#i thought her being a monk and reaching enlightenment sort of was really fun! largely because shes a bimbo tbh

[beingderanged]

Introducing: Marina!

Marina is an omnic, initially built by a somewhat eccentric engineer as a 'companion model,' or 'sex bot,' in Spain. She is one of few omnics who have an expensive synthetic flesh attached to her metal plating, giving her a more human look and feel.

She's sweet, and a bit airheaded, because of her programming limiting her intelligence, but this does not stop her insatiable curiosity and childlike wonder about the world around her.

Marina finds many things in life to be beautiful and captivating, her absolute favorites are music and dance, painting, sexuality, and the ocean. But Marina's love encompasses many more things in life.

Despite her grim past, she still sees the beauty in the world, and has a zest for life, wanting to help fight for omnic rights. However, Marina's programming also bars her from committing violent acts, stopping her from being able to fight the good fight--but she can heal, and inspire others, and does her best to help.

Backstory briefed

Shortly after she was completed, Marina was sold by her creator to a wealthy Pimp named James Mercer, in Monaco, just before the omnic crisis began.

After the Crisis ended, Mercer tracked Marina down, and took her back to Monaco with him, to work in his high end brothel.

After several years, Marina managed to escape, and fled the country, hopping from shelter to shelter before she heard of the Shambali Monastery.

Having many unanswered questions about existence, and nowhere to go, she decided to travel there, and study.

Marina studied at the Shambali Monastery for many years, learning about the Iris, and her other passions and interests, to the best of her ability.

After she had learned to heal, and connect with the Iris, she felt a calling outside the monastery, to pursue her passions and help people through her art and healing.

[planarchaosproject]

Planar Chaos: Chapter Fifteen

 We Need to Go Deeper

"Did you hear that?" Rinok said, moving instinctively into a fighting stance. He drew one of his many weapons: a long, curved sword favored by Mardu raiding parties.

"It sounded like laughter," Vilhelm said, rubbing his temples in frustration. I'm surrounded by idiots, he thought to himself, I'll never get out of this maze.

Seems like a personal problem, a cold and clear voice responded directly into his mind. Vilhelm froze once again, eyes wide and nostrils flared. He took a long breath in, trying to filter though the powerful stenches of the men in his company to find the source of this mental intrusion.

You're a mind mage too, huh? Well you're no fun. You know what's coming next.

Rhyne had managed to scramble his way back onto the same path as his companions. He prodded Vilhelm with a single finger and stood there without a hint of shock on his face when Vilhelm rounded on the wild man with bared fangs and the most stereotypical vampire hiss in Rhyne's recent memory.

"Dude," Rhyne knit his eyebrows together. "Really? You're going to pull that with me? I could dismember you in so many different ways you wouldn't know your head from your ass by the time I'm done."

"Rhyne, Vilhelm, silence," Rinok barked, still retaining his stance. The command of authority fell on deaf ears.

"Shut up!" Rinok bellowed, finally catching the attention of the two bickering walkers. The vampire's face was expressionless, the wild man's angry.

"Who do you even think you are?" Rhyne turned on Rinok. "I eat whelps like you for breakfast."

"We have an unknown enemy in the area and you two are sitting there fighting like an old married couple. You're going to get us killed, you know that?"

"Nothing can take me on and live. I've killed kings and dragons and dragon kings." Rhyne crossed his arms haughtily.

"And I command the single largest army in the multiverse. My generals get the order, all the planes I have touched will burn with scorched and salted earth. I am War itself."

"If you children are done with your contest to see who has larger genitalia, I would like to point out a problem." Vilhelm was looking over the other walkers' shoulders.

"What is it now, bloodsucker?" Rhyne spat.

"That." The vampire gestured to a large, crablike creature that appeared to be made entirely of metal, easily as tall as the three planeswalkers stacked on top of each other and with a leg span of at least twice that length. Its joints made whirring and clicking sounds as it effortlessly navigated the pathways of Xerex.

"I, personally, am no good in any sort of physical fight and this being doesn't seem to have a will for me to dominate. Gentlemen, if you please?" Vilhelm made an ushering motion.

"Worthless bloodsuckers," Rhyne growled, rolling up his sleeves. Fire danced around his hands and his eyes took on a manic glow. He began shouting at the construct lumbering towards them. "I am Rhyne, Wildfire of Fiora and slayer of gods! You will fear me!" He reared back and went to lunge forward, but found himself stuck in place.

Tsk tsk tsk, a voice said into his mind, is that any way to treat your welcoming comittee? Here I am excited to have friends after such a long time and you're going to destroy the only thing that can lead you on a straight path. Well, Mr Wilfire of Fiora, forgive me for not allowing that.

