Trog's Tavern CCIII

[Rebonack]

http://home.centurytel.net/jeffsjunk/TrogTavernAnimated.gif

*Upon entering the tavern you find it to be rustic, dim, cramped, and smelling of spilled beer. Moving through the crowd, half of which seem to be deadtiming, you spot a fireplace with a banjowood carving on the mantle, you also make out through the haze the curving bar and private booths hidden behind ferns. A side door leading to a patio outside reveals a hungry looking dumpster mimic sneaking towards an unsuspecting customer.


Staff:
Owner and Proprietor: Trog, Manager: El Jaspero, Bartenders: Whoever is on duty, Sammich-Crafter: Zee

Trog's Tavern hires only the finest NPC servers:
((Since all are NPCs they are up for communal control. Feel free to say what they do or say to you or any other patron. To a point.))

Nina - A fiesty and vivacious tiefling. Mean, self-centered and completely unavailable. You may have seen her recently on the WotC 4E cartoon.
Paige - A sweet, wholesome, flirty elf working her way through PC school.
Cosmo - A quick-witted and oppressed gnome scoundrel. Truly a monster. RAWR!

DRINK MENU:
Wines:
Chimera Cabernet - A hearty red with a hits of oak and black cherry.
Cormyrian Fireamber - Imported and very good.
Eladrin Carbernet - Official Feywine of the Wild Hunt
Kobold Chianti - Tart. Tangy. Shifty.
Merfolk Merlot - Full-bodied with a hint of rose.
Powerlust Pinot - For those corruptable humans
Shadar-Kai Shadowine - Served in a jagged, broken glass
Spoonake Chablis - Straight from the Underdark!
Warlock Wine - Best served cold
Xorn Zinfandel - Sweet and fruity!

Mixed Drinks:
Aboleth Absinthe - Far Realmilicious!
Black Shadow - A strong concoction guaranteed to send a chill down your spine at any temperature.
Coffee Martini - Buzzzzz.
Djinn and Tonic - Whirling ice cubes, fizzy soda, and one drunk genie.
Dragon Liver Buster - Strongest drink in the house
Dwarf Spirits
Fire Archon Asylum Rum - "FAAR!!!"
Haley's Liquer - Named for the redheaded rogue, a sweet creme liquer, excellent over ice.
Hemo Colada - 100% less coconut, 100% more ichor
Ichor Liquor - Made from a fermented mix of various kinds of blood
Jasphattan - El J's Secret Recipie, vermouth & bitters
Murderita - Wasted away again...
Piña CoLlama - If you're not into yoga and have half a brain.
Rust Monster - Scotch, drambuie shaken in a wooden mixer.
Sneak on the Beach - Peach vodka, cran-pineapple juice, a cat hair
Swampwater - Phosphorescent lemon-lime
White Russian/Wukei - for bounty hunters who dig dairy
Wizard Blizzard - Crushed ice and Bourbon. The effect depends on the spell stored in it.

Beers & Such:
Ales: Archon, Guilders, Balthor's Best
Grim Brewery Ginger Beer - Death-o-licious!
Mind Flayer Mead - Mmm... brains.

Other Fine Beverages:
Darknight Coffee - cream has no effect
Fox Cola - the choice of the furry generation
Llamonade - That cool, refreshing drink for quadrupeds
Oni Tea - From the far east.
Red Minotaur Energy Drink - a-MAZE-ing energy!
Root Beer
Save vs. Slow Slurpees™ - C-c-c-cold
Hot Chocolate - Mmmmmmarshmallows

MUNCHIES MENU:
AbyssalNuts - damned and spicy
Baked Goods - Scones and Muffins and Brownies oh my! We have no cake - the cake is a lie!
Bamhacon - where the ham meets the bacon. Served with eggs.
Court of Stars Salad - Fresh fey greens
Hero Sandwiches - what else? Served with Villain vinegrette
Velvet Elfish - Trogtilla chips and hot meat and cheese dip
Yuan-ti Gyros - Lamb. Or halfling. We're not sure.
Trog's Floor Chili - Don't ask Trog where it came from and Trog won't tell you "the floor"

SMOKABLES:
Dwarven Cigars - From our axe-hewn humidor
Coffin Nail™ Cigarettes - Get Nailed!
Halfling Pipeweed - Bogart™ brand

[happyturtle]

"Oh. Thanks, Claude," Charity says with a weak smile, taking her paintbrush and tucking it behind her ear.

She's not likely to see Reinholdt, as she's still pretty intent on keeping the evil evil light from reaching her brain. Though not as intent on that as she is on consuming that drink.

Charity blinks, as her head clears slightly. The drink must be having some effect on the hangover. Or maybe it's just the nice shiny new thread.

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor wakes up from his corner and looks around.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Felix stares at his bones, frowning. The loss of even a single bone has turned out to be quite unfortunate. "I really do rely too much on bones," he grumbles, putting his little stack of bones away carefully, "I hope that cleric is trying to get me back. Honestly, why do I listen to his ideas?"

[billtodamax]

Mime's dozing on the bar, sleeping off the booze.

[happyturtle]

http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq40/happyturtle-avs/mine/charity.png

After a while, Charity finishes her drink and goes to slide into the booth across from Claude. "So which one of us won that bet last night?"

[Morty]

Town-Dipsnig is tossing darts at the dartboard.

[billtodamax]

Mime groggily wakes up, and looks around. He walks up next to Dipsnig and watches him throwing darts.

[Morty]

Most of the darts end up close to the centre. He's good at throwing.

[billtodamax]

Yay! Another one hit the centre circle thingy. Mime pats Dipsnig on the back, just as he's about to throw another dart, congratulating him on a job well done.

[Morty]

Dipsnig turns to see who just patted him on the back.
Hello.

[billtodamax]

Mime waves cheerily at Dipsnig. He points to the dart board and nods approvingly.

[Lord Magtok]

http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq40/happyturtle-avs/mine/charity.png

After a while, Charity finishes her drink and goes to slide into the booth across from Claude. "So which one of us won that bet last night?"

Claude chuckles, shakes his head, and slides some coins across the table.

Think it was you. Hafta say, I didn't know your folk could hold their breath that long.

[happyturtle]

"I guess I'd better get to work. If you want to see that mural, it'll be at Grimstone and 4th, across from the bank. Though there won't be much to see for a few days." Charity says.

[Morty]

Mime waves cheerily at Dipsnig. He points to the dart board and nods approvingly.

Uh, thanks. Wanna try?

[Gnrlshrimp]

"Oh, waitress! Could I have an ale please?" The necromancer is thirsty, mainly because he's been muttering in annoyance about his lost bone and that damn cleric for a while now.

"*grumble mutter* Druid *mumble*" Felix looks up as his drink arrives, stops grumbling long enough to pay, then resumes his muttering. The loss of a bone is pretty serious to him.

[Falgorn]

Cornelius Blanc, a tall, middle-aged, dark man walks into the Tavern, a bored expression on his face as he reads some book.

[Gnrlshrimp]

WHAM!

...

The door is kicked open, its hinges creaking in protest. Ba'al walks in, slowly, his armour clanking with every step he takes. He scans the tavern carefully, before deciding that for now at least, he won't be interrupted. He takes a seat at the bar, grinning madly, and orders a combination of the four most lethal drinks on the menu.

[Darkcomet]

Shortly thereafter, another man walks in, dressed in all-black with a similarly colored coat and hat. Some gray hair is visible, though most of it is obscured by said hat, and this combined with the rest of his features suggest a rather oddly physically fit old man. He also has an odd, almost bulky-looking sniper rifle (with no visible magazine, at that, possibly suggesting an energy weapon) slung across his back.

Ba'al might recognize him as the guy that shot at him if he got a good view, but I doubt it. Though the rifle might suggest something.

But he certainly recognizes Ba'al, though he isn't acting on it yet, preferring to lurk near the door. He's not suicidal, after all.

And to think he probably just wanted a drink or two after that failure...

[Gnrlshrimp]

Ba'al doesn't even glance at the guy. He's far too busy drinking.

...And setting his drinks on fire.

...And occasionally exploding an unused chair here and there. Basically he's having a damn good time, that's what he lives for after all.

[Darkcomet]

The old man (henceforth known as Drelin as I got tired of just 'the man' rather quickly) moves to an area a distance behind Ba'al and can be seen aiming that gun at the back of his head (again!).

He hasn't fired yet, though, probably giving any other PCs around to the guy about to shoot someone.

Isn't lack of context a *****?

[Gnrlshrimp]

Hmm, sounds of movement behind him? Ba'al grins. This could be interesting. One hand lightly rests on his sword, but that's it for now.

Felix, however, is not quite so calm. "Excuse me, what are you doing?" He asks, getting up from his chair.

((Old man fight GO!!:smallbiggrin:))

[The Bushranger]

Pat undeadtimes, and eyes Charity and Claude dubiously, not sure he wants to know what their bet was about...


He hasn't noticed the old-man fight yet. The exploding chairs, those have caught his interest.

[Darkcomet]

Drelin doesn't lower the gun, but doesn't fire yet either, giving Felix a look that says 'sshh'.

Probably wants to salvage the situation.

