It has been a hectic few hours. By the time night has fully fallen in the Gash all of the non-fighters from the village have been moved into Herriot Hall, along with anything heavy and portable that can be added to barricade the doors. Aaron has collected his samples of the native plants, and found nothing remotely useful, especially for preparing any kind of knockout potion.

The shields have been stripped from the walls of the Hall and piled at the base of the entry ramp and at choke points along the way, in the hope that the metal will act to draw off lightning from the invader's whip. Volunteers – including Aaron – line the rocks above the ramp armed with heavy stones, while Lucia stands before the doors of the Hall itself as a final defense. The two Guardians hunker down, nearly invisible, atop their half-buried Vykarins a few dozen yards from the beginning of the ramp, with sturdy ropes harnessed to their mounts. The other end of each cable ends in a nooses buried in front of the ramp.

Further up the ramp itself, Euphrosyne and Doreen wait on their own Vykarin, armed with javelins, while young Eidothea is positioned in the Hall next to the Queen. Far off across the Gash, Layth waits near the mine entrances atop Albinka to see which tunnel the alleged demon will use. Other Vykarin are scattered between the mines and the Hall, ready to give a signal if they spot the enemy.

Layth has spent the past few hours doing a mad hunt in the hills, looking over both the entrances to the mines as well as for signs that foreign caravans have been in the area. Once sun started to go down, though, he moved back to an observation point and just watches the mines quietly. One thing living in the desert has taught the Lapi … it's how to be patient. Watching sand dunes and such form after all …

And there, dead center of the ramp, Tasha awaits her apparent counterpart. "Well, 'ere goes," she murmurs to herself. "Time to see wot's wot, it is." She rests a hand on the whip at her side, but isn't expecting to use it. After all, she's hoping some sort of accord can be reached with the mysterious creature, and if not, the array of traps might stop it. She worries it won't be nearly so easy, but this is the best a few hours can offer. The alternative is simply letting it take what it wants, and not even Tasha is willing to allow that without some effort to deflect the beast.

Night atop the Sinh Range is unusual. To the east, the Procession shines as bright as if seen from an airship. To the west, an eerie aurora glows over the Forbidden Zone of Bosch. The wind also picks up, adding a soft background rumble to everything. In the Gash itself, all of the lights have been extinguished as well.

Down in that well of darkness, Layth spots some small lights near one of the mine entrances. Lights that move.

Tasha turns her gaze to the sky a moment, noting the aura oh Bosch. Oi, Bosch. I've 'eard of it, but I've never been this close. The ship always keeps back, an' Eyeshine'd 'ave my 'ead if I ever got within' a league of tha' place. She frowns, for Captain Eyeshine and others always told stories when Bosch was nearby. Bad stories, stories to chill a sailor's bones. And worst of all, some of the stories were true.

Layth leans down on the back of Albinka when the lights appear. He holds for just a moment, waiting to see if they move away from the entrance or go back inside.

It's difficult to make out anything more than that the lights are moving. Like glowing pinpricks in the distance, they don't illuminate much at all – but they're definitely moving east, towards the inhabited part of the valley.

"Time to head back," Layth whispers to Albinka, then directs the creature back towards the hall. Knowing time is of the essence, he pushes Albinka to run as fast as she can manage.

Some minutes later, Layth arrives at the base of the hill that the fortress squats atop, and can see Tasha waiting at the foot of the spiraling ramp.

Herald she may be, but Tasha is no true angel. She believes, but she doesn't have any bolts of lighting, or miracles, to pull out fix this situation. It's really just her and her companions, and whatever miracles may come are for Abaddon alone to decide. The rest is flesh and bone. "All set there," she calls out, checking the readiness of her defenses. "Remember, don' engage this thing unless you 'ave to or I give the word. If it's no' goin' to fight unless it 'as to, we can work wit' that."

"Lights are heading this way. They came from the seventh mine entrance starting from the left," Layth notes as he hops from Albinka's back and then pats her to indicate she can withdraw if she wants. "Where do you wish me to position?"

