Desert Sands

((Character: R’jhet Nunh))

E’er since we took down Grimm Lynn, work has been kinda slow. Sure, the Grand Companies seemed ta really appreciate us an’ gave us some much needed fundin’, buh that wasn’t gonna last forever. Ah finally got a hook fer some work, but it seemed really fishy. Usually Ah’d pass on work Ah din’t trust but...it’d been a bit an’ we needed the work. We rented out an airship from the Flames and bore our colors into Ishgardian territory.

Ah brought along two veterans...an’ Ah use tha’ term loosely mind ya, an’ two of our new folk. Didi an’ Mirara were as eager fer the work as Ah was. We recently hired a new engineer named Zwight, and as soon as Ah mentioned this job involved experimental mammets he was ready ta go! A fella bah the name of Nevi also joined us fer his first mission.

Once there we met up with a machinist named Doctor Lumenaux, our client. He explained tha’ he hired us as a third party cause his work wasn’t illegal, but would be frowned upon bah his countrymen. He was tryin’ to artificially recreate the echo in mammets, an’ claimed he had succeeded not once but -five- times! He introduced us to one of ‘em, a lil’ warrior named Wibble. Wibble told us the other four had been stolen by a rival; Doctor Surly. With no sign of funny business, we set out to find the missin’ mammets.

We found the tower easily ‘nuff thanks to a small drone that was able to track one’a the mammets. We still had to get past the tower’s automatic defenses though. Luckily Zwight was -easily- able ta sneak up an’ disable them all. Ah don’t regret hirin’ him at all! He even managed ta do somethin’ to the mechanical door leadin’ inside an’ got us inside safely.

Not far from the entrance we got stuck in a trapped hallway. Again Zwight’s quick thinkin’ saved the day. He pried off a panel of wall and fiddled with the wires n’ doodads, somehow deactivatin’ the trap. While he did that, Mirara managed ta use some peanut oil to unlock the cage walls keepin’ us from progressin’. The team is really comin’ together.

You have chains, keeping you linked to something you'd rather leave behind. Maybe this is a bad family, traumatic event, toxic relationship... But something's keeping you trapped there, and you don't know how to escape it. You can turn the chain around, to help you instead of trap you... Can't you?

((Character: R’jhet Nunh))

Ah gathered the Talons as soon as Ah got the message. E-Sumi-Yan of the Conjurer’s guild had replied to the letter Ah sent him. He said he had more information fer us as well as questions. He wanted us ta get to Gridania as quickly as we could, and even paid fer our airship tickets. Mirara was thrilled, seein’ as how she used to study there. Hell walkin’ those halls again would be a trip down memory lane fer me as well, though that was a lifetime ago feels like.

Bein’ in the heart of the guild again really took me back. Ah felt like mah life was comin’ full circle. It had been a bit past a decade since Ah was here last. Ah was a much different person back then Ah think. Ah hadn’t left much of an impression, though Mirara apparently had. She was quick ta offer to refill the lanterns an’ such and even promised to be extra careful and avoid making fires this time. The looks on the other conjurers’ faces spoke volumes about her track record here, and Ah couldn’t help but chuckle. Calm and patient as always, E-Sumi-Yan thanked Mirara fer comin’, and told her no chores were needed. Ah always did like that feller.

He told us he thought he knew who Grimm Lynn was, and asked us a few questions ‘bout her appearance first. Didi was able to confirm his suspicions, and he told us ‘bout a padjal he thought died in the Calamity. Her name was Lynn-U-Kemnu, and he said they were close once. He din’t go into details ‘bout her history much, as most of mah fellow Talons were more concerned with how ta stop her. Can’t say Ah blame ‘em none. He said with the help of other padjal, he could temporarily weaken her connection to the life stream an’ thus limit her power. He warned that doin’ so would probably cut off her connection to her immortals and thus doom a lotta innocents. He wanted ta focus on recoverin’ the hearts first, and that was somethin’ Ah agreed with fully. As we spoke Mirara mentioned the golem we slew awhile back, and E-Sumi-Yan had an idea. He said he could trace the magic’s source and hopefully track Lynn down. Such magics are complex though, and he’d need folks to watch his back while he performed them. Naturally, we agreed.

We gathered at an alter way out in the Shroud. E-Sumi-Yan sat with the golem’s heart in the middle of it and warned that this magic would attract aggressive elementals. We agreed to defend him as he did what he needed to do. Since there were four of us, we divided up the area around into quadrants and kept our eyes peeled.