The team immediately started towards the Singing Rocks once the initial awe and wonder of Horizon left their system.
As per Parou's suggestion, they did not storm the place, wands blazing. Instead, they opted to make camp by the outer edge of their destination. Makes sense since Celestia was initially tasked to scout the place first.
Taking in the sight of the Singing Rocks, it really was a Stark contrast to the warm and welcoming area near the Cave. In fact, from what she could tell, it was anything but that. Strangely enough, this fact was very comforting for Celestia.
"At least it's not trying to deceive us. This place is dangerous and it wants every living being here to know it." Celestia thought.
Aside from the sharp, rocky cliffs and the steep ravines adorning the area, the most evident structures would be the obelisks scattered across the place. Aside from the colossal obelisk jutting out like a sore thumb in an area they dubbed as Section 2, there were also a few, smaller obelisks scattered in sections 1 and 3 that she managed to catch glimpses of earlier as they were heading towards the camp.
Melora expressed her interest in scouting as well, suggesting that she scout one area of the map while Celestia and Parou scout the others. The sandy blonde witch already had a feeling that she was going to one of the more dangerous areas anyways since she can do shadow magic and portals and stuff, hence she refrained from choosing an area of her own.
Apparently, Parou knows some degree of clairvoyance magic as she confirmed the existence of not just the obelisks at sections 1 to 3, but also enemy forces as well. They numbered in the hundreds so they could be appropriately called a horde and their seems to be other, more powerful and pronounced signatures in these areas, which are most likely the cultists.
Her hunch proved to be correct, as she was assigned to the areas spewing the smoke, particularly Section 4. She wasn't sure what she'll find there, but if the sections visible to them are any indication, then she should expect to discover more obelisks there as well.
"Right, right. The area with the blazing smoke. The briefing made no mention that this area is volcanic. But then again, I wouldn't be surprised if the people that surveyed this area weren't able to produce accurate reports with how hard it is to traverse the environment and the presence of monsters. Thus, there is still a chance that those are just some geothermal vents or something. If not, maybe the cultists are cooking up a sacrifice" She jested.
"Anyways, I'll be back. If you guys think that you can't handle an enemy or moving forward, just Observe and Report then come back as quickly as possible. "
With that said, Celestia looked for a decent sized shadow in the area before pressing her hand to it and whispering an incantation. The shadow glowed faintly afterwards signalling that she successfully managed to set up an emergency anchor point leading back to camp. This should automatically redirect any portals she makes to the anchor point which is good for a quick escape since normally she would have to think of the destination in the first place while creating the portal.
After doing some last minute checks, Celestia got on her broom and began her scouting mission.
The route she chose took her at the outer edge of the singing rocks. Passing by Section 1, she caught sightings of the indeed in between the ravines and crevices created by the environment. It seems that they weren't actively hiding at all, so it might be safe to assume that they were still undetected. She also confirmed the existence of a single obelisk in Section 1 before starting towards Section 4.
"Looks like the first section won't be any issue. It's this fourth section that's giving off some bad juju." She mused.
As an extra form of precaution, the shadow witch decided to land a ways off from the border of Section 4 and continue the rest of the way on foot. It wouldn't make sense to fly anymore since her visibility would be affected by that humongous plume of smoke.
By the time she entered Section 4 of the singing rocks, two other obelisks were sighted by Celestia from a distance away. Strangely enough, the source of the smoke seems to originate near them as well.
"Strange... The other obelisks weren't spouting smoke at all. Could this be a sign of a Cultist camp? Are they really roasting a sacrifice there? Oh I'd hate to be right this once." She thought nervously.
Celestia was dodging and weaving from cover to cover as she carefully made her approach towards the Obelisks. Surprisingly, it seems all that tedious precautions were unnecessary since she was able to reach the twin spires without even sensing a single enemy.
What's even more astonishing was when she realised the actual scale of the smoke. It was as if a pyromancer went to town inside the Great Library of Salem Malefica, the second largest library in Phantasmagoria which spans almost an entire city block.
But instead of a great library burning, the sandy blonde witch laid her eyes to a sight that was even more bizarre.
The smoke didn't come from cultists roasting sacrifices, geothermal vents, or fire breathing dragons. Instead, it was originating from a large, unidentified object that had apparently crashed to the ground.
Bits and pieces of debris so unusual that it looked alien were scattered all over the place while fires big and small were burning everywhere. For the most part, however, the unidentified structure remained intact, but it was quickly attracting the attention of the undead in the area. She could feel the sporadic arrival of curious undead coming from the other sections. In addition to that, the faint chanting of cultist spellcasters seems to slowly fill the air.
The situation was becoming more and more dangerous with each passing second, but whether it was due to personal curiosity or a sense of duty towards the group, Celestia knew there was only one course of action to take: move forward and investigate further.
It was at times like this that the shadow witch was actually thankful for the hostile, uneven terrain. The rocky outcrops provided a lot of cover as she sneaked closer and closer to the unidentified object. The burning debris also provided ample illumination to cast decent sized shadows, allowing her to use them as portals to get past enemies undetected when it isn't possible to do so physically. She would even bend the shadows and extend them towards her multiple times just to gain access to them and turn them into portals.
Her efforts seem to pay off as she slips by like a shadow in the night until she was only a couple dozen of meters away from the large metal structure.
Peeking from the rocky outcrop she was using as cover, Celestia considered whether or not she had ingested any magic shrooms for breakfast.