"Tell the others it comes, an' wait with Lucia. Might be I'll need a rider, someone to watch where it goes if this doesn' work," Tasha replies. "An' Layth," the Vartan reaches over and puts a hand on the buck arm, "don't be gettin' all heroic on me. Be safe."

Just then, the first of the Vykarin sentries lets out a howl, indicating the intruder has been spotted as close as the hot-spring lake between the Hall and the mines.

"The distance between a hero and a fool is merely a hero succeeds," Layth quips with a small smile. Still, though, he nods and starts back towards Lucia. "I will hold ground unless things look dire. Be careful and don't do anything 'heroic' either. As long as people live, we still have a chance."

"Shame we didn' 'ave time to set up closer to the springs. All tha' armor'd sink like a stone," Tasha considers aloud, in a murmur. She stares ahead, looking focused, if a bit nervous. Layth's only seen Tasha look this mature once, back in the cavern where his mother met her end. It makes her look older, somehow.

One by one, the sentries howl ever few minutes. It isn't much longer before Tasha can see the gleam off of metal in the light of the Procession, and two sets of wide-spread, glowing eyes: a green pair right above a red pair.

Layth takes up a defensive position near Lucia. He nods to his 'cousin' as he does so. No words are said. Lucia isn't fit to fight with her injured leg, but he would never tell her that is the reason he's there.

Tasha's ears shoot up when she spots the eyes, blinking her own. Oi, they said it looks like me! I don' 'ave four eyes! Indignity aside, she's more nervous now. She wasn't sure what the monster would be, exactly, but already it's shaping up to be fearsome. "It's comin'," she warns, having superior vision, "make sure the shields are up near you. I'm goin' to try an' talk to it."

Tasha can hear the thing now, above the wind murmur. The armor grinds every other step, hinting at a limp on one side. The hulking shape stops just beyond the buried lassos, and seems to wait in uncertainty.

"'Ere goes. If I die, you're in charge Layth," Tasha says, trying to sound like she's joking. Stepping forward, Tasha makes her way down the ramp to moves to stop behind the trap lines and her shield array. "Oi! You!" She lifts a hand and waves to the creature, "Yes, you! I'm 'ere to talk to you, an' make an accord. You un'erstand me?"

In reply, a bright white light flares to life on the thing's right shoulder, nearly blinding Tasha. A voice booms, in recognizable (if oddly accented) Standard, "I.F.F. SIGNAL NOT DETECTED. INSIGNIA NOT DETECTED. STATE UNIT AND OPERATOR."

"Agh," Tasha exclaims as she's momentarily blinded. For a moment she fears she's about to be melted, but when melting doesn't come and she seems to still be in one piece, she straightens. Holding a hand up to try and keep from being blinded, Tasha says, "Oi, what are you sayin'? I … F … F? What's an' If Signal? An' this is my insignia:" She uses her other hand to fish out her holy symbol, showing it to the creature while adding, "I'm with Abaddon's Temple, an' you've been attackin' these people – why?"

The creature's head turns slightly. In the backwash from the light, Tasha can see a vaguely Jupani-shaped metal helmet, with the glowing eyes actually protruding from the sides. "INSIGNIA RECOGNIZED. TERRAN MOBILE FORWARD INFANTRY. OPERATOR UNKNOWN. CONTINUING WITH SALVAGE OPERATION." The thing steps forward, its smooth, metal-encased and hoof-like left foot landing right in the center of one of the buried lassos.

Tasha waves the Vykarins off, gesturing them to abort the trap. Instead, she begins forward, holding up a hand to urge the creature to wait. "Oi, wait! Where are you from? Wha' are you salvagin' 'ere?" Whatever this thing is, Tasha isn't about to send a few Vykarins against it. She doesn't think she could stand watching them immolated, and what's more, she doesn't think it'd even slow the metal giant.

