((You are indeed Kallista. Also, Barna is with the group currently, Aelar, she refused to let Hyre leave her behind this time. ))

Wisdom Save: 15

Charisma Save: 13

"Mr. Grimbuld?" Kallista asks hesitantly, still focused on the smoke.

((Cough, Barna's on the Kite, Cough))

Quote from BaconExpert982 >>

((Cough, Barna's on the Kite, Cough))

 Adjusted 🙂

((Kallista is able to maintain control of herself for now.))

Aelar nods, "Mr. Grimbuld.  Anyone else?  I was thinking of of Balgrim and the farmers."

“Tom, Edna and Balgrim- yes that seems to cover it. Smart choices.”

Aelar looks at his friends and Sir Geoffrey.  "So, that's Carrie, Sister Daar, Tom and Edna, Balgrim, and Mr. Grimbuld?  Wait, not Tom and Edna, just Edna. That'll give me one more to do Hana.  That's six and that's it so unless someone has a better suggestion.  Speak now, please.  That'll give me about 10 seconds for each.  I can do more but won't have as good a chance with them and may not even get anything.  In fact, no guarantee I'll get anything anyway but the more I try the less likely I'll get anything."

 ooc: Assuming no one does, Aelar does his thing, 10 seconds each, for +8 each:

Carrie: 12
Sister Daar: 20
Edna: 29
Balgrim: 14
Mr. Grimbuld: 28
Hana: 25

Aelar gets a chilling vision the first time he reaches out and focuses.
Carrie being held by Cameron. She's badly hurt, it looks like she's been beaten within an inch of her life. Cameron is holding his hands over the worst of her wounds, trying to staunch some bleeding. He's yelling for help, which swiftly comes. It looks like Aelar doesn't need to focus on Daar, as she quickly approaches and checks on Carmine. Carmine looks beyond Daar and a familiar, terrible sound rings out, the sound of the automaton horses that whisked the group away from Hon, but they're not Skell designs.... the Labors of Guiston have gone mad, attacking people at will and running wild through the streets. One charges at Daar, but thanks to the boon provided by Raia (And a particularly high roll) she incinerates it into molten slag with the true fury of dragon's fire before she tends to Carmine's wounds. Before the vision ends, Carmine looks over to see Hana and the other centaurs rushing over. The Horseshoe looks like it's been barricaded. Carmine is in danger, but it seems she's got capable help.

Next, Edna and Thomas seem to have taken shelter in their attic. Edna is holding a long rifle and is scanning the horizon out a window. The fires are coming from the direction of the Hawk's Nest. The majority of the 'lower city' isn't in nearly as much danger. Whatever is happening in Guiston, it's not reached the outer farmlands, where the Labors don't have rails to provide them energy. The Goodwins are safe, for now.

Balgrim has been wounded, but nothing life threatening. He is, however, amidst a slaughter. The dwarves of the Hearth have been decimated. Bodies are all over, and the survivors have taken shelter in the archives. The diggers that the dwarves working for the Nesties created to mine through the Deadman's Ink are bulky and can't fit into the narrow hallways. Balgrim looks down to the dwarf he apparently had dragged into the archives and squeezes his hand, but it's too late. Brother Geldor is dead.

Grimbuld, meanwhile, is engaging several of the Labors by himself. He's taken some grievous wounds, but from the screaming in the vision, it seems he's defending someone. He's not doing well, but nor has he stopped fighting.

Because Aelar didn't need to focus on Daar or Hana, he has a few seconds left to pense elsewhere.

Thinking quickly, Aelar penses for Leon's smith teacher and the tiefling lady who helped him get into the library

Smith: 12
Lady: 22

Aelar only gets a vague sense that Duncan is alive, but can't get any more details than that.

Ashwa, however, is a different story altogether. The vision is crystal clear, it's like he's looking through her eyes, and what he sees is chaos. Ashwa is directing defenses within her own manor, which is filled with wounded and panicking nobles. Ashwa herself is limping about with a broken wing and her arm is in an improvised splint. With the majority of the Labors working in the Nest, the worst of the attack is happening here and further compounded by the presence of the gates normally meant to keep the 'common folk' out. They're so tall and study, they have formed nearly impassible chokepoints where nobles have been killed by the dozens as they try to escape. Worse yet, the proper Guiston Watchmen are having difficulty trying to get into the Nest to restore order. Ashwa scans over the carnage before she returns her attention to barricading her home.
Ashwa's manor has thick walls and its own gates that are, for now, repelling the attack of many labors attempting to kick their way in.
The familiar blue glow coming from within the Labors has been replaced with a white-hot flame. Since Aelar got such a close look, he can see that the Labors haven't just gone mad, they've been corrupted somehow. The vision ends as Ashwa stands amidst the storm, unable to do anything else but wait for help to arrive.

