[NEXUS] Trog's Tavern CCX

[Lord Iames Osari]

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.

Trog's is a single location that exists simultaneously in the cities of Town and Inside. Somehow. It's best not to question it.


Staff:
Owner and Proprietor: Trog Magtok Trog
Manager: El Jaspero Elizabeth Ml'Ruse El Jaspero
Bartenders: Memzee, Phoebe, Ashna

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.))

Bouncer: Baby (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8627338#post8627338) (Baby is played by happyturtle, but in her absence is an NPC)

Servers:
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:
Catoblepas Sauvingnon
Chimera Cabernet - A hearty red with a hits of oak and black cherry.
Chuul Lounge - Bacardi Limon, Aberration , creme de bananes and juices into a Chuul shaker half-filled with ice cubes. Shake well. Strain into a highball glass half-filled with ice cubes, and serve.
Constitution Crushing Wine - Fort. DC 35 or pass out!
Cormyrian Fireamber - Imported and very good.
Eladrin Carbernet - Official Feywine of the Wild Hunt
Feline's Fancy - A purplish, swirly mixture that any feline will adore.
Funky Llama - A rich fruity wine, available in white or red.
Iames Agonia - This tart, dark red wine will stun you and leave you feeling good for hours.
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
Ice Liquer - From the Plane of Ice: guaranteed to cool you down.
Ichor Liquor - Made from a fermented mix of various kinds of blood
Jasphattan - El J's Secret Recipie, vermouth & bitters
LEVEL UP LIQUER - Need a few extra XP? We gots XP in a bottle!
Long Island Iced Tea - Tastes better than it will make you feel in the morning
Murderita - Wasted away again...
Piña CoLlama - If you're not into yoga and have half a brain.
Rampaging Rail Mixer - Mad strong!
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:
Celestial Soda Pop - Soda specially brewed in Celestia. Tastes divine.
Darknight Coffee - cream has no effect
Dragon's Fire Breath (cherry Kool-Aid) - for the kids!
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

[Reinholdt]

Another shiver goes through Minat; his flesh-and-blood eye darts nervously around the tavern, and the artificial one continues to roll. "I c-cannot say. I am o-oathbound. Only when the w-whispers take me..." Desperately, he reaches for his new mug of hot chocolate and takes a sip. "Ahhhh... we d-do not have such things at home," he sighs.

Butler frowns. It was confusing, but it sounded like the poor guy was upset about the whole thing.
"Is there anything we can do to help sir?" :smallfrown:

[Trobby]

"Least I could do," Val says, blushing a bit.
Marcie smiles, and pokes her friend in the arm, smiling and nodding back with gratitude as the drinks are provided!

Jamie arrives and washes Ashna's mouth out with soap for cursing her friend. :smalltongue:

"...you'd be right. Not so much a block of ice as 'flash frozen' to supercold temperatures, slowing the body's metabolism to a very, very, extremely slow rate," Val explains.

"Commander still there," Marcie says sadly. "Too long to thaw. I, almost was same."

"Ah...I see...it sounds...very dangerous. Who did this to you, Marcie?"

Captain Tobias sniffed the air as he asked, the strange yet delicious smell of bamhacon drifting towards his table, mixed with the smell of dark coffee.

"And how did it happen?"

[The Bushranger]

"Was magic," Marcie says, raising her hands and spreading them helplessly. "We were...forwards defense base? One day, flash of light, island lost in sea of dimensions. Hop several. Finally stick here, no way to get home, out of supplies, not knowing if safe to leave island. Last two left. Use cyrotubes to hope for rescue." She smiles at Val. "Rescue finally come."

[Recaiden]

"You're welcome Marcie." Ashna then throws a block of salt at Zee. Since a pinch wouldn't' be noticeable enough.

[Goober]

"Nobody touch my sea monkeys!" Nabaz jerks awake. "Gah... my head! Dammit, Shoop! That was uncalled for!"

She tentatively felt around the back of her head, searching for the tender spot where the flower pot had struck her. "Okay, I have a pounding headache and now... orange hair thanks to a vindictive plushie. Did I miss anything why I was out?"

[Trobby]

"Was magic," Marcie says, raising her hands and spreading them helplessly. "We were...forwards defense base? One day, flash of light, island lost in sea of dimensions. Hop several. Finally stick here, no way to get home, out of supplies, not knowing if safe to leave island. Last two left. Use cyrotubes to hope for rescue." She smiles at Val. "Rescue finally come."

"Seems like you're quite the hero indeed, Val." Captain Tobias smiled, as food at last arrived at the table, Tobias gave the Bamhacon a strange look, tasted it, and determined it to be the best cured meat he had ever had.

"And how long ago did that happen?"