[Gnrlshrimp]

"No! I demand to know what you're doing! Because from here it looks like you're pointing some sort of dangerous weapon at that armoured gentleman over there!" Felix wags a finger sternly at Drelin.

Ba'al simply smirks and tightens his grip on his sword.

[Darkcomet]

Drelin sighs. "Well, dammit. I was just going to put down someone who had just destroyed a section of the city, nice and clean, but now you've gone and made this messy."

The last word has a metallic sound to it as Drelin opens fire on Ba'al.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Boom.

Ba'al is no longer in his seat. Moments later he reappears behind Drelin, sword drawn and pointed right at his back. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, ain't gonna happen."

"He did what?" And then Ba'al teleports. Felix's jaw drops for a moment as he tries to understand what the hell's going on.

[Darkcomet]

"Point made." Drelin gives Felix a sideways glance before vanishing and reappearing next to where Ba'al was at the bar, rifle raised at him again.

And this time he doesn't wait to fire. [*insert previously described noise here*]

[Gnrlshrimp]

"No." A small black sphere appears in the path of the shot. Upon collision, there's a pretty big boom. Congrats Drelin, you've persuaded Ba'al to use his spheres of destruction, small pockets of highly destructive energy just waiting to be released.

Anyway, tables and chairs go flying and poor old Felix gets smacked in the face by one. It knocks him out. He's an old man after all...

Several more spheres start to float around Ba'al as he grins at his foe, "Do you not realise who you're dealing with, old man"

[Rebonack]

Zee comes out of the kitchen with a tray of brownies just in time to go, "BWAH!" as a bar-stool goes hurtling toward her. She ducks under the projectile, narrowly missing a concussion!

Sadly her tray of brownies aren't so lucky.

They're clipped by the stool, wrenched from her hands, and go tumbling out a nearby window.

The dumpster mimic quickly devours them.

The hydra-girl, presently planted on her hind-end behind the counter, grinds her teeth in irritation. "I spent a lot of time on those!" And thus she jumps to her feet, liquid mithril armor already spreading over her along with a phantasmal javelin.

"Hurricane Spear!"

Zee hauls back for a moment, wisps of mist building around the javelin's shaft moments before... The acidic weapon is hurled at Ba'al from behind with tremendous force, a maelstrom of vapor whirling around it like a tornado.

[Darkcomet]

"Can't say I do..."

Drelin can be seen fiddling around under his coat for a bit before an antimagic field comes to life in the Tavern, though Drelin's player is unsure of what it's worth.

"...but neither do you." Rhyme unintentional.

Drelin proceeds to... vanish again. Hasn't reappeared inside, though...

[Gnrlshrimp]

"Cute, very cute." Unfortunately antimagic counters magic, not, say, sheer force of will. "Come on then, do your worst." Ba'al chuckles, this place really is good fun!

[Darkcomet]

A window shatters, one of Drelin's energy blasts flying at Ba'al from it.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Another sphere of destruction interupts the blast and another explosion rocks the tavern. A couple of NPCs are unfortunate enough to be trapped under a table. One of them has a leg at a rather funny angle.

Ba'al frowns, "Coward. You'll achieve nothing through this."

Zee's spear meets a similar fate, crashing into a sphere and also going kablooey. This results in more stuff flying around and several windows breaking, as well as the door flying off its hinges completely.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Ba'al throws the table off the two NPCs and grabs them both by their heads. "Cut this crap out or so help me, I will kill them!" His voice is projected out of the tavern to make sure Drelin can hear him.

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor, the awesome centaur of Septim, stands up. His pendant faintly starts glowing blue. His weapons are already in his hands. You should drop those people. Now.

[Darkcomet]

...hehehehe.

There's this thing about Drelin.

He's not the most moral person around himself. But why, then, would he be worried about Ba'al's actions...?

He appears directly in front of Ba'al, rifle pointed at the armored man's face at point blank range.

And he fires.

"As you wish."

[Gimliggamer]

The two NPCs are enveloped in blue light.

[Rebonack]

Zee ducks behind the counter again as a rather elegant mithril blade begins growing out of her armor. Long, thin, curved, and with an odd metal channel running down the length on one side? Hmm... wonder what that's for?

The hydra-girl bits the thing near the hilt, electric blue venom draining from her fangs into the poison well in the sword.

Huh.

I guess that's what it's for...

[Gnrlshrimp]

Another explosion rocks the tavern as Drelin fires, and several spheres of destruction are sent straight at the sniper, also from point blank range.

From the ceiling, a voice rings out. "I was being fair. I was trying to keep things interesting and give you a chance, old man. Your disregard for life is...amusing. What I'm about to do...is your fault. You just pushed me too far."

There's a series of muffled thuds and the NPCs in Trog's all drop to the floor, dead (except, maybe, the two protected by blue light. Depends, does it protect their hearts from exploding?)

"Your fault, old man. All your fault. Next time, I won't give you a chance at all. Next time I will kill you. I suggest you leave, now. While you still have a chance..."

[Gimliggamer]

((complete protection, by divine intervention))
Viktor kneels and begins praying, the pendant slowly brightening. So do the dead bodies.

[Gnrlshrimp]

The voice rings out again as Ba'al reappears raging at the sight of the bodies presumably being raised. "NO! THEIR LIVES ARE FORFEIT! Their lives...are...MINE!" And with that he clenches his fist.

The NPCs souls, their very being, the part of them that makes them...them...is annihilated, removed from existence entirely as the Lord of Destruction glares at the centaur.

If they are raised now, they will be little more than vegetables, knowing nothing, remembering nothing.

[Rebonack]

Oh no!

Not the NPC patrons!

Thankfully Cosmo, Paige, and Nina were long ago protected from wide area of effect insta-NPC doom attacks. Like quasi-PCs!

As for Zee, she takes this moment to vault over the bar and aim to slide that silver blade of her's between Ba'al's armor plates and into something vital. The venom will cause rapid tissue death in the area of the wound, spreading from that point. And within several more seconds blindness.

[Darkcomet]

Drelin is simply... gone, it seems.

[Gnrlshrimp]

No such luck for Zee, I'm afraid. Ba'al turns to meet her, perhaps hearing her approach even as he shouts in anger. "Not today! NO MORE! I will not have my fun SPOILED by you pathetic worms!" Some part of him remains calm though, he's still keeping his powers in check.

He still desires a challenge, and so Zee's attack is met by his sword, without its destructive aura active. "And I will prove it...I don't need more than this sword to stop you!"

[Rebonack]

Zee's golden, reptilian eyes narrow behind her visor. A sight that is no doubt unnoticeable from outside her helmet. As she presses home with the weapon in her main-hand a second, straight dagger forms from the wrist of her off-hand whilst a scythe-like blade melds out of the end of her tail-armor.

Looks like she's making herself extra pointy.

"Deios is my strength. You aren't fighting me," she retorts. And with a graceful pirouette she slides her main-blade free, whipping around to strike with her off hand to knock Ba'al off balance. A spinning assault that places devastating momentum behind that tail-scythe, which even now aims to clip the destructive being's legs out from under him.

Should probably be noted that Zee is rather strong in a physical sense. She is a hydra after all.

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor's eyes open. Something about them is....different. A blue fire suddenly alights on him and his weapons.He stands up, and glares at Ba'al.The fires of Light and War will curse you, Ba'al, Destruction. You shall not live to see the end, for you will not survive the great coming. The coming of the gods unto the earth. We will destroy you. with that Viktor leaps towards Ba'al, swinging both weapons.

[Gnrlshrimp]

The dagger glances off Ba'al's armour (Weapons bouncing off armour! Ye gods, since when did that happen in the Nexus??) and he backflips away from the tail scythe.

And then the centaur charges at him, forcing him to roll out of the way. "You're making me sick, all of you. I try to fight the b***h in single combat over there, and YOU interfere!" He listens, and laughs, at the centaur's words.

"The coming of the gods? You fool, I AM a god! One capable of ending everything with but a thought!" Still, this really isn't looking good. The hydra lady is clearly pretty good at this whole melee combat thing, and now he's got a psycho centaur after him...

But Ba'al has no intention of giving up. However, playing fair has gone straight out the window again. Spheres of destruction begin to circle around him again and fire springs up across the tavern floor in an attempt to keep the centaur at bay so he can deal with the pesky hydra lady first.

[Trog]

*In the midst of the fight Trog meanders out wearing his fireproof slippers and scoops up the remains of one of the NPCs and heads back into the kitchen dodging various blows and menacing glares*

>.>
<.<

The first rule about Trog's Fight Chili™ is you don't talk about the ingredients in Trog's Fight Chili™.

*The kitchen door swings shut*

[billtodamax]

Well he's certainly making quite a lot of noise, isn't he?

Mime looks at the big guy in armour, and crouches down. His hands go out infront of him, before coming back towards him slightly.

At this moment, a mime-kinda-non-existant-invisible rocket is flying towards Ba'al.

[Gimliggamer]

Nothing stops the centaur, fire rolls off, death spheres are absorbed. The centaur keeps charging.You are no god, you worthless swine.The gods choose champions. They do not manifest in the various verses. And they do NOT Destroy them.

[Rebonack]

Thankfully Zee is too busy right not to ask about Trog's Fight Chilli(tm). Otherwise she probably would.