The armored intruder stops once more, and a smaller light comes on to illuminate its chest. The metal is red… save for silvery sections where the pigment has been scratched or worn away. A plaque affixed to the right breast reads "LT. N. ARGENTINE" and a circular plaque on the left shows a stylized wolf's head over a field of blue, with the inscription "TSS FENRIS" across the upper curve, and "PSV-024C" on the lower. Closer to the top of the chest, where it meets the articulated gorget, is inscribed the word "HARDSUIT".

"It's a … demon suit o' armor?" Tasha's never heard of a demon suit of armor. She supposed they exist, or rather, has never heard thet don't exist, but facing one is puzzling. What's more, it seems to recognize her. "'Ardsuit … PSV-024 … C … TSS FENRIS! An' … LT. N. Argentine?" She blinks, peering at the metal monster's frame curiously. "Where 'ave I 'eard Lt. somethin' before?" She thinks, and it comes to her quickly – the Temple uses that form for its soliders. "Oi, are you wit' the Temple of Rephidim? Is your name Argentine?" She's still wondering at TSS Fenris. It sounds like a ship, but the gash is named Fenris, making any ship with the same name impossibly old to have living crew – unless they crew became demons! The rest of the words mean nothing to Tasha.

There are some other superficial resemblances to Tasha. The armor has wings folded at its back, with feathers engraved on their otherwise solid surfaces. The color matches, for the most part as well. The forearms have huge, blocky humps on them, though, as Tasha sees very clearly since the left arm is rising up now. A panel opens in the hump, and a cylinder extends from it. The end of it pops open like a flower in front of Tasha's face.

Tasha stops in her tracks, face twisting in a strained grimace. "Oi, now, no need to point your arm at me," she insists, taking a slow step backwards. She keeps on backing up, trying to get behind a shield. "We're not 'ere for violence if it can be 'elped."

The petals on the 'flower' begin to vibrate, and then blur. The defenders on the walls nearest the foot of the ramp begin to collapse, and even Tasha feels a horrible – though not paralyzing – headache build in the back of her skull. Worst of all, she can feel her teeth buzzing, which usually doesn't happen until the morning after a really big bout of binge drinking.

"'Oly 'ell!" Tasha wails, staggering until she almost trips over a shield and has to used it to balance herself. Face scrunched up like she opened a bad box of rations, she looks slowly around to see if anyone else is feeling the same. Seeing they're feeling worse, Tasha decides she better do something, and the monster showed her what: that thing on its arm. "I said no violence," she yells, pulling the shield out of the ground and running forward to try and smash it over the creature's arm.

The flower is turned on Tasha directly now, churning her innards and vibrating the shield so severely that it's difficult to hold onto. But the armored demon is not exactly swift in its movements, and can't turn the projector away before Tasha hits it with the shield. Several of the petals are broken off (and one vibrates through the metal until Tasha can see it nearly cut into her arm). The waves of pressure stop and the device is retracted back into the armor. "DO NOT INTERFERE," the armor bellows, in it's odd monotone.

Tasha recoils from the impact, then holds up the shield only to stare with wide eyes at the cut the device made in it. 'Oly 'ell! Wha' IS this thing! This's metal. As far as Tasha knows, metal is the strongest thing in the world, and to have it ripped in to so easily startles the Vartan.

Queasy but intact, Tasha begins circling the metal monster, keeping the damaged shield between herself and it. "I said, no violence, aye? You're not to 'urt these people wit' your crazy spinnin' metal arm or your lightin'!" She shakes the shield vaguely at the beast, to warn it she might whack it again if it continues. "Now I'm sayin', why are you 'ere, Argentine 'Ardsuit? What are you salvagin'?"

"HULL INTEGRITY MUST BE RESTORED," the armor replies, and then lumbers forward towards the ramp.

"Hull?" Tasha hops to the aside to avoid having her foot trampled, then begins following after the creature. "Oi, Layth! Lucia! Get out 'o the way," she hollars. To the armor, she asks, "What hull? You mean a ship? Are you wit' Rephidim Temple's airships? I work on airships!"