[Lord Iames Osari]

Butler frowns. It was confusing, but it sounded like the poor guy was upset about the whole thing.
"Is there anything we can do to help sir?" :smallfrown:

Minat shakes his head, taking another relaxing sip of hot chocolate. "Heed the messages from the w-whispers. One is on the wall. Another... should be in here s-somewhere, on another table..."

[Reinholdt]

Minat shakes his head, taking another relaxing sip of hot chocolate. "Heed the messages from the w-whispers. One is on the wall. Another... should be in here s-somewhere, on another table..."

"Could you, uh... just explain them to me sir? I have trouble reading the big words sir." >>
Butler doesn't really seem the type capable of doing anything about it anyways. Cause he's like power level E-- or something.

Nabaz will see Butler talking to Memzee and Minat!
At least the fangirls are taking a break.

[The Bushranger]

"About a month. And we had no idea we'd find anything on that island, we were just looking for a place to set up a home out of the way." Val blushes more, and chuckles softly.

Marcie smiles at Ashna, then notices the crazy woman talking about plushes, and looks over curiously. :smalltongue:

[Trobby]

"It is still a noble thing to have saved her life." Tobias nods, noticing Marcie's attention is distracted, and taking a moment to squeeze Val's hand before Marcie can look back.

"A truly noble captain, now with two friends that she has saved. Perhaps it is your fate to save those who have lost their way?"

[Goober]

Nabaz looks over at Shoop who is still wearing the military coat at the other end of the table. A stack of lemon bars are beside him. Being her favorite treat, Nabaz grabs one as she sees Butler talking to two people. "Hey Butler, who are your friends... wah.. no Shoop, I am still mad at you."

[The Bushranger]

Val squeezes back, and blushes.
"Perhaps, now that I've lost my way as well," Val says, nodding her head slightly in agreement that that might be a possibility. "I try my best to be noble, at least."

[Trobby]

"You've done well." Tobias smiles, squeezing her hand one more time before letting go.

"So, we have quite a day ahead of us, where shall we go first? I'd like to get some star charts soon as I can, if possible. I need to familiarize myself with this world if I'm to properly navigate a ship."

[The Bushranger]

Marcie, meanwhile, pokes Val's arm before she can answer the Captain.

"Message on table. Man there saying he wrote it," she says, pointing at Minat.
"Hm. Maybe we could investigate a mystery?" Val says, following her point. "Involving mysterious messsages of doom, and such?"

[Rebonack]

Introduction time!

"I'm Zee!" declares the Zee to Nabaz in a fashion that doesn't at all mesh up with the dire portents of doom the twitchy guy seems to be alluding to. "I... think we might have met before. I'm really not sure..."

Lotsa people make their way through the Nexus after all.

Hard to keep track of everyone.

And now a question to twitch!

"So... are the rest of them about doom and oblivion and bleakness and too much black eye-liner? 'cuz if they are I really don't think it'll be necessary to hunt them all down. Once you've read one foreboding message scratched into furniture you've red them all."

[Reinholdt]

Nabaz looks over at Shoop who is still wearing the military coat at the other end of the table. A stack of lemon bars are beside him. Being her favorite treat, Nabaz grabs one as she sees Butler talking to two people. "Hey Butler, who are your friends... wah.. no Shoop, I am still mad at you."

"Well this is Zee ma'am. She makes food and stuff ma'am. And just got back recently ma'am." But is all deadtimed and stuff. Or not.

"And this is Minat ma'am. He's having some trouble with someone who has been breaking the rules ma'am. I was hoping to help ma'am. But I have trouble understanding what he writes ma'am. Maybe you'll have better luck ma'am?"

((deadtime))

[Trobby]

"Hmm? A message, you say?"

Tobias nodded.

"We could take a look at it, I suppose." He finished his coffee, and stood up, sliding out of his seat, and offering a hand to each lady in turn as they got out of theirs.

When he went over to Minat, and saw the message, he backed away, holding back Val and Marcie's pace, as he examined the letters carefully.

"I may be mistaken, in a world like this...but this looks like the markings of a demon if I ever saw one."

[Lord Iames Osari]

Introduction time!

"I'm Zee!" declares the Zee to Nabaz in a fashion that doesn't at all mesh up with the dire portents of doom the twitchy guy seems to be alluding to. "I... think we might have met before. I'm really not sure..."

Lotsa people make their way through the Nexus after all.

Hard to keep track of everyone.

And now a question to twitch!

"So... are the rest of them about doom and oblivion and bleakness and too much black eye-liner? 'cuz if they are I really don't think it'll be necessary to hunt them all down. Once you've read one foreboding message scratched into furniture you've red them all."

Minat smiles a little sheepishly. "I only write what the w-whispers say. But the details might h-help you ask the right questions... do you know the w-wall where the people leave m-messages?"