Which means her focus is on Ba'al right now.

She stands in a crouched stance, dagger arms held before her as a shield, sword held behind. Every now and again her tail twitches with anticipation. Then she flickers.

And she's gone.

With a blur of blades Zee's back again, up in Ba'al's personal space delivering a flurry of slashes and stabs and gashes. Hopefully some that make it through the armor. The hydra-girl has three weapons on her, all of which she's applying with finesse and alacrity. Zee's hoping that she'll be able to open up a hole in Ba'al's defense and delver a fatal wound.

[Gnrlshrimp]

She's fast alright, and skilled, but Ba'al has a few tricks of his own.

Such as the sudden shield that appears on one arm. Using a combination of sword, shield, and athletic movements that really shouldn't be possible (such as a duck turning into a roll which he jumps out of, landing and turning on the spot to meet the next charge) in such heavy armour, he just about manages to protect himself from injury, and the attacks that do gets through, he makes sure are minor ones that just bounce of his armour.

He grins, preparing to unleash a deadly counter attack...

And then an invisible mime rocket smacks him in the face. If it's an explodey sort of mime rocket then this might be beneficial, since explosions have very little effect on Ba'al.

Either way, he's sent tumbling into the corner and climbs shakily to his feet, frustrated. More spheres of destruction start to float around him. Single combat looks like it's been thrown well and truly out the window.

[Rebonack]

Sadly, hydras aren't immune to explosions.

The force of the blast lauches Zee off her feet, causing her to slam into the floor shoulder first with a rather nasty crunching sound before tumbling a fair distance and finally slamming head-long into the counter.

The hydra-girl is still breathing. Certainly not dead.

But that blow seems to have stunned her.

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor still charges, swinging.

[billtodamax]

Mime punches the air. Ha-hah! Got 'im! He's not gonna cause any destruction in this bar, no sirree! Not any more!

[Gnrlshrimp]

Ba'al turns to meet the centaur's charge, blocking his attacks and sidestepping away quickly. When he sees Zee lying there, he laughs and launches himself up to the ceiling. "Heh. It's been a blast, folks, but I've had enough for now. I've got to start planning my next fun activity." As he speaks, the spheres of destruction slowly float down and gather in the middle of the room.

"Consider this a parting gift. Each one of these spheres could put a hole in you big enough to kill you. And if they don't? Well, the tavern's still going to be a mess, those poor lifeless corpses can never come back as anything more than vegetables...and I...remain fine." With a particularly loud explosion, Ba'al vanishes, leaving a nice hole in the ceiling in the process.

Just moments after he leaves, the sphere shoot out at speeds equal to ridiculous, smashing into various parts of the tavern, and a few are likely to hit the PCs if they don't get the hell out of the way.

Except for Zee. Ba'al made sure one would go after her. So she's definitely in danger, instead of just probably...

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor disappears in blue light.

[billtodamax]

Woah! That one flew really close! Hey, just ducked that one! That one almost clipped your arm!

Mime's currently dodging the improbable 7 spheres of destruction that flew towards him.

[Rebonack]

Zee missed the speech.

Mostly because her head was still ringing from the explosion as she rather shakily pushes herself to her knees. Had gotten clobbered rather hard there, honestly.

And this means she's still a little too blurry to notice the sphere of destruction headed her way.

At least, that is, until it makes a hole through her gut roughly the size of a soft-ball.

She blinks at it stupidly a few times, blood soaking into her clothes and pooling on the floor, before collapsing with a wet-sticky thud.

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor reappears in the tavern, looking normal. Not like the Viktor that attempted to clobber Ba'al. He goes around, healing all the PCs, and jumping over any spheres that come towards him.

[happyturtle]

Charity, who was hiding under the table during the fight, peers out at all the death and destruction. In shock, she curls up and starts crying quietly.

[Jacklu]

"Well Well Well,"

Says the voice from the dark and cobwebbed corners of reality where the maid has failed to clean each visit since the beginning of time,

"Would you look at all the carnage. I dare say, this is just the place to settle in for a spell. But first..."

The fallen NPC's writhe and squirm, rising to their feet as if lifted but invisible strings. Clearly dead, they begin to act out their normal lives in the tavern as if nothing had happened. The death balls are caught mid-air and drawn together into a singular point where they glow intensely, casting a disco ball effect across the tavern. There is a good chance Zee's body will find itself lifted from the floor in a similar manner, suspended in a crude, puppeting imitation of life. She might (or might not as she is dead) find herself unable to break apart like usual.

"Ah, much better. No sense making an appearance into a dirty cluttered tavern."

[billtodamax]

Hey, new guy! Mime waves like crazy to the new guy, then holds up a finger, before going to check on Zee. He looks at the hole in her chest. Wow. That's a big hole. He starts Mime bandaging her up, to stop the bleeding.

[The Duke]

Jess snickers as the corpses start to stand again. Funny that isn't it Zee. Zee? She looks over What!? Hap- Her words are cut off by two spheres of destruction colliding with her on grazes her leg leaving a huge seared out chunk, the second blasts through her right shoulder. She falls to the ground screaming.. and bleeding..


(I think she was introduced to the hydra girl by name)

EDIT: I didn't notice Jaklu's post about them.. however I don't feel the desire to retcon this post as I like the dramatic element so I'm going to pretend that the two that hit her got missed somehow.. >.<

[Gimliggamer]

*urges all to post in AU*

Viktor clops over to the screaming lady, and starts healing. He didn't think he would have to spend most of his healing in a tavern.

[Jacklu]

((Ignore previous post. Jacklu has been hit with a bad bout of SUDs*))
*Sudden Unexpected Depression

((That is, Jacklu is quitting again. Sorry :smallfrown: ))

[The Duke]

Healing!? Ooo bad choice. See she's not exactly normal* (Details will have to be discovered)

As the healing (Magic?) is used on her, her flesh starts to wither an shrivel like a dying flower and the bleeding intensifies. Her screams grow much louder.

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor immediately stops and gets the normal first aid, he tries to stitch up the wounds and later will try to get her legs back.

[The Duke]

Normal first aid is slightly more effective.. the minor wounds caused from the healing are patched up nicely, however the chunk of flesh and muscle from her leg is pretty much impossible to sew up as is the hole in her shoulder/chest. It looks like the chest wound was far enough over to go though some ribs, meaning her lungs are currently depressurized, might want to get pressure back to normal in that thoral cavity pronto.

Cloth can be tied over both to stem the bleeding however it won't stabilize the pressure and allow her to breath again...

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor madly yells for mime to get over here and fix this woman, because she can't be healed with magic.

[Rebonack]

Zee isn't dead.

Though with that hole through her visceral organs also clipped her diaphragm. Which is generally a bad thing. Thankfully hydra are known for being good at a number of things. One is being almost preternaturally sturdy. The other is their uncanny ability to heal.

And that's what Zee is doing right now.

Healing.

And healing fast too.

It'll still be a little while yet until she regains consciousness, however.

Most of the bleeding seems to have stopped on its own, blood vessels clamping off to prevent further blood loss.

[Artemis97]

Thank goodness for Deadtime. An amazingly protective state, it is.

Renault, of course, would disagree. The elf is staring at the carnage, wondering what had happened and what he might have been able to do to prevent it. Perhaps there was something that could be done now?

[The Duke]

Jess continues the whole bleeding on the floor deal. The screaming however has stopped seems the pain and blood loss knocked her out. She likely has five more minutes to live. After which... Mwhahaha!

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor uses a nearby bucket to gather the blood and fill it back in where needed, then he uses some cloth to staunch the blood.

[Artemis97]

"What happened?!" Renault asks, jumping up from his chair and quickly crossing the room.

[Gimliggamer]

death spheres. The woman has a hole in her chest and her legs were blown off. Magic just made it worse.

[The Duke]

Both of the statements appear to be slight exaggerations, but Jess is in pretty bad shape, A good chunk of muscle and flesh is missing from one of her legs and there is a clean hole just below her right shoulder, it appears to have destroyed a few ribs as well as punctured her thoral cavity, she appears to be unconscious and very near death

[Artemis97]

Well, there's all sorts of magic. Healing magic usually falls under the divine flavor, however, Renault was an arcane caster. So maybe it would make a difference.

The elf's eyes glow gently with a soft golden light as he tries to determine exactly why magic didn't work.

[The Duke]

Her body seems to function like that of an undead despite being alive*. Though perhaps for not much longer. As in that positive energy harms it and negative energy heals it... She will likely die in another minute, as her cells run out of oxygen and acid levels get to high, and everything shuts down.

*A curiosity perhaps on that could be examined in greater detail later.

[Artemis97]

Well, that was ceretainly... different. And, very oddly, something that Renault had seen once before. Unfortunately, it had not been something he had studied in any great detail. Fortunately, the elf had studied healing magic extensively. However, the spells he used did not rely on positive or negative energy, rather it amplified the body's own natural energy, allowing it to heal itself very rapidly.

Hopefully, this would work, as Renault was soon kneeling next to her his hands glowing brightly with the same golden light that was in his eyes as he cast the spell.

[The Duke]

Like a hydra. :smallamused:

Her wounds start to close and the hole in her thoral cavity close, she can in theory breath again, but her lungs are stuck together, she'll need a burst of energy to be able to get out that first breath.