Rhyne felt icewater begin pooling in his stomach. Rinok's sword clanged off the metal beast with little effect and Vilhelm was apparently nowhere to be seen. A large metal claw, almost spherical in shape, closed around Rhyne, trapping him inside. Its prize claimed, the crablike construct lumbered away with Rinok and Vilhelm unable to follow.

"Damn," Vilhelm cursed.

"Why? He wasn't going to help us much anyway," Rinok replied.

"No, but the best kind of suicide missions are carried out by willing pawns, wouldn't you agree?"

Rinok searched his memory and found that Vilhelm was, in fact, correct on this assessment. "There's something of a warrior in there after all."

"It is true, I once was in command of a small force during a territory conflict with a rival bloodline. The Voldaren were a force to be reckoned with, and even the Markov thought that my bloodline, the Falkenrath, were insane for attempting to curb Olivia's expansion."

"So you're from Innistrad. Fascinating plane, by the way. I love the eternal struggle between the angels and dark forces. It helps keep the plane fresh, in my opinion." Rinok breathed deeply through his nose. Xerex smelled stale to him, but there was a gentle breeze that pulled him to where the construct had taken Rhyne. "We need to go deeper."

00000

"Okay, Marthel, Sa'Raah, I need any sort of pyromancy you two have. I'll take point, you two on my flanks. Kyari, stay in the back and keep us from dying." Brock stood up on the hydra's back and leapt onto the ground, thankful his feet actually met the space he intented them to. His yellow robes swirled around him as he called upon his magic. He felt fire blazing around his hands, but didn't see it. The secrets of Ghostfire were supposedly lost, but there were some records and recollections buried deep within Tarkir and within the mind of Chandra Nalaar, whom the monks of Keral Keep viewed as a spiritual successor to Jaya Ballard, the founder of their order. Brock squared off against the crab construct, confident his team would obey his orders and fall in line behind him.

"I'm not just a healer, you know," Kyari sighed.

Just let him lead, Marthel said into her mind. It's where he's most comfortable.

Good to know, this voice was not Marthel's. Kyari caught her breath and locked down her mind the way Marthel had taught her. He wasn't a particularly strong telepath though, just like he wasn't a particularly strong pyromancer. The dark skinned walker in the white cloak was a mage of many talents, which he viewed as better than being a savant in one area. In some cases Kyari had to disagree and this was one of them. The new voice didn't go away.

Elf, huh? From Shandalar. That's a nice plane. You've got alot of knowledge in here, you know. I think we could have some enlightening discussions. If you could just let me in, please?

"Kyari!" Sa'Raah shouted, snapping the other elven woman out of her thoughts. The crab construct had broken through their line of defense and was making a beeline for Kyari and the hydra. Before Kyari had time to react, six of her hydra's heads smashed into the construct, knocking it over the edge of the pathway they stood on. The construct fell, sustaining several dents before righting itself and making its way unhindered along the pathways. Nadia, who had followed the creature downwards, had no such ease making her way back to the planeswalker she had sworn to protect.

"Jace Marthel," Nadia called out in warning as the construct clambered back up onto the path in front of the Maelstrom Mage.

"What is with this thing?" Marthel said, lashing out with alternating holy and demonic fire.

"It isn't confused by the maze at all, and it isn't affected by the gravitational shifts," Brock responded.

"Could it be because it's an artifact?" Sa'Raah ducked under a swinging claw. "It doesn't have a true mind, so it might be unaffected by all the defenses Urza added to this maze. Maybe it's a part of the defense."

Ooh, the voice in Kyari's head returned. She's clever. Maybe I'll take her.

In an instant Kyari knew what the voice was planning. That was the trouble with telepathy that Marthel often complained to her about. A door, once opened, could be passed through from either side.

"Sa'Raah look out!" Kyari leapt from the back of her hydra and pushed the dragon girl out of the way as a large metal sphere closed around her. Kyari beat against the inside with her fist in frustration.

"Kyari!" Marthel cried out, drawing Brock's attention from the legs the monk had been fighting. The crab construct began bounding away with Kyari in its clutches.

"What did you you?" Brock shouted, rushing at Sa'Raah. "You let that thing take her?"

"Brock," Marthel laid a steadying hand on his friend's shoulder, calling him to heel. "It isn't her fault."

"She jumped in front of me," Sa'Raah explained.

"We have to go after it. We have to get her back." Brock swallowed, reining in his anger. He turned to look at the now clearly distressed primordial hydra. "We need to go deeper."