Aelar relates all he saw as quickly as he can, then says to Raia.  "I think that Deadman's Ink stuff has corrupted the Labors, somehow.  Talk about being careful about what you wish for.  Do you know anyway to reverse that?"  Then to everyone, "Where do we want to go first?  Sister Daar seems safe and the inn, too.  Seems like the Labors are the source of the attack."

He pauses then, a thought clearly striking him, and he turns to Kallista. "What happened to you?  Something, or someone, took control of your mind, didn't they?"

"N...no," Kallista says, "it... it just wants me to go back to Guston. That's not a bad thing now is it?"

Raia is able to speak haltingly as she keeps the haste spell activated.
"I ... don't think that's... what's happening... On'Hull is the ... name of the titan in the... Skell's land.... there'd be no.... reason for the titan beneath Guiston to attack in such a .... random way.... if it ... wanted to be left... alone.... it would have just.... collapsed the tunnels below... not go on a senseless... rampage." she grunts out through her teeth.

"I do... think you're right... though... this may be ... about the titan's... blood..."

Hyre turns back to the others, though he still leans back on the railing away from them. "Well, I think that sums it all up. All those we care about are safe, and from what Aelar said, it sounds like the situation will be over soon." Well, nearly everyone. He was worried about Balgrim, and though he never met her (I think? Maybe he saw her once... I'm not sure), that Ashwa didn't sound very safe either. Yet, there was nothing they could do. "And either way, if it's the Labors, then there's truly nothing we can do. We neither know their destruction rune nor have a reliable way to destroy their core before they destroy ours. I think that... at this point, the only one we can help is..." He peels himself off the railing and walks forward, stopping close to Kallista. "Did it also tell you why you need to return, or what is it you need to do there? Or did it just tell you to come back? Can you wait until after whatever is going on down there concludes?"

At the very least, he feels good about being right. He wasn't right about anything lately, but this time he was right. It was not a Skell attack. Being able to determine that also meant, for him at least, that he understood his enemy better. That's the first step towards victory, and he achieved it. Maybe he won't be completely useless after all... aside from cooking meals occasionally.

Geoffrey swiftly turns to Hyre.
"Wait, you know how they work?" he asks. "When did you study that? Nevermind... if you know how they work, then there may be something we can do because certainly Artimus didn't seem like he was doing all that well. He's on his own fighting those things, and they're not like beasts he's hunted, they're metal constructs. I do not like his odds!"

Hyre is indeed familiar with how the Labors work, how they're reliant on the rails to provide them with energy, their killswitch runes, and the vulnerability of their cores. In fact, it doesn't seem at all like a coincidence that the ones who would best know how to stop the attack were the first victims. He may not understand the magic that brings them life, but Hyre is at least familiar with their functions and vulnerabilities.

"I... One of the dwarves told me a little about them. I think I also read a little in your collection, but mostly from the dwarves." Hyre didn't think of Grimbuld as one who could be in trouble. He seemed so knowledgeable back in the forest. "I ah... did not think Mr. Grimbuld would need our help. But, if he does... there may be a little that I do know. Still, without knowing their killswitch rune, it doesn't solve the problem that easily. The rest of my knowledge would still require great fighting skills... or great destructive power."

"I need to go back," Kallista says through gritted teeth. "And I'm not going to let Mr. Grimbuld just do that without trying to help him."

"Okay... so we cant destroy them," Kallista says. "What else do we know?"

"You could sever them from their rails to cut off their power. That would be like taking away wood from a fire, it won't burn. However, this couldn't be that simple. They're probably built in a way that makes it hard to detatch from these rails, otherwise they'd simply fall off. You could try destroying the rail itself, but that's not something a bow or a knife could do."

The best way to help Grimbuld would be to take him away from the fight... probably, but Hyre doesn't think they could get the Kite close enough, and doesn't want to ask Kallista to risk herself. Maybe if they drop Geoffrey clos3 by, he could run and help Grimbuld, as well as share Hyre's knowledge.