(It can happen if you get a thoral wound due to depressurization and your lungs will stick together when babies are born they are in the same start so the first breath is the hardest breath they will make.)

[Artemis97]

Er, sure? :smallconfused:

"Oh no... She's not breathing." She was healed, what went wrong? Was he too late? No. The spell had worked, so there was still hope. Renault wasn't about to give up. He abandons magic for more mundane methods. We'd know it as CPR.

[The Duke]

That seems to work.. but it's a lot of effort to get those lung walls unstuck from each other a few breaths though and she seems to be better ish, She still has wounds but she's now breathing shallowly.

and I need to sleep so good morning all.

(That's just how the hydra girl healed herself. I found it funny.)

[billtodamax]

Mimes runs over to the girl and looks her up and down. Then he frowns at Viktor. She's already healed! Duh. Geez, the nerve of some people. :smalltongue:

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor falls on the floor, exhausted. and deadtimed.

[Artemis97]

(Goodnight Duke)

Renault sits back, sitting against a pillair. The elf was breathing heavily, the spell having taken a lot out of him, but he was smiling. The girl was alive (sort of), and that was a wonderful thing.

(Guess I'll call it a night, too)

[Gnrlshrimp]

Felix slowly climbs to his feet, clutching his forehead, which has a rather nasty gash across it. That chair hit him hard, and he only just about manages to make it back to his seat. However, there's no way he can do anything about the mess right now with his head pounding away, so he just slumps to the ground next to the chair, unable to lift it back up right now.

[Trog]

*The side door of the tavern opens and Cosmo can be seen tossing a load of garbage into the mimic dumpster which gobbles up the small bag greedily. The disgruntled gnome turns, half smiling into the Tavern and stops short at the door. Inside is a scene of devastation. Portions of the floor still burn here and there and the gaping hole in the roof acts as a chimney for the smoke inside. The smell of charred wood and flesh hanging heavy in the air.*

Oh heeeeeelllll no. There is NO way I'm cleaning up this mess. :smallmad:

*Cosmo trods heavily on the burned floor, weaving his way in between the deadtimed to behind the bar. He stows his lunch in one of the coolers and dons his orange bowler cap.*

Trog can pay for this clean up. He doesn't pay me enough to do this crap. :smallannoyed:

*He grabs a step stool, climbs up and opens a glassteel panel set into the wall behind the bar. A hand scrawled note is taped to the small panel which reads "WARNING! VERY expensive to use. Be sure to get Trog's permission before using!!!" Cosmo crumples up the note, mutters a short incantation and presses the large glowing red button which reads "RESET."

A golden swirling light fills the Tavern and glows so brightly it is difficult to look through. The ceiling mends itself, the floor regenerates to its former shine and broken tables, chairs and stools mend themselves. Soon the only evidence of the destruction in the tavern is the devastated patrons within it. Cosmo dusts off his hands and surveys the newly repaired Tavern*

Well that saves me doing clean up this morning. Time to sluff off. :smallamused:

*The diminutive bartender perches upon one of the coolers and opens his magical book and reads, tapping into the magical ether of the Tavern's Wi-Fi network. Shortly, a faerie with a delivery person cap flies in an open window and waves an envelope at Cosmo*

Just put the bill on the mail pile over there. Trog'll get to it later. *Cosmo gestures vaguely without looking up*

*The faerie shrugs, sets the bill for the reset button on top, raises her hat and flies of leaving a trail of sparkling dust behind.*

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor gets up, and shifts to humanas he goes and sits in the booth in the corner, and smokes anti-deadtime smoke.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Well, that helps. Felix clambers into his now upright chair and rests his head in his arms on the table. Perhaps a little nap will help him feel better.

[wxdruid]

Soon enough, Cosmo will find he has a foot warmer resting on his feet, a warm furry wolf... She's much happier when she's resting on a comfy pair of feet.

[Rebonack]

"Uuuhhgg..." groans the hydra-girl still flat faced on the floor. She had spent the better part of the evening healing that wound that was so kindly made in her abdomen. Because there's just nothing quite as nice as having a hole blasted in one's gut.

No sir, nothing better. Clears the sinuses. Or something.

Zee rather shakily pushes herself to her knees, a nice hole plainly visible through her apron and shirt, sapphire blue scales glittering for all to see below.

She wrinkles her nose at ruined clothing. Not only ruined with holes but also blood-stains.

"Great... Going to need a new outfit now..." and so with a sigh she hops upright and starts tromping off for the door. "I need you to cover for me, Cosmo. I've got to go get a new shirt."

Away!

[Gnrlshrimp]

"Zzzz-whu?" Felix snorts and wakes up. He looks around the tavern, decides remaining here for any longer probably isn't healthy and gets up to go for a walk.

His skeletons follow, as usual. They're more obedient than, I dunno, ants in an ant colony maybe?

[Artemis97]

Renault shakes himself awake from deadtime and pushes himself to his feet. The elf looks around the tavern, seeing who was, or wasn't, there.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Felix walks back in, feeling thoroughly bewildered. He returns to his seat and mentally kicks himself when he sees the elf. He walked out of here and left the elf with his bones! He trusts Renault to some degree, but he still feels rather foolish. "Are you okay? What happened here yesterday was...pretty incredible. Were you lucky enough to miss it?"

[Rebonack]

Zee is behind the counter once more, now clad in a non-ruined outfit. Good for her! Non-ruined outfits are nice.

She... also appears to be sleeping on the job.

Things have been somewhat quiet in here tonight.

Several tentacles begin sneaking out from between the floor boards...

Hey! Narration doesn't count! Shoo!

And thus the tentacles slink away again like a scolded puppy.

[Artemis97]

Well, Renault had entrusted his spellbook to the old man, so there was some collateral, at least.

The elf nods, looking tired. "I suppose you can call it lucky. I only wish I had awoken earlier. Perhaps I would have been able to do more."

[Gnrlshrimp]

"Well, I wasn't of much use. I got knocked out by a flying chair before I could figure out who was the hero, and who was the villain."

How odd that everyone else, even those who'd never encountered Ba'al realised straight away, even when Drelin was there...

"Although the one causing everything to fly all over the place and generally causing havoc was probably evil."

Ah, good point! I guess it'd make sense to attack the guy causing mass destruction.

"How are you getting on with the bones?"

[Artemis97]

"Ah, not well, I am afraid. This place is rather... distracting, to say the least." Renault replies with a weary chuckle. "I have not had the chance to study them much farther."

[Gnrlshrimp]

"Oh, that's a shame. Perhaps I should just explain it to you. I just thought you might enjoy trying to work it out. I'm done with your spellbook. Your work on magic storage is very impressive. Using them as magic reserves, very impressive."

[Rebonack]

Distracting is certainly one way to describe things...

...

Oh.

The bodies from the other day?

They're all gone.

Despite the fact Cosmo didn't clean them up.

Hmmm...

That might be foreboding.

But good for business!

Corpses all over the floor are an eye sore in a restaurant. Even one with health standards as spotty as Trog's.

Zee snorts slightly from behind the bar.

Still asleep, you see. She crinkles her eyes a bit and begins muttering. Tossing slightly. Having a nightmare, maybe?

[Artemis97]

Renault smiles but looks away, somewhat shyly. "Ah, you read that did you? It is a work in progress, but your praise means quite a lot to me. I thank you."

The elf's yet to notice Zee's dreaming. However he'd be rather worried if he did, considering what happened to the last man who'd had a nightmare in the tavern.

[Gnrlshrimp]

"Well, the uses...just thinking about it makes my head spin!" That said, he hands back the pile of papers. He's got all he needs from them, no point holding onto something that valuable any longer, it's just asking for trouble!

Unfortunately (probably) the sleeping Zee isn't noticed by Felix either.

[Rebonack]

That's great!

Because nothing horrible is about to happen.

No sir!

No living nightmares are going to worm their way out of the slumbering hydra-girl's head and devour her messily.

...

Okay, I lied.

A mass of thick, oily black smoke begins seeping out of Zee's temple, gradually taking on shape and cohesion above her head like some sort of demonic comic book thought-bubble.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Speaking of comics...

Talia undeadtimes from her perch in the rafters. She looks around a little and sees the bubble above Zee. She stares at it for a moment, not sure how to react.

So, she drops down next to where Renault and Felix are, landing crouched on all fours. She stands up and points at Zee. Is that normal for her?

[Artemis97]

Renault gladly accepts his spells back, having never liked being without them. He seems about to say something when he spots the growing 'smoke' out of the corner of his eye. "Oh no." He rushes over and tries to shake Zee awake. "Miss Zee, wake up. Please, you must wake up!"

[Gnrlshrimp]

"Oh, that really doesn't look good." Felix's skeletons rush into the tavern and also start shaking Zee. Perhaps the combined shakyness will create a super-shake, guaranteed to wake Zee up!

[Rebonack]

Zee wobbles like a bobble head due to the excessive shaking!

Though she isn't roused.

Geeze, she's pretty out of it. Try a glass of water, maybe?

Hey, look!

That cloud of mist has become what appears to be snapping turtle head roughly three feet across! And ringed with dozens of toothed tentacles! As with the baboon the nightmare appears as though its shadowy flesh is rotten, dissolving away into nothing. Its features sunken. Skeletal.