He looks at Tobias. "Not a demon. W-worse." He shudders, and sips his hot chocolate again.

[Rebonack]

"Eerr..." Zee begins rubbing the back of her head absently. She knows this one. Really she does! The bulletin board! But people usually don't write stuff on it. Normally they pin stuff to it.

If they wrote stuff on it said stuff would just get covered up by fliers.

And that just wouldn't do.

"I... guess so..." she wrinkles her nose a bit as she chews on what little information she has at the moment. "Okay, so you can't talk about this stuff directly 'cuz of an oath or something. But if I ask the right questions we might be able to skirt the oath and fill in some gaps, is that right?"

Hopefully so.

Because it'll be like twenty questions without a question limit!

[The Bushranger]

Marcie looks at Captain Tobias wide-eyed at his declaration.

"I'd agree." Val squints a bit, before looking up at Minat. "I do know about this wall. I'm Val, by the way. This is Marcie, and Captain Tobias. We'd like to help, perhaps, if we can."

[Lord Iames Osari]

Minat nods.

[Goober]

"We may have. At this point I can't remember much. I went to sleep in a temple and woke up here. My name is Nabaz and that is Shoop de Whoop." She points to the black seal plushie in the military coat 20 times to big for him sitting on the table.

She picks up a lemon bar and offers it to Zee. "Well, Nice to meet you. Lemon bar? ... What? No Shoop. We cannot... You still have to give the coat back." She barely manages to dodge a flower pot that appeared out of nowhere.

"Ha MISSED!" However, she doesn't dodge the frying pan that poofs into existence right in front of her and pops her in the face.

"OW. Stop it! Stupid plushie. You are gonna end up killing me one of these days." She rubs her nose as another small toy frying pan pops into the air and taps her on her forehead.

"HA HA. Turn my hair back to its original color while your at it."

[Trobby]

"Hmm...I might be able to read it...if you don't mind?" Tobias offered, adjusting the eyepiece covering his right eye.

[The Bushranger]

Val watches Captain Tobias, and Minat.


Marcie watches the crazy woman. :smalltongue:

[Lord Iames Osari]

Minat moves to give Tobias a clear look at the writing.

The girls may recall the text they saw on an earlier visit to Trog's.

[Trobby]

Tobias focused his sight on the writing carefully. From his vantage point, the tint of his glass cleared away the mess that obscured the message, and he read it aloud to those present.

unholy joining...void to void...apostasy to black sun...blackened reflection free of light...shadowed engine of destruction...bringing the ultimate nirvana.

He turned his viewing device a single time, and stood back, looking between Val, Marcie, and Minat.

"If it is not a demon, then it is something else that desires to bring darkness to this world. I...do not think it can be good."

[Rebonack]

Zee watches the seal plush for some time.

Peeeeeers at it.

Because it seems to be silly. What with the power to hurl random objects at its owner and all. not a very practical ability, honestly. But... to each their own.

"Well, I'm glad you're up and awake again if nothing else! Getting stuck in dead time for months on end can be a real hassle."

She certainly doesn't know anything about that.

No sir.

Then attention is turned to mister twitchy!

"Alright... ask the right questions... Dealing with a guy that is apparently breaking rules. And he likes death and oblivion and stuff... And something about Nirvana. Which is... the dissolution of self? I think? Hmm... this sounds familiar for some reason..."

Nose wrinkling!

"Is he... umm... dead?"

[Goober]

"That doesn't sound pleasant at all." She then notices that Shoop and the coat are no longer on at the table.

"Hey has anybody seen Shoop?"

[The Bushranger]

Val nods, amrs crossed over her chest.
"I agree. I wonder what it is all about though..."
She sighs, looking...pensive.


Marcie shakes her head at the strange woman.
"Don't who. Who 'Shoop'? I'm Marcie," she introduces herself with a smile.

[Lord Iames Osari]

"Is he... umm... dead?"

"No." Minat sips and gets up, beginning to walk around and look at the other tabletops.

[Trobby]

"Has there been any strange activity in this world as of late?" Tobias asked, still not fully aware of the apocalyptic nature of things that might be going on outside. He kept an eye on Minat, but allowed him to walk around.

[Goober]

Nabaz offers Marcie a lemon bar. "Nice to meet you Marcie. Shoop happens to be that bundle of joy that was sitting at the table with me. That little plushie seal is BWAOOOOOOOOGAHHHHHHHH!"

Nabaz slaps both hands over her mouth. "Sorry about that every time I talk about our... circumstances... that happens. I'm kinda under restrictions here. I just hope he returns that coat he stole."

[The Bushranger]

...and at this moment, both Val and Marcie can't help but start giggling.
"Only almost everything?"
"For varying definitions of 'strange'," Val adds, giggling. "But hmm. Related to this, I'm not sure."