"ALLIANCE WITH SILENT ONES CONFIRMED," the armor replies. A few of the wall defenders have made it back to their feet now, and lift up heavy stones… but don't throw them yet, since Tasha is right there next to the target.

Layth shifts a bit, going into a defensive posture in front of Lucia instinctively. "Are you to withdraw?" he asks the doe behind him quietly. "If so, I will cover until you are a safe distance."

"There is nowhere to withdraw," Lucia notes. "The door behind us is barricaded." Further down the ramp, Euphrosyne raises her javelin into throwing position, and Konstancja crouches on her haunches, ready to charge.

"Then I will defend you as best I am capable. I am sorry I am not a true guardian," Layth notes, his fingers curling and knuckles popping. He readies himself for a fight.

"Oh, blas' it all!" Tasha remembers what happened last time they ambushed this thing – dead Guardins, boiled in their own armor. The ambush might have been a good idea, but Tasha has hit it, and she knows full well a few rocks are'nt going to stop it. It could cut through metal! "Layth! Lucia! Don' bother tryin' to strike it, I think it's all metal! It destroyed the shield! Bu', it's slow! So … run for it! I'm goin' to … do somethin'!" Not exactly sure what 'something' is yet, Tasha stops, then spreads her wings. Well, 'ere goes. It's a heroic way to die, it is. She then takes to the air, and tries to land on the monster's back!

The wings are bulky, and attached to a backpack of sorts rather than directly to the armor. There's wide nostril of sorts that makes up the top of the pack, and as Tasha grabs onto it she can recognize the feel of ceramic. From ahead, Euphrosyne declares, "It will not pass us, Aldara! I can strike from range!"

"DON'T ATTACK IT, IT WON'T 'ELP," Tasha warns, despite the fact she's on top of the thing. "This part's not made from metal," she adds, "I think it's … ceramic – like a pot!" Pots being more fragile than swords, Tasha decides to take a swing at the nozzle once her secured herself enough to hurl the shield forward.

CLAAAANG! Ceramic or not, the nacelle doesn't crack under the blow, but the shield vibrates and transmits the shock to Tasha's arm. The armor pauses, and the head swivels around until it's facing backwards and looking down at Tasha now.

Tasha stares at the creature that stares back at her, and for a moment they just stand there like that. "'Ello," she says in a weak voice, her arm stinging from the impact. She shakes it a little, left with only one arm to hold on with. "Don' suppose you'll stop this now?"

The metal faceplate of the armor slides up, revealing a glass surface, behind which Tasha can see the mummified remains of a Jupani. It's eyes have sunk so far back and shrunk that they may as well have been raisins, and brown fur still clings to the desiccated flesh. "NO," the voice of the armor replies.

"Abaddon's Sword, there's a dead guy in this armor! It's movin' all by itself," Tasha exclaims. She almost loses her grip, so shocked is she, never expecting to end up wrestling a walking tomb. "You're dead," she tells the suit, "the guy inside you's dead! Are, are you some kind 'o ghost? Did you ship crash 'ere, long ago, an' you 'aunt it?" Haunted ships are something Tasha can relate to, even if she's never heard of a ship with metal encased people who keep moving after death. "I'm sort o' a priestess, I can 'elp! Jus' stop!"

"HULL INTEGRITY MUST BE RE-" the announcement is cut short. Seeing the opportunity once the monster's head was turned, Euphrosyne charged forward and launched her javelin. The heavy, bronze-tipped projectile pierced the back of the helmet and came out through the corpse's left eye socket just before the entire head assembly ripped free and flew over Tasha's head.

Tasha gapes at the missing head, definitely not having expected Amazonians were that strong. It does explain the armor in the Temple of Abaddon, though. "Now you 'ave no 'ead! Stop fightin'," she insists. The shield is abandoned, and she tries to haul herself up farther and peek inside the suit itself. "Layth, Lucia, Vykarins, try an' bind its arms an' legs, if anythin' pops out of anywhere, break it fast!"

Layth now surges forward towards the 'beast'. He drops down low, then leaps towards the thing. His target: its knees. Joints are always a weak point, he was taught. Maybe he can drop this thing down so the others can move in.