It also looks mean.

The monster lashes out with its many limbs, aiming to snag Renault and skeleton alike! And then probably bite their torso off. As opposed to, y'know. Shaking them.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Talia lets out a shout, crouches down, then leaps at the monster. As she goes through the air, she holds her hands in front of her and fires a few glowing spheres from her hands at the monster. Said spheres are made to explode on impact.

[Artemis97]

Poor Renault...

The elf shouts in alarm when a toothy tentacle grabs a hold of him. He speaks a word, activating a spell that should send a stream of electrical energy into the turtle-thing. He also diverts a tiny spark into Zee, in a hope of waking her.

[Gnrlshrimp]

A couple of skeletons are grabbed, the rest quickly giving up their shaking attempts and instead move to try and yank the tentacle off Renault.

Felix, meanwhile, fills a glass with water from his flask and mutters away quietly.

[Rebonack]

Oh that's fun.

The electric jolt causes Zee to wake up in a hurry. And with a "BWAH!" Jumps pretty high, too. Hair is standing on end a bit to boot.

As for the nightmare, it doesn't seem terribly keen about being exploded and shocked, ripping its limbs away from Renault and levatating up into the air. Several wounds have been gouged into the thing, causing thick oily black fluid to weep from the various gashes.

Zee vaults over the counter to put some room between herself and the monster. "Where did that thing come from?"

[KerfuffleMach2]

From you! Talia calls to Zee. She hangs from a rafter by one hand, the other firing more energy spheres at the creature.

[Gnrlshrimp]

His muttering finished, Felix glares at the turtley thing. His newly formed water golem, already standing taller than the necromancer, charges at it, swinging a heavy watery fist. One of the advantages of water golems is their ability to shift their mass about. Guess where most of it'll be on impact...

[Artemis97]

Renault falls back from the beast, clutching at his arm where his clothing was torn. Miraculously, he's suffered only minor scratches. Seems being turned into a dragon was good for something.

[Rebonack]

Oh!

Oh!

To the golem's feet, right?

The monster finds itself pummeled with fists and more explosive energy orbs, by now looking rather unhappy regarding the situation. Nor does it look very happy when Zee launches a phantasmal bolt into the thing that shortly there after violently explodes in a cloud of steam.

By now several large pieces of the monster are missing, black grease dripping all over the floor and sizzling on the grill. Burning monster smells nasty, by the way.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Talia makes a face at the smell.

She's positioned herself on a rafter directly above the creature now. And she fires a few more spheres at it.

One might notice that her spheres are slowly getting smaller. Seems she might be running out of juice.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Felix coughs and wrinkles his nose at the smell. "Argh, that's hideous!" He clamps his nose with one hand and jabs at the monster with his other hand, possibly telling the golem to hurry up before the smell becomes unbearable.
The golem, with most of its mass in its fists continues the sledgehammer-like pummeling.

[Rebonack]

This is simply more than the minor nightmare beast can take. The continued pounding reduces it to nothing more than oily vapor that quickly evaporates away into nothing. Like throwing a snowball atop a wood-stove.

Zee glares at where the monster once was. "Those things are getting really annoying."

...

Then comes the sound of the tavern door jingling shot. The sound of a gnarled old walking stick thumping on the floor. "Oh... They will be come so much more than annoying with time, my dear."

The owner of the voice is an ancient looking fellow in embroidered black robes, silver stars glinting on its surface. Under one arm is clutched a tome that, from the wear and dust caked upon it, may be almost as old as its owner. "Provided nothing is done to stop them."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Talia watches the robed man from the rafters, crouched down, tail hanging below her, looking very much like her father.

[Artemis97]

Well, this fellow looks like he knows something.

Renault turns when the old man enters the tavern. He gives a respectful bow, before asking. "What can you tell us of it, sir?"

[Rebonack]

Of course he knows what's going on.

Isn't it obvious that this guy is a plot exposition NPC?

"The vile creatures you have encountered have been escaping into the waking world from the Dreamlands. Escaping through the Silver Gate," the sage begins to explain. "Ages ago this portal was created to seal off our world from the dark and vile things that haunt the Dreamlands. But now that seal is beginning to wane in power. It must be shut up once more, lest the terrors that lurk just beyond the threshold burst upon the mortal lands and plunge us all into a living nightmare from which their is no relief. Dawn will never come to this world again."

Dun dun dun!

One of the other tavern patrons glares at the bard who just played the dramatic chord on the piano. Said bard apologizes.

[Gnrlshrimp]

"That all sounds rather worrying." Felix scratches his beard thoughtfully, perhaps a quest to seal the Silver Gate is in order!

Or maybe not. Weak old men aren't exactly the best adventurers in the world.

[Artemis97]

((*snickers*))

Renault blinks a bit. "Oh dear... this is rather serious." He clears his throat a bit nervously. "And where might this gate be found?"

[KerfuffleMach2]

Talia drops down from the rafters, landing as she usually does, then standing to her full height. Sounds like a trip to me. She seems slightly excited at the prospect.

[Rebonack]

"The Silver Gate is hidden deep within the ever-frozen crags of Mount Kalembrog, many miles from this city. Though close enough for both you and all unfortunate souls nearby to have their nights plagued with nightmares. I suspect that many of you have been experiencing them?"

Zee nods frantically.

"As the seal continues to weaken many more weak nightmare beasts will escape from the minds that spawned them into the waking world. You may all count your blessings that nothing truly horrible has been released to ravage this city. But you must know, the Silver Gate is not your goal. But rather the three keys that lock it. For aeons they have been in the possession of the Order of the Slumberer. But in ages past two were lost to us. Only one remains. And that key is insufficient to keep the Gate sealed indefinitely."

[KerfuffleMach2]

So...we gotta find the other two keys? Fun. Any clues where they might be?

[Gnrlshrimp]

"So we need to track down the other two keys before things get out of hand?" Don't you just love quests with a time limit?

[Darkcomet]

...huh.

DC just walked in. Apparently continuity has been beaten over the head with a shovel yet again. *hands shovel back to Rebo*

She watches the Plot Exposition NPC with a raised eyebrow, having walked in on the tail end of his previous exposition.

"Wait, what's this all about?" :smallconfused:

[Rebonack]

"Nightmares are wriggling into the Nexus from the Dreamlands!" Zee practically shouts, waving her arms above her head frantically. "That's why everyone has been having bad dreams!"

The Ancient Sage nods his wizened old head in reply to the inquiries. "Yes. The other two keys must be found before all is lost. We're unaware of the third key's position, though we do know where the second has been hidden. It was long ago held as a trophy by the cruel tyrant Lord Cinnabar. A trinket of little real importance to him that was gained during some bloody crusade. But his kingdom has long since crumbled. As has his keep, into the vile subterranean catacombs it was built atop. The upper levels were once used to hold prisoners. The lower reaches... none dared venture there. That whole infernal pit is now known as the Well of Terrors."

Zee wrinkles her nose at that. "Sounds like a cheerful place."

[Gimliggamer]

Cinnabar? Viktor says getting up.You mean the man I fought against in the fourth war?

[KerfuffleMach2]

Talia nods in agreement with Zee. Yeah. Must be a hot tourist spot.

[Artemis97]

"It sounds to me like a place that could use a little cleaning up." Renault decides, in an odd streak of boldness.

[Gnrlshrimp]

"Well, yes, it certainly does seem worth of investigation." Felix seems to have decided that, old man though he may be, he's still quite capable of going adventuring!

...with his golem in front and the skeletons behind, to the sides, and possibly above and below as well.

[Rebonack]

The Ancient Sage gives Viktor a look that suggests the wizened old man suspects that he may have had a little bit too much spiced rum this evening.

He clears his breath.

"The Well of Terrors is about a day's journey east of here. It is most fortuitous that this city of yours is a day's journey from just about anywhere. Otherwise this expidition might take months instead..."

Zee grins a goofy grin. "That's part of the reason why the Nexus is nice! We're within walking distance of everything cool!"

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor gets up and shifts back to centaur form. Well, what are we waiting for? Lets go.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Talia looks around a little. Is everybody else ready?

[Gnrlshrimp]

"I suppose so..."

[Je dit Viola]

Helen, a demon, flies to the entrance, checks her hair, shape-shifts to human form again, and walks in the Trogs. Looks like she's a bit too late for the quest.

[Artemis97]

"Will we not need supplies?" Renault wonders. "Food and water and such?"

[Rebonack]

The Ancient Sage's eyes widen in shock. "You... you couldn't possibly be thinking of running off to that dreadful place now could you? You have made no preparations! No provisions. No means of transport. One does not simply walk into the Well of Terrors!"

Most people travel by catapult. Or laser-eye-bear.

Zee ponders this for a few moments. Then nods. "Yeah, it's better to know what we're dealing with than it is to go off half-coked. I've organized some major expeditions before and it takes time to get everything ready."

[Je dit Viola]

Helen wonders what the Sage is talking about. Wall of Terrors? That sounds fun, if a bit frightening.

Oh, well.

She continues over to the bar, and orders a drink.

[Gnrlshrimp]

"Food and drink should be fairly easy to get hold of, surely? This town does appear to be quite...big." When Felix went out before, he got lost very quickly.