[Trobby]

"...Ah...let me be more precise then. Has anything out of the ordi-...anything outside of the usual unusual activity been occuring?" Tobias thought hard about this one. You had to be specific with inquiries like this. "Such as...dark forces rising in power, or mounting assaults, or anything resembling an apocalypse?"

[Goober]

Nabaz is still bright red from her little outburst.

"Yeah. Be glad you can't hear him. That's the worst... took me two months to learn ..." She breaks off mid stream as the room takes on a happy glow. Shoop is back in the same spot he was. He is still sporting the coat, but this time he is wearing a medal of some sort on his little plushie seal head like a crown. She blinks.

"You didn't! You stole something else now??" She listens to something that nobody else can hear for a bit.

"I don't care if you feel majestic! Take it back."

The plushie seal doesn't move. Nabaz buries her face in both hands.

[The Bushranger]

"Which one?" Val says drolly. "But I saw lettering like this before, on one of the other tables, a few weeks ago..."




Marcie, meanwhile, acepts the lemon bar, then jumps back in surprize at Nabaz's outburst. "Oh, my. Um. You OK, miss?" she asks...then just stares at the seal.

Staaaaaaaaares.

[Goober]

Nabaz takes two lemon bars and hands one to Marcie.

"Yeah.. I'm fine. I'm use to this by now. Have a lemon bar it makes life better."

She takes a bite out of her lemon bar and winces. The lemon bar is now a bar of solid gold. A bag of clothes and a sack of money is now where Shoop was. The plushie has gone again.

"Well, at least he left me some other lemon bars." She picks up another one and proceeds to eat it.

[Trobby]

"The two could be related...though I'm no expert on evil writing...this one could be difficult to figure out..."

And it will have to wait for tomorrow, because Tobias is now in deadtime!

[Lord Iames Osari]

"Which one?" Val says drolly. "But I saw lettering like this before, on one of the other tables, a few weeks ago..."

Minat nods again. "I did leave a message here d-during my last visit."

[Goober]

Nabaz continues to stuff her face with Lemon bars. "I need a hug."

She starts scratching at her upper left shoulder as it becomes increasingly itchy.

(is dead times now pease)

[FireFox]

Smaragdos undeadtimes and looks around at all the patrons, unable to shake a vague sense of unease.

[Morty]

Michalson undeadtimes in his corner, making a note this strange part-metal fellow is here again.

[FireFox]

Smaragdos stands up and walks over to Michalson, bowing respectfully and politely clearing his throat. Excuse me, sir, would you, by any chance, happen to be a necromancer? He knew some of them that preferred gray robes to black.

[Morty]

Michalson raises his eyebrows at Smaragdos' question. I most definetly am not, cutter. He puffs a cloud of smoke from his pipe. I can see why you could make that mistake, but I'm actually staunchly opposed to necromancy.

[FireFox]

Ah, well that explains it, Smaragdos thinks to himself. The wizard keeps his expression neutral and bows again before starting to walk away. I meant no disrespect. Thank you for indulging my curiosity.

[Morty]

You're welcome. I can tell you're a wizard yourself. His outfit is something of a dead giveaway.

[FireFox]

I am indeed. He smiles, a slight bit nervously, and tries to head to the bar before Michalson gets suspicious and asks what kind of magic he uses.

[Morty]

Michalson keeps looking at Smaragdos with a piercing gaze. He suspects he might be a necromancer, but if he asks, he's going to deny it even if it's true. So he'll simply have to keep an eye out on him and perhaps catch him right-handed on defying Lady Death.

[FireFox]

Smaragdos returns to the bar and orders a glass of water. Paradoxically, he feels a little better now.

[Reinholdt]

Butler undeadtimes!
http://i455.photobucket.com/albums/qq276/Reinholdt9000/Avatars/ButlerGaiaFlirtingnormal.png

He waves to Smaragdos! And then waves to Michalson!
Yay!

[Morty]

Michalson doesn't respond to the wave. He vaguely remembers Butler as a complete idiot.
Meanwhile, Anatolij undeadtimes by the bar.

[Reinholdt]

He's not a COM...
Yeah, ok, he is.

Butler waves at Anatolij! He's never seen him before!
"Hi sir." :smallsmile:

[UncleWolf]

Anatolij may feel the delicate touch of Lita's hand on his shoulder. "Excuse me? Would it be possible for me to ask a favor of you?"

Lita instead takes a seat between the two men(or butler in case of Butler :smalltongue:), looking both of them over and listening to them speak.

[Morty]

Oh. Hello. The Cossack looks at Butler curiously. Nexus was a strange place, but wearing only shorts was still unusual. Name's Anatolij. What's yours?

[Reinholdt]

"I'm Butler B. Butler sir. It's a pleasure to meet you sir." :smallsmile:

Butler bows to Anatolij and orders him and Lita a drink if they want them.
Then looks at Lita.