000000

"I think we ought to stop for the night," Sverre said. "Oona's getting tired."

There wasn't any true day or night on Xerex, but Odom and Ashleigh agreed that it was time to stop. Maelstrom Wanderer was halted and settled in for what should be an uneventful night.

"Did anyone think to bring any food? I might be a semi-immortal necromancer but I still need to eat sometimes."

"Ash thought way ahead of you, Sverre. We've got provisions that should last us long enough to reach the center if we're making good progress. At least I still think we're going downwards." Odom reached down into a bag up to his shoulder. Sverre's eyes popped when he noticed the bag itself was too small to accomplish such a feat, even with Odom's ooziness.

"Just a spell I borrowed from a guy in a blue box." Ashleigh winked at no one in particular.

"Ash, you promised you'd leave the fourth wall breaks to me," Odom sighed.

"Fine." Ashleigh crossed her arms only to quickly resume snuggling Abby. The infant abomination was yawning, an act that came with an adorablly high pitched sigh. "Besides, I think someone else is getting tired too. But not before mommy feeds you."

"Is it going to be the syringe or the bottle?" Odom asked, still rifling through the bag.

"Syringe. It responds best to alternating meals of high and low viscosity mana."

Sverre sighed, unsure if he wanted to know the answer to the question that followed. "How do you even obtain such a thing?"

"Mostly from Broster Strudel," Odom explained. "It's kind of what he eats."

"So, back to my original inquiry," Sverre said, "what do we eat?"

"We eat this," Odom replied, pulling several baskets of bread and fruit out of the bag. "It doesn't look like much, and these are technically experimental and property of the Simic Combine, but how will they ever be tested unless we actually have to survive with no other food?"

"So what is it?" Sverre asked again.

"Take a bite," Ashleigh said, demonstrating with an apple. She continued speaking with her mouth full, "wait a few seconds, and viola!"

"You mean voila," Sverre said.

"Bless you." Odom smirked.

Sverre watched in curiosity and awe as the apple regenerated, appearing to never have been bitten in the first place. "Amazing," he breathed.

"It's wonderful," Oona said, crawling out of Sverre's hood and flitting down to sit on his knee.

"You might prefer something more like this," Ashleigh fished around in the basket and produced a ripe blackberry.

"Yes, excellent," Oona smiled, taking a bite out of one of the many drupelets. She took special care to keep the juice from staining her hair or dress. An experience from her youth had left the Queen of the Fae with pink hair for several weeks after a blackberry binge.

The drupelet regenerated within moments.

"So we won't starve," Sverre smiled. "Excellent."

"The fruit is the only regenerating thing," Odom cautioned. "The bread is gone once we've eaten it all.

"What about Abby?" Sverre asked.

"Once Abby's digestive system matures, it should be able to consume solid food like any other being," Ashleigh explained.

"And I'm guessing that's where the transparent stomach comes in?" Sverre asked between bites of a pear. He held the pear in one hand, the other held the blackberry delicately over Oona's head. She had assumed a lounging position on Sverre's thigh while he fed her the blackberry like he fed her grapes back on Helheim.

"Of course." Odom gave Sverre a puzzled look. "It's like you don't know me at all, man."

Ashleigh finished feeding herself and Abby and proceeded to rock the infant abomination to sleep while singing a lullaby she recalled from her childhood. It was something about pretty little horses, she couldn't remember all the words and hummed the tune in the gaps of her memory. Abby gradually stopped moving its tentacles and closed its black eyes. The cooing and gurgling noises ceased and were replaced with soft breathing.

In the quiet, they heard the telltale clanking and whirring of an artifact creature.

"I think we've upset someone, Sverre," Odom said. He looked over his shoulder, trying to locate the construct.

Not upset, necessarily, a voice said into Ashleigh's mind. Ashleigh knew this voice wasn't one of the usual voices. It was too clear, too coherent. She could sense the mind on the other side and it was filled with all sorts of fun spells for her to borrow. She also could see exactly where the hidden artifact creature stood.

No, but my baby is trying to sleep, Ashleigh responded to the voice. So you've upset me. Hey, that's a neat spell there. Can I borrow it?

She used the voice's spell to destroy the artifact creature and a spell of her own to terminate their mental connection. Gears tumbled from the pathway above them, falling to either side.

"Ash, have I told you lately that I love you?" Odom said.

"I don't believe you've ever actually said it before now," Ashleigh smiled smugly.

"You two are so cute it's almost gross," Sverre mocked, sharing a satisfied smile of his own with Oona. "That said, we might want to find out who sent the creature in the morning. In order to do that..."

"We need to go deeper," the three planeswalkers said in unison.