A large horde of undead had gathered, trying to siege the colossal metal structure. Sections of the structure had apparently broken off but there were parts of the structure that were intact and had these large cylinders installed on them. These cylinders were firing projectiles on any undead within range.
Additionally , a blue, spherical barrier was blocking any attempts of the undead to reach what looked like survivors of the crash. She counted two survivors that seemed to be humans.. Or humanoid at the very least. The blonde witch could feel her jaw drop when she saw one of them open their palms and have fire shooting right out of it. While the undead were having no luck getting through the blue spherical shield, the fire had no trouble getting out, giving an untimely cremation to any undead unlucky enough to get close. The other survivor was furiously using some sort of tool while working on a part of the unfamiliar object.
Unfortunately, burning undead means the stench of burning decay filling the air. It was so horrid that Celestia had to stop herself from vomiting what little breakfast she had earlier.
"What the hell is with those guys? They're doing all that crazy stuff but I can't even detect a hint of magic coming from them!!! Whatever is powering those weapons and that shield isn't mana at all but something different. I have to get back to the others fast. "
Fortunately, the area were Celestia was camped had plenty of dark, shadowy areas to set up a portal. Thus, she was able to quickly return to the others.
"Hey, everyone! Gather around. I'm gonna report my findings so please lend me your attention."
Still visibly shaken by the things she saw, Celestia took the opportunity to grab a bottle of water from her pack and rehydrate herself. After clearing her throat, she began narrating what she saw in her reconnaissance mission.
" As Parou had said earlier, Section 1 has only 1 obelisk erected on it. I would also confirm that the undead nor the cultist spellcasters have not noticed our approach and are not actively trying to conceal their presence from us. The terrain, filled with ravines, crevices, and caverns just provides too many blinds pots and hiding places for the undead to crawl into. " Her relatively calm tone matched her experiences in the first section.
" As for Section 4... Where do I begin... "
Using her marker, she began drawing two adjacent dots near the center of Section 4. It should be obvious that these two represented Obelisks like the others on the map. However, she began drawing other symbols as well.
First she started with a large oblong shape at the center of Section 4, just right next to the two obelisks. Then she drew several arrowheads around this oblong, followed by a decent sized blue sphere inside the obloid, and lastly two stars inside the sphere.
"First thing's first. I think you already have an idea that these two dots represent obelisks, right? They are around the same size as the smaller ones we have seen this far so I don't think there is anything special about them."
She pauses for a long sigh before striking up the courage to report the more unusual sightings she had discovered.
" This large obloid shape here, however, is the source of that giant plume of smoke. Judging by the fact that pieces of it are scattered around this area, I have a theory that this unidentified object is some sort of vehicle or contraption capable of flight but due to reasons currently unknown, it crashed in this section of the Singing Rocks." Celestia explained.
" The undead in the area as well as the cultist spellcasters have grown restless due to the vessel's presence and have already began surrounding it with their forces, represented by these clusters of arrowheads. The vessel, however, seems equipped with an automatic defense system that utilises weaponry that fires projectiles at the undead. This weapon apparently has the same effectiveness as an explosion type combat spell. "
Achieving something like that is remarkable and even revolutionary if they manage to learn how to replicate that technology.
" I also saw two humanoid survivors from the wreck, as represented with these stars. They have this blue, spherical shield that blocks all incoming attacks from the outside. However, one of the survivors was able to launch an attack from inside the sphere out towards the undead. Particularly, he launched flames from his palms. The strangest thing is that I couldn't detect a single trace of magic from the weapons, the shield, and the survivors. Whatever they are using to power their technology, it is something other than mana. I understand that this may be a bit hard to take in for some of you so I am offering to bring you all to the vantage point I've used to observe all of this. "
The witches would certainly be shocked to heat this. Some may even dismiss it as the ramblings of a mad woman. All their lives, they were taught that anything outside of Phantasmagoria would either be evil or animalistic in nature. The equipment of these humanoids already disproves the latter as no animal is capable of developing such technology that isn't even magical in nature. This encounter with what appears to be a completely different civilization may just change the way witches think... That is if these beings aren't evil as well.
"From what I have gathered, we have several options. First, use them as bait while we destroy the obelisks. The undead might be too pre occupied with the foreign threat to notice us... However, we may also be identified as an enemy to these humanoid beings and they may direct their weapons against us.
Second, we help these beings in their little predicament. Nothing spells "we're friends" better than helping them out while they're on a pinch. Assuming they won't be hostile towards us, we can safely destroy the obelisks while at the same time we could also learn new information about where these beings came from, and how they are able to use these weapons that is powered by an alternative energy source other than magic.
Third is my least favorite. We eleminate everything. The undead, the cultists, the survivors so we could safely go about our mission. The thing is, we don't know how much damage their shield can withstand, if our spells could even damage it in the first place. The second we show any hostile intentions towards them, they won't spare any second directing those weapons at us. Additionally we may be credited for starting a war with another civilization, and this would make it harder for all witches to perform their tasks and duties in Horizon. " Celestia said in a calm yet solemn tone, appropriately highlighting the gravity of the situation.
" I implore that we choose wisely as I fear that we aren't just deciding our fates but probably the fate of every with in Phantasmagoria as well. Personally, I would like to vote for the second option."
With that said, the other witches of the Rune Squad decide to vote for...
@Skyswimsky @Luma @Villamvihar @Karyra @Ehb @ERode 