"And I'm sure everyone has their adventuring...gear...with them." Felix sighs and silently curses his memory. That damn druid and cleric and their experiment! Of course he didn't have his gear with him! Thankfully he always carries his valuables at all times, otherwise he'd be really screwed!

"I hate that druid and cleric."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Should probably see if we can do some research on the place we're going to. Might help us know what to expect.

[Bergett]

A woman walks into the Tavern she's wearing what may have used to be Paladin armor, just really beat up and in poor condition, what little of a holy symbol on her arm is either to beaten up or bloodstained to make out, she has what looks to be a heavily wounded arm and a very defeated face on.

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor casts Cure critical wounds on her.

[Rebonack]

"I'm afraid you'll be able to find little information on the Well," the Ancient Sage replies in a rather droll tone. "There are few fool-hearty enough to venture into that accursed place. But that is what must be done if this land is to be saved from the Long Midnight."

Sounds ominious.

"I can start getting some supplies and stuff together. And I for one don't carry my adventuring gear on me when I'm making sammiches. Most of my stuff is at home."

Though she does keep some of her enchanted objects around to ward of random monsters and bandits and so forth.

"If we could meet up tomorrow night here? I should be able to get the basic provisions ready by then. Oh! And everyone remember to pack a ten-foot pole. You wouldn't believe how often those things come in handy."

And then the paladin person arrives!

"Hiya!" the hydra-girl behind the counter calls out cheerfully. "Welcome to Trog's Tavern! Can I get something for you?"

[Bergett]

Strangely enough it doesn't seem to do anything, the spell went off and didn't fizzle.
Maybe it has something to do with Paladin resistance?
By why would someone not allow healing?
This is an interesting situation...

EDIT: She looks over...
I don't know...

[Je dit Viola]

Helen, demon in disguise, glances at the woman who just entered. Paladin. I hope she's not a smiter...or uses 'detect'...

She inches away from the beat-up woman. Scooch, scooch, slide...

Oh, and she's still wondering what the Ancient Sage is talking about. Probably something inconsequential, and not worth listening in on.

[wxdruid]

Thecla (wolf) is settled comfortably on Cosmo's feet. Occasionally her nose twitches or her ears twist to catch a sound, but otherwise it looks like she's asleep.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Helen might feel better that there is a much more visually obvious target for a paladin standing near Zee.

That target being Talia.

Essentially looks like a female Nightcrawler, except different clothes, and blond bangs.

[Rebonack]

Zee slowly quirks an eyebrow at the scuffed-up paladin. "Eerr... You don't know? Are you hungry? Thirsty? Anything?"

She sounds hopeful.

After all, most of her money comes from tips.

When' the last time Trog actually handed out pay-checks?

Huh...

The Ancient Sage seems to have snuck away or something. Probably since his plot expositioning was done.

As for smite targets, Zee's a hydra-girl. She certainly looks like she could be a demon of some kind.

[Bergett]

She looks around and sees the evil, she casts detect evil and sees the evil around her.
I see evil around me, all around me... Inside me... There is nothing I can do.... Or will do...
She keeps on ranting like that.

[Gimliggamer]

Agreed.If anyone needs one, I have several bags of holding availible. You can never have enough extra-dimensional space. Viktor says, shifting to human.
http://public5.tektek.org/img/av/0911/d30/0036/7592558.png (http://tektek.org/avatar/32985969)

[KerfuffleMach2]

Evil? Talia gets a confused look and scratches her head. What evil?

[Gnrlshrimp]

"Ten foot poles may well be the single most useful too for any adventurer...after the rope and grappling hook, perhaps." felix takes out his little notebook and starts writing down a list of what he needs to buy.

[Je dit Viola]

Oh...
Since Bergett's character won't smite...does that mean I can bring my paladin(s) in? 'Though, they don't smite much either...

Helen has an idea.
She casts Detect Good, directly aiming at the paladin. Maybe it's a slaughterous paladin, or one of those other silly ones. Or a fallen paladin. She's used to those.

She's still backed up a bit, though.

[KerfuffleMach2]

And Talia deadtimes.

[Rebonack]

Zee pings as Good.

But not the sort of good one might expect. See, the Detect spells pick up shades. Your average mortal being registers faintly. But Zee pings more along the lines of what one would get from Detecting on some being from the Upper planes made out of pure Goodness.

Weird.

She certainly doesn't look like an angel.

"Eerr..." the hydra-girl wrinkles her nose a bit. "I can't really do anything about evil being all over. This bar doesn't discriminate based on alignment."

And then...

Avatar arrives!

He's the human in Rebo's spoiler. The one with blue fox-ears. Odd fellow, him.

And he pings as '404 Error: Alignment Not Found'

"Evening everyone!"

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor pings bright good, but not as bright as Zee. Before the fight with Ba'al he wouldn't have, but becoming a cleric and being taken over by a god may have something to do with that.

[Je dit Viola]

Oh. Huh. Why is everybody in this place except me Good? she asks herself. She's not including people who are deadtimed.

She stares down at her drink akwardly, not trying to bring attention to herself.

Of course, whenever anyone tries to not bring attention to themselves, they end up drawing everybody's eyes to them. It's really strange how that works.

[Rebonack]

Avatar doesn't ping as good!

He pings as utterly inexplicable!

"So! Wha-"

"There's some kind of gate to the dreamlands that's coming apart and now the whole Town will be flooded with nightmare unless we go get a bunch of keys from a place called the Well of Terrors and bring them back to seal the gate once and for all!" Zee chatters excitedly.

Avatar blinks a few times. "Oh... So that's what the nightmares are all about..."

And then!

Zee waves to the disguised demon. "Hey! Can I get you anything?"

[Bergett]

The Paladin would fall under the freshly fallen/falling category.
Regardless of what they are she still rants on about that.

[wxdruid]

Thecla isn't good and she isn't evil. She's getting more curious, so she peeks out from behind half closed lids.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Oh! Felix is good, I'm still here! Felix just...isn't really doing much at the moment.

[Je dit Viola]

Oh, the fallen paladin's back. Cool.

And, since the 404 error is purely a construct of angels to make the masses ignorant, Helen assumes that he must be good.

Zee talks to her. And she was doing so well pretending to be an NPC...
Helen facepalms, just my luck...at least I'm trying to redeem...but then again, she doesn't finish that thought.
Instead, she says Oh, no thanks.
Well...could I have a sandwich? I heard they're pretty good.

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor sits at the bar and orders a Black Shadow.

http://public5.tektek.org/img/av/0911/d30/0036/7592558.png (http://tektek.org/avatar/32985969)

[Bergett]

The paladin walks out with a bleak and hopeless look on her face, her sword in it's scabbard dragging behind her only attached by a small strap of leather, her holy symbol falls off her armor, she simply keeps walking even stepping on it giving it no notice at all.

[wxdruid]

Thecla's ears turn towards the dropped holy symbol and she gets up to investigate it. She sniffs it and looks at it to try and determine the god or goddess it represents.

[Rebonack]

"One sammich and one black shadow coming up!" Zee laughs, getting to work on the drink first. Those come faster. The black shadow is passed off to Cosmo to be delivered whilst Zee gets'a sammiching! Then bites her lip as the paladin leaves. "Eerr... Bye? Are you sure you don't want to rent a room or something?"

When Thecla opens her eyes she'll find Avatar laying on his stomach, propping his chin up on his hands just a few paces away. He smells kind of weird. Not really like human at all. Like fox. And like deer. And like eagle. Like the depths of the wilds, crisp and clean.

He grins at her.

"Top'o the morning! What are you doing under there, anyway?"

[Je dit Viola]

Oh, okay... says Helen. ...that was close.

Maybe I should go back before anyone notices.

Ummm...she leaves a couple gold coins for the sandwich, but leaves before it's finished. She walks out the door. 'Cause she has to leave.

And...she deadtimes out the door.

[wxdruid]

Thecla tilts her head to the side as she passes Avatar, she's a lot more interested in the holy symbol at the moment, after all, she's a Cleric of St Cuthbert and a holy symbol dropping to the floor and being walked on is a very serious offense in her eyes.

[Rebonack]

Blast it, got Ninja'ed! Even hit preview before hand, too.

Ah well.

Just the way things go.

Avatar sits upright, watching the hound archon? doggy sniffing at the symbol on the ground. Honestly he really doesn't know that much about most of the weird beings that people venerate around here. Mostly because the vast majority of them may as well be mortals of fabulous power.

All the strange and impossible beings from Elsewhere usually found things like godlings to be of little relevance. Avatar honestly isn't all that different.

Though... he has decided some time ago that he liked Atreyu.

Atreyu is funny.

[wxdruid]

Thecla sighs as she pokes it with one paw. So long as it doesn't burn her or otherwise harm her, she'll pick it up using one paw and holding it gently between her teeth take it behind the counter and stow it away for when or if the person comes back.

Having completed that, she goes over to sniff Avatar's feet.

[Rebonack]

The fox-eared fellow watches Thecla, her reaction to the lost symbol betraying without a doubt that she's intelligent. Smarter than the average dog or something.