"What about you ma'am? What's your name ma'am?"

[UncleWolf]

"Please, call me Lita. And I'm the Daughter of the Hive that lives here." She gestures at a spot on the wall where several ants crawl out for a moment to show her point.

[Morty]

Anatolij is given his drink and blinks. Um, hive?

[Reinholdt]

:smalleek:
"They really need to get someone in here to get rid of those ants ma'am."

Butler is, after all, a butler. He likes things to be clean. Which means no bugs.
If he understood what Lita was, he probably wouldn't act like that though.

Unless Lita looks like an ant. Then he probably didn't say that at all.
*doesn't remember what Lita looks like*

[UncleWolf]

Lita is about 6ft tall, four armed, covered in brown chitin armor, has two antennae and a rather beautiful womanish face. So yes, she looks a lot like an ant. :smalltongue:

Regardless of whether or not Butler says that, she gives them both a bit of a smile. "Oh yes, Hive. Don't worry, We're harmless. But, if I may, could I ask a favor of both of you?"

[Morty]

As he processes the information, Anatolij responds: Yes, of course.

[Reinholdt]

Oh.
It's an ant person.
Huh. :smallconfused:
Well so long as they bathed.

"Certainly ma'am." :smallsmile:

[Earl of Purple]

In a corner of the room is a tiefling, with red skin, black hair with a pair of stubby horns sticking out, and a pointy goatee. He is wearing a sombre black tunic and white leggings, and emblazoned upon his black tunic is a white two-tailed scorpion device, one that closely resembles the silver one on the amulet around his neck. He is looking quite intently at Lita; she'll likely feel his gaze upon her.

[UncleWolf]

She does bath, and actually, wears a bit of clothing (one of those long sashes around the waist. It's blue.). "Well..." she says slowly and thoughtfully. "Would either or both of you mind escorting me through Inside? I have been born in here, and have yet to leave and truly explore."

If Vincent were here, he'd probably see an exclamation mark above her head. :smalltongue:

She does feel the gaze, and even sees it through the rest of the Hive, but ignores it for now.

[Morty]

Sure, why not? Anatolij shrugs. He was about to leave anyway.

[Reinholdt]

How the heck did BUTLER manage to get one of VINCENT'S quests?! :smallannoyed:

"I wouldn't mind ma'am. I'm good at tours ma'am." :smallsmile:
Part of his job description!

[Earl of Purple]

Depending on how long the Hive's been around, the two-tailed scorpion device upon both the demon-blooded man's may seem familiar; it's the holy symbol of Dalachrech, the Demon Lord of Invertebrates. Even if unfamiliar with the symbol itself, the way he's wearing it so prominently implies he's a cleric, and the shape may suggest an invertebrate-related diety.

[UncleWolf]

Lita smiles warmly and stands, offering an arm to each of them. "Then please, take me to the park, I'd love to see some trees and feel the sun."

The Hive has been around for a while, and presumes that it is a holy symbol, but wouldn't know for who.

[Reinholdt]

Lita smiles warmly and stands, offering an arm to each of them. "Then please, take me to the park, I'd love to see some trees and feel the sun."

The Hive has been around for a while, and presumes that it is a holy symbol, but wouldn't know for who.

Hey now! She's got four arms! Why not two each?
Obviously the other two are for holding sodas. Cause ants love sugar.

Butler takes an arm and with Anatolij's co-operation, escorts Lita to Inside's park.

[Earl of Purple]

The tiefling, whose name is Defelent, reaches down into the bag I forgot to mention and takes out a pile of leaflets. He'll put most of these down on the bar, but take one and put it near where the ants are on the wall. The leaflet has basic descriptions of the religion's tenets and a section of 'dos and don'ts for a Dalachrechian', as well as depicting Dalachrech Himself (a giant centipede-like creature with two scorpion tails, the head of a tiger beetle, and a pair of vicious-looking mantis claws) and other religious trivia on the cult.

[Morty]

The Cossack leaves with Lita and Butler.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Minat undeadtimes and takes another sip of hot chocolate.

[Goober]

Nabaz wakes up from deadtime and looks around. Realizing she deadtimed into a plate full of lemon bars she wipes off her face. "What a waste."


She notices that Shoop has still not returned and that her upper back is itching like crazy.

Scratching at what she can reach, she looks for any familiar faces hanging around at Trog's.

[Rebonack]

Shoop is strange and inexplicable.

As is Zee.

Sometimes.

Sometimes Zee makes sense. It really isn't something that should be counted on, though. Blue moon sorta thing.

"Hiya! Welcome back to the land of the conscious!" comes the cheerful greeting to the recent dead-time zombies. "Are we still playing apocalyptic twenty questions?"

Seems like a fitting enough title...

