shortly after humanity got dumped into Nifelheim"

"Maybe they were lying dormant, waiting for an intelligent species to show up, do Glystaria take other animals as hosts or just Humans?" Rogue asks.

Kaylee Brown wrote:Ursula placed a hand on her chest plate: "I myself watched the memories of several invasions.
Twilight, I can guarantee with a hundred percent. The recollections were accurate.

No Machine Folk ever made it back to their world.
Even now, the Machina Portal is guarded 24 hours a day, the whole year round, by a special Witcher unit, uniquely trained to combat Machines and their Metal Masters.


You can even see it on our maps, the 1st and 2nd Defense Line, around the Machina Portal.
No Machine Folk ever escaped Nifelheim.



If they took the Dark Machine, its still somewhere in Nifelheim"

"Unless they bypassed the defence line by just creating another portal, if they can create one once they can do it again" Rogue suggests.

Kaylee Brown wrote:Kaylee looked around the dark corners of the room, where Johan's light didn't reach:
"...lets... continue looking around. We don't really have any leads yet and we can't leave empty handed, after traveling for so long"

"There's always those two pyramids back by the door, by the look of it they've been in perfect shape for thousands of years, they might come in handy?" Rogue mentions.

Circi snaps her fingers, pale white Sparks flash from her fingers and bounce against the floor as she casts night vision. She begins looking for any other exits or rooms for them to explore.

Rain carefully glares around, "I get a sinking feeling something terrible is about to happen.