As for Avatar's feet his scent is, as mentioned already, not quite what one might expect from someone who looks human. For the most part, anyway. An odd jumble of various animals. As wells as a smell that can't quite be placed. Is it that of the deep woods? The rolling planes? The open sky?

Hard to tell, really.

All of them?

Or maybe something else completely?

Regardless, Avatar reaches out to scratch Thecla on her ear.

[wxdruid]

She hesitantly begins to wag her tail in response to the scratch. She isn't quite sure what to make of Avatar and so waits to see what will happen.

[Rebonack]

Not being quite sure what to make of Avatar isn't at all unusual.

"I think I've seen you sleeping in here a few times, haven't I?" he inquires whilst the scratching continues. "Usually underneath the tables, right? I have the feeling that you're brighter than you let on. But it's the cute animals that always get the free food."

[wxdruid]

Thecla can't argue with that statement, the cute, friendly animals do get free food and she isn't so fond of her other form. It just isn't as cute. She wags her tail a bit harder as she looks up at him.

[billtodamax]

The deadtime falls off Mime stting at the bar, who then starts to sift through it.

Deep stuff happened while he was knocked out. He could tell. He reaches into a bit of the deadtime, pulling out a string of plot exposition. He studies it for sometime, before putting it back, patting it, and ordering a drink!

[Rebonack]

Half a grin spreads across Avatar's face. And then the scratching stops. And is replaced with a bit of head-patting.

"Well, your secret is safe with me. You keep up the 'normal doggy' act and I give you away. You've got my word on that one!"

Now the ear scratching is back again.

"I think a few 'normal' animals is something the people around here could really use. Everyone is so accustom to cats trying to blow up the universe that a plain ol' dog is a welcome break from the norm. Don't you think so?"

[wxdruid]

Now she's a dog? She's a wolf! She playfully nips at the fingers patting her head.

[Rebonack]

They taste like fingers!

As all fingers should.

"Oh fine, the mighty wolf! The peerless huntress who totally doesn't sit around by the nice warm fire so she can get fed by the nice tavern patrons!"

Avatar sticks his tongue out at her. "I guess the one major problem here is that I can't very well ask you who you are without your cover getting blown. Then how will you get your free steaks?"

[wxdruid]

Thecla looks up with her soft wolf eyes, her tail continues to wag and her ears perk forward and she just looks so cute... How can you resist that sweet face?

She's thinking this is quite hilarious. Of course she loves to hunt, but meeting new people? That's even more fun and it's rather hard to hunt bamhacon...

[Rebonack]

That's very true.

Sadly there aren't many bamhacon animals out there. Aside from, ostensibly, wild boar in the forests. But they wouldn't be spiced properly!

And then it loses what it is that makes bamhacon so special.

Avatar decides to be nice and order the wolf a plate of the stuff. Soon delivered by the hands of one grumpy gnome.

"I get the feeling that you've been here a while now. You seem to really know your way around the place."

[wxdruid]

The Tavern? Oh it's the greatest. Lots of friendly feet, although she does miss seeing Death and wishes he'd come back around.

She happily licks Avatar's hand before she digs into the delicious bamhacon, her tail wags the entire time. She Loves bamhacon.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Mmm, bamhacon...

Quite an attractive smell, isn't it? Felix sniffs, suddenly feeling hungry.

Unable to resist the call of bamhacon, he ends up ordering himself a plate of the stuff.

[Rebonack]

"Well, you enjoy your snack there Ms Wolfy. Just make sure the fire doesn't get down to low. Stick your nose in Cosmos' face if it does," Avatar laughs. "He's supposed to make sure it stays lit. Take care of yourself! Sleep tight, I'll be keeping an eye on you! I've got placed to go, people to meet, and dreams to eat!"

...

Eerr...

He's gone.

No teleport.

No flash of light.

No puff of smoke.

Not even a nifty sound effects.

Just gone.

Like someone spent all the SFX budget on doughnuts or something.

[wxdruid]

Thecla wags her tail in response to all of that. She finishes off the entire plate of bamhacon and flops down on the floor to lick her muzzle clean. Cosmo eventually comes by and picks up the dirty plate and takes it to the kitchen.

[Rebonack]

Zee is here!

Despite also being somewhere else?

Yep. That seems to be the case.

She's fixing sammiches!

Sammiches for far more refugees than normal. Must have something to do with that army of kitty people causing a ruckus beyond the city walls.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Felix yawns and gets up out of his chair. He has shopping to do! He's got to go and get all that standard adventuring gear that'll get the party out of pretty much any problem imaginable.

...except for dragons.

Unless, maybe, you throw the grappling hook at their eye? I imagine that'd be quite painful.

Anyway, unaccompanied by his skellies, he sets off in search of a shop.

[Bergett]

Thecla's ears turn towards the dropped holy symbol and she gets up to investigate it. She sniffs it and looks at it to try and determine the god or goddess it represents.

After much looking through the blood and battered... ness it would look to be a Holy symbol of Pelor.

[Gnrlshrimp]

At some point or other, a mud golem walked in and dumped a load of equipment by the skellies before becoming nothing more than a small pile of dirt again.

Now the skellies have dragged the equipment into a corner and have set up a table in front of it. Guard skeletons: cheaper, and more useful than the averaged guard dog.

[Rebonack]

Zee's pretty busy.

There has been a fairly large influx of customers of late. And lots of people are interested in those Hero Sandwiches with a build in Heroism effect. No doubt because there are quite a few worried that the city walls may be breached.

Which would, without a doubt, be a bad thing.

[Artemis97]

Renault wakes up amongst the commotion. The tavern was packed, unusually so for a weeknight. The elf looks to a nearby customer, asking "Excuse me, could you tell me just what's going on here?"

[Bergett]

Just remember the sandwiches will give you a 10 minute exhaustion debuff :smalltongue:

[Rebonack]

Fredrik Von Heinisen, a rather showy swashbuckler stopping by the city for a spot of adventure, twirls his mustache at the wizard and grins. "Ah, you've noticed too then, my friend? There is quite an ado regarding an army marching on this fair city. Though I've been told it is defended rather well. Perchance I might take to the streets to lay low these cads should they breach the wall!"

He gives a heroic flourish with his rapier.

Several nearby NPC women swoon.

Zee rolls her eyes and continues makin' sammiches.

[Artemis97]

The elf's blue eyes go wide at the news of an army besieging the city. "Ah... I wish you luck with that. However, I pray that the city's defenses hold."

[Rebonack]

"Feh, there's no way they'll get past Terry," an old, one-eyed sailor quips. "I saw him stand up to them Huns that came 'round couple months ago. Picked up their siege engines 'n smashed 'em like toys."

Several others nod, muttering in agreement. Still others inquire who Terry is.

Those in the know point out the window.

A massive earth colossus comparable to a living mountain can be seen towering above the city walls, tearing into the cat-person army with god-like might.

This results in a chorus of dumb-struck "Oh..."s

"What is it, anyway?" pips up a halfling in a rather nice hat.

"Spirit ah the Nexus itself," ol' one-eye responds. "Dunno how many of 'em there are. He guards the gate of the city. Though he's usually a mite less obvious."

[Artemis97]

Renault's eyes go even wider. "A spirit?" He breathes, in absolute shock. "How?" but what else could the hulking mass of magic and earth be?

[Jacklu]

The door opens and a small, bent man enters. He is dressed in an old, weathered shawl and hobbles along with the help of a cane. The old man makes it to a booth and pulls himself into a seat. He clears his throat and actives his "Quest" aura, alerting the inhabitants of the tavern to the fact that he has a mission for anyone willing to take it.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Felix walks back into Trog's and slides into a chair, looking rather tired. However, moments later he gets up again. Can't rest yet. He's got to check through that pile of adventuring gear and make sure he's got everything he needs.

"Four ten foot poles...check. Two hundred feet of rope with grappling hook...check. Spare rope and spare grappling hook...check."

[Je dit Viola]

Helen, totally in her normal demon form, is in here (through teleport) because she has no idea what's going on back at GLoG and nobody would tell her because she was busy.

But a quest sounds fun.

[Jacklu]

The old man continues to wait for some PCs to take his bait and come over to his table. He even orders a couple extra drinks to serve as further intensive.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Felix would...if it were not for the cloud of deadtime slowly creeping up on him. He, unfortunately, doesn't have very long left.

[Je dit Viola]

Helen, in one of the corners, first does a shape-shift into an orck ,and then walks over to the questy old man, and asks What is it? Is there something you need?

[Artemis97]

Speaking of PCs, Raril walks into the tavern. The drow doubletakes when he passes the old man. That guy was practically covered in plot hooks, and he had drinks! With a somewhat mischievous smile, he walks over tot he man's table and slides into an empty seat. "Good evening."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Talia undeadtimes in the rafters. She'll drop down near the bar.

When she stands back up, she waves at Zee and Renault. So, you guys ready?

[Artemis97]

The elf looks up, somewhat distracted. "Huh? Oh, I suppose so." In truth, he hadn't done much preparation, but being so far from his own home, he carried most of his valuables and useful devices with him.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Felix waves as a sign that he's ready, then deadtimes.

[Je dit Viola]

Awww...

Helen, still in female Orc-form, with 2 swords, is here, looking rather bored.

Rawr. Helen smash!