"'cuz if we are I think I came up with some good ones!"

[Lord Iames Osari]

"G-go ahead and ask," Minat invites.

[Goober]

She smiles at Zee. "Glad to be back. And sure... Shoop is not here. I got to wait till he gets back. I'll see if I can be of an use."

She continues to try and scratch her back.

"So Itchy."

[Recaiden]

Ashna stares expectantly at Zee. Although it's probably all well.

[Rebonack]

Itchy backs aren't much fun.

Especially when it's in one of those dreadful spots that can't be reached very easily. Need a back-scratchin' stick for those.

"Okay! Here it goes!" Zee declares in a more-enthusiastic-than-strictly-necessary voice. "Do the whispers belong to someone in particular? Were you taken into the oath unwillingly? What kinds of rules are being broken? Does the world you originally came from have a name? How did you lose your eye? Where did all that blood come from? Have you ever ridden on a camel before? What's your favorite color-"

*deeeeeeep breaaaaaath*

"If the person the words are talking about were an animal, what kind of animal would he or she be?"

[Goober]

Nabaz blinks a bunch of times. "Oooookay..."

She continues to scratch at her back.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Minat stares at her for a moment, then begins to answer:

"They are the w-whispers of the N-Neverborn, and the oath was w-willing, though against my b-better judgement... w-what was the next question?" he asks, reclaiming a chair and taking another sip, which seems to calm him.

[InyutheBeatIs]

@Goober: Soooo, should Boss attempt to get Kenyon's medal back now?

[Rebonack]

Poor mister twitchy guy...

Seems he kinda lost track of some of the questions.

At the response to the first Zee wrinkles her nose in distaste. "Neverborn? Those sulky dead Primordials from Creation? Well, if they're in on this then I'll bet the mess has something to do with that jerk what's-his-name and his emotionless magic-girl daughter."

She sounds somewhat irritated.

Hasn't run into Ebon much herself, honestly. But she did get the lowdown from Avatar after said evil magic girl went and killed him.

Thankfully he got better.

"Oh! Right, what kind of rules were broken?"

[Goober]

Trying to forget about her itch, Nabaz removes her cloak and stuffs it into her pack. Picking up the plate of rematerialized lemon bars and shouldering her pack, she wanders over to where Minat was sitting.

"Mind if I take a seat? I come bearing lemon bars... the treats that make the world go on."

@InyutheBeatIs I think Kenyon would like to be home when you do. He gets off in about 2 hours. He takes about 30 mins, to get home. Is it alright if we wait till he gets home?

[InyutheBeatIs]

Trying to forget about her itch, Nabaz removes her cloak and stuffs it into her pack. Picking up the plate of rematerialized lemon bars and shouldering her pack, she wanders over to where Minat was sitting.

"Mind if I take a seat? I come bearing lemon bars... the treats that make the world go on."

@InyutheBeatIs I think Kenyon would like to be home when you do. He gets off in about 2 hours. He takes about 30 mins, to get home. Is it alright if we wait till he gets home?

@Goober: *thumbsup* Not a problem. :smallbiggrin:

As for IC actions...I don't know, a kitty-cat wanders in and starts annoying people. :smalltongue:

[happyturtle]

An npc is annoyed, and screams. "It's Reinholdt!!" :smalleek:

A stampede starts of panicking npcs, and certain phrases can be heard above the bedlam. "Dangerously Insane!" "Demon father!" "Destroyer of Worlds!"

[VampireRot]

@Goober: *thumbsup* Not a problem. :smallbiggrin:

As for IC actions...I don't know, a kitty-cat wanders in and starts annoying people. :smalltongue:

Another kitteh? I already did that! And I took the whole idea from Reinholdt! :smallannoyed:

As for IC... Zanny returns to Trog's because the Taverna got pretty boring after Reinholdt left. He looks around and sits down at his usual table. And orders some wine and a shrimp cocktail.

"That's not Reinholdt! It's... Just a normal cat?" :smallconfused:

Ninja happeh :smallyuk:

[Lord Iames Osari]

"Oh! Right, what kind of rules were broken?"

"A h-human soul may only be empowered by one E-Exaltation," Minat explains. "And I c-come from Yugash, one of the Eight Nations of Autoch-chthonia."

He looks at Nabaz and gestures at the empty chair next to him. "Lemon bars?" he asks, confused. "Lemons c-come in bar form?"

[Reinholdt]

"That's not Reinholdt! It's... Just a normal cat?" :smallconfused:

You hope. :smallamused:

Killer barstool trips a fleeing NPC and snaps his spine. Oh well.

[Goober]

Nabaz takes the offered seat. "You've never had a Lemon bar? This wonderful baked treat of splendor combines butter, sugar and lemon. Best thing ever. If I ever get down, these delights pick me right back up."