Gyes and Endre are right behind Tasha with their ropes, and the armor isn't moving at all now. Through the neck piece, Tasha can see… a neck. The bones of the spine must have been pulverized when the helmet spun around. When Layth hits the lower legs, the entire mass of the armor begins to tilt backwards, thanks to Tasha's added weight on its back.

"Oi, wai-" The Vartan scrambles to climb over the creature's chest before it can fall on her, assuming she'll be flatter than the ale in Amazonia if she does'nt hurry up and get forward!

Tasha thus rides the armor until it falls onto its wings, and nearly slides down until she's sitting on Layth's head.

The Vartan smiles down at Layth. "Ey there, bun!" Her tail wags.

"Ufft!" goes Layth when Tasha ends up sitting on his head. Trying to keep some level of dignity, he reaches up and lifts her off his head and sets her on the ground beside him. "Not quite the plan intended, but it seems to have worked," he comments as he shakes out his lop-ears.

Tasha grins at Layth as he picks her up effortlessly, then sets her down. "It's no' safe yet. It was movin' wit' a dead man inside. It could move at any momen'," she insists. Layth gets a smooch on the cheek before Tasha wanders over to the armor, pointing. "Make sure it's all tied up. I'm goin' to look inside." And with that, she peeks inside. "Oi ew, this ''as to go. Once we find 'is 'ead we ough an' bury 'im."

The Vykarin are jostling for position to get closer to the thing, and one of them has the helmet in its jaws, complete with javelin. The others from Dianus are crowding in as well, with the locals looking on from atop the stone walls. "So, now what, Herald?" Euphrosyne asks. "Is the beast slain?"

Layth shakes out his rather sore foot from where he kicked the metal beast. It was rather like kicking a cliff side. He then goes about helping try to secure the downed armor. He does glance back to Lucia, calling out, "Bring rope."

"'Ard to kill somethin' that wasn' alive," Tasha replies as she peers inside the armor. "I think it was some kind 'o ghost, an' it wanted to salvage somethin' to fix a hull. I think it 'as a ship, maybe tha' ship o' the gods you mentioned. 'Is armor does say Fenris, after all." A pause, and she adds, "Can one o' you get somethin' we can put 'is remains on? 'E might be a ghost, an' a deadly one at tha', but he deserves a burial an' some respect."

Once the armor is bound in ropes, Hudak starts dragging it towards the Hall. "The smiths should be able to open it and extract the… remains," Lucia notes.

"And we had best hope this is the only one. If this thing did come from a ship … well, a ship has a crew, not just one man," Layth points out to those around him. "Do not celebrate so soon."

Tasha stands up, and nods. "Tha's righ'. Jus' be careful aroun' it, an' post some Warriors and/or Guardians to keep an eye on it until it's in pieces. If you find anythin', like that whip or other bits, let me know." Tasha then turns to Layth, and nods to him as well. "Oi, righ'. This could jus' be one. The danger's no' over until we find where 'e came from an' make sure there isn' more. Looks like we 'ave to go inside." The Vartan points off towards the mines, grimly.

"Agreed. But I have some hope that perhaps down in the mines we will find those it had taken. Perhaps it needed more hands to repair the ships and saw the warriors as strength. Perhaps not. But as long as the winds blow and sun still shines, there is always hope. Let us tend to the beast. It will teach us much about what we may find below. We can then better prepare," Layth offers with a buck-toothed smile. He pat's Tasha's back and goes to help where he can.

"Oi, I almos' forgot!" Tasha reaches out and grabs Euphrosyne arm, then plucks the impaled helmet from the Vykarin's mouth. "This'll be yours," she insists, waving the helmet, "as a trophy of 'avin' beheaded a metal ghost. Well, once 'is 'ead is out of it. Abaddon smiles on your strength." She pats the woman's arm, then tells everyone, "Danger's over, bu' don't let your guard down. Let'ssee to this monster an' get ready for tomorrow."