[Jacklu]

The old man looks at the two PC and smiles.

"Evening. You two look like you could be useful. One more and I can start with the plot exposition and get this underway."

[Je dit Viola]

Alright, says the ork, looking around for another PC to join in.

She taps her hands on her upper leg, like she has a song stuck in her head.

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor shifts to Centaur form and walks to the group near Zee, giving everyone a bag of holding.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Talia takes the bag with a thanks, then looks it over. Nice bag.

[Artemis97]

"Alright then." Raril says, leaning back in his chair, taking a moment to relax.

On the other side of the bar, Renault is staring at the centaur, utterly perplexed. Why was he trying to hand him a bag without so much as saying a word? "Ah... No thank you?" The elf tries to say as politely as he can.

[Rebonack]

Zee comes in through the door!

...

Wait.

Wasn't she behind the cou-

*CLANG!*

Continuity has been shovel'ed!

It also seems she's in her animal form. A chimeric critter with features of wolf and serpent and eagle. And at least two kinds of tree. Weird. Most of her 'fur' looks like it's made out of evergreen needles. The pinions of her wings leaves. Her long hair (still in a pony tail) appears more or less normal though.

Must be her time of the month again.

"Hiya everyone! Sorry about wolfy-mode. But the moon is full and I just can't say no! So! Has everyone managed to rustle up some gear?"

[Artemis97]

"At least you are no longer a hydra." Renault remarks, smiling slightly. He was still stuck as a dragon, although a spell held him in his current form. "And I believe we are just about all ready."

[Rebonack]

"Yeah... Maybe not..." the chimera wrinkles her woody nose a bit and begins to concentrate. It takes a great deal of effort due to the phase of the moon, but eventually she manages to force herself back into a human form. Her hair still has a few evergreen needles in it, though.

She's also not a hydra!

...

Sort of...

The tail has persisted. The fangs are still there. And her eyes are still quite reptilian. But it's certainly a step up from the previous fate! "My Fey bloodline has a tendency to swallow up these weird animal-curses. Did it with lycanthropy already."

She gives a slightly nervous chuckle. "I can't believe I actually thought that I was a hydra!"

Zee rubs the back of her head in a nervous sorta way.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y102/Ironack/hydrazeehuman.png

[Artemis97]

Renault smiles. "I am glad you have remembered yourself."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Talia looks at Viktor. So, what's the bag for?

[Rebonack]

"Me too!" Zee replies cheerfully. She'll probably still be refereed to as a hydra-girl since 'Avatar' is taken and descriptive terms aside from names are fun!

Yay for fluff!

"It was really weird. Just about everyone I knew remembered me being a hydra as well. That was a pretty hard-core curse that was leveled on me. Glad my blood-line was able to assimilate it..."

Otherwise she wouldn't have ever realized the difference! Spending the rest of your life as something you're not without knowing it would be weird.

"Have you managed to shake the curse off yet? And is Kesel going to stay human?" she points at the snake-boy.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Speaking of curse things...

Silva is at the bar. Hands still shiny.

[Artemis97]

"I have not, unfortunately. I have only managed to reclaim my usual appearance so that I do not keep knocking things over with my tail." The elf replies, with a small laugh. "And I do not know what Kessel will decide."

The young boy was currently asleep in a chair by the fireplace.

[Rebonack]

That chair is very popular.

"Yeah... getting use to an extra limb is weird. Even weirder when you're a lot bigger than what you're use to. Sometimes it takes a little while for spatial awareness to kick in," Zee replies with a grin. It sounds like she's talking from personal experiance.

Then she waves at Silva. "Hey! You got whopped by the curse too, right? How are you doing?"

[Gimliggamer]

The bag is for holding all of your weapons in extradimensional space, making it much lighter and easier to carry while traveling, and when in need of the stuff inside, what you need is instantly on top.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Extra limbs aren't so bad. I speak from experience on that. Talia smiles a little, as her tail gives a little wave.

Silva looks over at Zee. Still robotic. You?

[Artemis97]

"Why ever would you give such powerful items away? Furthermore why do you have so many?" Renault asks Viktor, suspicious.

[Gimliggamer]

A went on a quest to kill an evil dragon, succeeded, gained it's hoard, then fought in a centaurian war, and got some stuff from that and so on.

[Rebonack]

Zee laughs in reply to the self-styled mutant. "Yeah, I've gotten use to this thing by now." She pokes her tail a few times for emphasis. "I've had it the better part of the time I've been stuck in this crazy Town. I feel off balance now if it's missing!"

Silva is provided with a concerned glance. "I'm sure there must be cleric around the city somewhere that can get you back to normal."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Talia nods a little. Yeah, I'd feel strange if mine went missing, too. I use it so much. Though, I don't use it as much as my father. He would wield a sword with his.

Really? Happen to know any?

[Je dit Viola]

Helen is still here, even though her plot-clone is not. She looks like a large, muscular ork. Female orc, of course, though.

[Artemis97]

"I see." Renault replies, doing his best to hide his skepticism. He didn't really like the bit about dragon slaying, being one himself for the moment, although he looked to be an elf.

[Gimliggamer]

evil dragon slaying. slaying evil dragons.

[Rebonack]

You can tell because its scales weren't shiny.

*ahem*

"I've wielded a spatula in mine before, but not a sword..." Zee musses. She used that tail-blade once too. But that was more an extension of her armor than an actual sword. "Well... There's the Sanctuary Fortress of Zoemaytare. Her priests have rituals for fixing a wide variety of aliments. They were able to cure the people who were infected by the Space Huns when they attacked the city a few months ago."

We are the Hun. Your technological and biological distinctiveness will be pillaged to serve us. Resistance is futile.

"They might be able to cure the curse. I'm a little iffy about getting mine removed..." she glances back at her tail, presently using the prehensile limb to fetch a mug to fill with ale for a customer. "I would probably lose my tail. And like I said, I feel really off-balance without it."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Silva shrugs. Guess I'll give them a shot, then. Don't feel like being a robot forever. She stands up. So, where's the place at?

[Rebonack]

"It's a huuuuge temple," Zee replies, spreading out her arms as far as she can to indicate just how massive this place is. Her tail hands the a tankard of ale to her, which in turn is passed off to Cosmo, who in turn passes it off to an already sloshed dwarf.

"Fairly close to the city center. You can't miss it. The place looks like a castle or a fortress or something."

Rebo has it listed in the Inside opening post. It should be near the bottom.

[Artemis97]

At a table with Plot Exposition Man and the burly orc woman, Raril yawns. The Drow then leans over and waves a hand in front of the man's face. "You know, I don't think he's with us anymore." He remarks to the orc. "Probably deadtimed. Damn, I was hoping to have an excuse to escape this war..."

[Je dit Viola]

Yeah, that's too bad. she replies. An escape would sound nice.

...what's those other people gathering together for, though? Maybe they have an escape. Although you already have a character there.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Alright. Thanks. And Silva heads off.

Once she's gone, Talia looks at Zee. So, she wasn't always a robot?

[Artemis97]

Raril shrugs. "I have no idea."

Over by the bar, Renault pulls his spellbook out of his bag and begins flipping through it.

[Rebonack]

Here's to hoping Raril doesn't get himself moon-struck. Probably has enough to worry about as it is without having to deal with excessive body hair.

"Nope! A few nights ago this curse exploded all over the tavern and turned people into random things. He," Zee points at Renault. "Was turned into a dragon. She into a robot. A psion got turned into a woman. And I got turned into a hydra. Thankfully I'm pretty good at assimilating curses."

[Je dit Viola]

Hmmm...I can't hear what they're talking about. Liar. She can. She can also read minds of the nearby NPCs if necessary.

Well, since I'm here, I might as well drink something. says the orc-woman. She orders a mango juice.

[Rebonack]

Oh boy, mango juice!

Sadly there isn't any of that available right at this present moment.

So she has to send an order to the back to go squeeze one.

"Your juice will be ready shortly!" the hydra-girl informs the orc.

[Je dit Viola]

Oh.
Okay, thanks. she says. Shortly...that's good. At least they have mangoes to squeeze.

[Rebonack]

Most taverns wouldn't have mangos at all.

Whether to squeeze or otherwise.

Within a minute or two the glass of juice is faithfully delivered!

"There you go! Enjoy!" the hydra-girl cheers. "So! What brings you to our besieged city this fine evening? Running from the encroaching army of deadly cat people?"

[Gimliggamer]

Viktor closes his eyes and deadtimes.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Talia deadtimes as well.

[Je dit Viola]

Since I"ve never been to anything tavern-like...I wouldn't know. But since I like mangoes, then there obviously had to be some here, right?

Thank you. she says.

And, no, I'm not. I'm just looking for something to do. Helen-in-disguise replies.

[Rebonack]

"Something to do?" Zee replies, apparently finding that reply rather amusing. "Boy, did you come to the right place or what? There's always something to do in Town! There's going to be an expedition heading out soon to try to find this magical key thingy to save the world from a never ending nightmare. I think we might have to head out through the Playground to avoid the army outside the city walls, though."

Yay for secret tunnels!

[Je dit Viola]

Oh, saving the world, and finally stopping these annoying nightmares? asks the orc. That sounds fun, I'm in.

She drinks her mango juice.