She puts the Lemon bars on the table. "Nice to meet you, I'm Nabaz. Hey, you haven't seen a plushie seal around here have you?"

[Lord Iames Osari]

Nabaz takes the offered seat. "You've never had a Lemon bar? This wonderful baked treat of splendor combines butter, sugar and lemon. Best thing ever. If I ever get down, these delights pick me right back up."

She puts the Lemon bars on the table. "Nice to meet you, I'm Nabaz. Hey, you haven't seen a plushie seal around here have you?"

"I'm Minat, and n-no, I haven't." He looks at the lemon bars curiously, forcing his mechanical eye to focus on them for a moment.

[Rebonack]

Zee eyes the Perfectly Normal Cat.

Suspiciously.

Everyone knows that there aren't any normal animals in the Nexus. Probably just a matter of time before the other shoe drops.

"Okay... So you're from that weird robot planet place and our bad guy has more than one Exaltation. Which... I guess would make him a super bad guy. or something."

She really isn't sure how this exaltation stuff works. Never really did more than just skim the rulebooks.

"Alright! Next question! What's all that blood from and have you ever ridden on a camel before?"

[Goober]

"You should try one."

Nabaz tries to reach around and scratch her back through her black tunic. "Gah, can't scratch with gloves on."

She peels off her gloves with her teeth and then proceeds to scratch her back.

"Ahhhhh, much better."

@InyutheBeatIs Kenyon might be a bit late coming home. He went to pick me up some lemon bars....

[Lord Iames Osari]

"Alright! Next question! What's all that blood from and have you ever ridden on a camel before?"

"I c-cannot speak of the first, and I d-don't know what a camel is. Is it some k-kind of large rat?"


"You should try one."

Minat takes one and examines it before taking a bite. "Mmmmm..."

[Rebonack]

"Nah, it's sorta like a llama that lives in the desert. Big ugly smelly beast of burden that spits a lot."

Sounds like some of the frequent customers at Trog's.

"Hmmm... Can't answer the one about the blood... Well, that just leaves what your favorite color is and what animal your malefactor would be if he were animal."

It's a very important question, that one.

Zee will learn quite a bit from it!

...okay.

Yeah, she's just being silly.

[UncleWolf]

A cloaked figure steps into the doorway of Trog's for just a moment and silver in the tavern glows. That will be the only warning Memzee gets before a crossbow bolt flies for her chest. It's aimed well enough not to hit any organs. There seems to be a note attached to it. By the time the crossbow bolt hits(or passes) her, the figure is gone and the silver back to normal again.

[VampireRot]

Zanny looks at the crossbow bolt flying through the air in surprise. The bard can't do anything to stop it, but he looks very annoyed in the direction of the cloaked figure. Before he steps out (talking is a free action after all), Zanny berates him.

"Hey! Does this look like the Black Dragon to you!? Violence is not appreciated in my favorite tavern!" :smallmad:

[Lord Iames Osari]

"Nah, it's sorta like a llama that lives in the desert. Big ugly smelly beast of burden that spits a lot."

Sounds like some of the frequent customers at Trog's.

"Hmmm... Can't answer the one about the blood... Well, that just leaves what your favorite color is and what animal your malefactor would be if he were animal."

It's a very important question, that one.

Zee will learn quite a bit from it!

...okay.

Yeah, she's just being silly.

"My favorite color is gold," Minat answers. "The color of my home city, Prewig. And for his a-animal... I do not know. The only animals I know well are r-rats."

[McBish]

The labradoudle that has been hanging around here undeadtimes. He picks up his nose and sniffs around. A lot of his energy has been used up in his previous play and he circles around the tavern a bit more relaxed.

[Goober]

"GAHHHH! It itches sooooo much!"

Nabaz stops for a moment and her eyes get wide. She gets really quiet and continues to eat her lemon bars.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Minat gives her an odd look.

[InyutheBeatIs]

A plot-clone of Boss, the man-sized doberman pinscher with a scar over his eye, appears before Nabaz. "Excuse me, ma'am, can I talk to you?"

[Goober]

Nabaz jumps. "Jeepers Crepper! I'm never gonna get use to this place. umm... yeah I suppose.."

Nabaz reaches for her gloves and pulls them back on.

[InyutheBeatIs]

Nabaz jumps. "Jeepers Crepper! I'm never gonna get use to this place. umm... yeah I suppose.."

Nabaz reaches for her gloves and pulls them back on.

Boss steps back a bit, to show he isn't a threat. "I'm sorry for frightening you. I was tracking down a medal of an ally of my master's, and I traced it to you. So, I wish to return it to him."

[Goober]

Nabaz pales a bit. "Yeah... well that might be ... difficult to do."

The plate of lemon bars refill outta no where and a steaming cup of tea appears on the table. She ignores them and fidgets with her collar. "Truth is I don't have the medal... wait, did your master's friend lose a coat too?"

[InyutheBeatIs]

Nabaz pales a bit. "Yeah... well that might be ... difficult to do."

The plate of lemon bars refill outta no where and a steaming cup of tea appears on the table. She ignores them and fidgets with her collar. "Truth is I don't have the medal... wait, did your master's friend lose a coat too?"

Boss sighs. "Yes he did lose a coat. I retrieved that coat, but then he lost it again, this time losing a medal in the process. Would you happen to know anything about that?"

((I'm deadtiming for dinner. Be back shortly.))

[Goober]

"Well, at least he stole it from the same per..." She's completely astonished. Closing her mouth, she blinks a few times.

"You managed to get it back from Shoop? I'm... wow. That's impressive. You also didn't get charbroiled in the process... Just wow." She sips her tea. "Shoop must be loosing his touch."

Her hair turns red as she sips her tea and the atmosphere at the table becomes sulky.

[InyutheBeatIs]

"Well, at least he stole it from the same per..." She's completely astonished. Closing her mouth, she blinks a few times.

"You managed to get it back from Shoop? I'm... wow. That's impressive. You also didn't get charbroiled in the process... Just wow." She sips her tea. "Shoop must be loosing his touch."

Her hair turns red as she sips her tea and the atmosphere at the table becomes sulky.

Boss nods. "Yes I did. It was rather easy, I must say. Now, I'm afraid you haven't answered my question."

[Rebonack]

Oookay.

Well.

Looks like Zee has some interesting events to react to.

"You live in a gold city? Wow! That sounds really neat. Well worth seeing. Though I would imagine getting there might be a bit tricky!" mostly because she has no idea where it is. "Well, with that last bit of information I think I can say with certainty that I know who did this and what they're up to! Obviously the culprit is GUH-!"

Guh?

What kind of silly name is guh?

Oh.

That was just Zee's 'getting hit in the chest with a crossbow bolt' sound.

She wheezes a bit before collapsing face fist onto the table.

*thud!*

[UncleWolf]

By the time the bard gets outside, the figure is gone. Yep, no one there. Well, plenty of people are there, just no one in a cloak and using a crossbow.

[VampireRot]

By the time the bard gets outside, the figure is gone. Yep, no one there. Well, plenty of people are there, just no one in a cloak and using a crossbow.

Zanny didn't go outside. :smalltongue: He yelled at the cloaked dude before the cloaked dude could get out. Because talking is a free action. :smalltongue: Just being silly.

[Goober]

Nabaz sighs. "Unfortunately, I do. I've been trying to make Shoop give it back. But, Well...Shoop tends to do what he wants. I ended up getting whacked by a frying pan, two flower pots and he's changed my hair color four times for trying to convince him to take the coat back." She runs her hand through her hair in frustration and realizes it's now red.

"Make that five times. He disappeared sometime last night. I haven't seen him since. He gotta be close by though. Hey, maybe you've seen him. He'd be hard to miss."

[InyutheBeatIs]

Nabaz sighs. "Unfortunately, I do. I've been trying to make Shoop give it back. But, Well...Shoop tends to do what he wants. I ended up getting whacked by a frying pan, two flower pots and he's changed my hair color four times for trying to convince him to take the coat back." She runs her hand through her hair in frustration and realizes it's now red.

"Make that five times. He disappeared sometime last night. I haven't seen him since. He gotta be close by though. Hey, maybe you've seen him. He'd be hard to miss."

Boss shakes his head. "I can't say I have, no. My only interaction has been to take back what was taken from my master's friend."

[Lord Iames Osari]

Oookay.

Well.

Looks like Zee has some interesting events to react to.

"You live in a gold city? Wow! That sounds really neat. Well worth seeing. Though I would imagine getting there might be a bit tricky!" mostly because she has no idea where it is. "Well, with that last bit of information I think I can say with certainty that I know who did this and what they're up to! Obviously the culprit is GUH-!"

Guh?

What kind of silly name is guh?

Oh.

That was just Zee's 'getting hit in the chest with a crossbow bolt' sound.

She wheezes a bit before collapsing face fist onto the table.

*thud!*

Minat explodes out of his chair in horror, his artificial eye flicking over Memzee as he reaches into his coat. "Somebody g-get some hot water!" he snaps, pulling out a gleaming scalpel.

[Goober]

"No black seal plushie to be found. I wish I could be of more help. But I am under .... restrictions due to my situation." She perks up a bit.

"I just thought of something. This is gonna sound completely stupid but it may just work. A trade. Shoop may come out for a trade. Something of as he put's it of "awesomeness". As long as the guy he swiped it from gives him something it may work."

[Recaiden]

"I hope this healing energy doesn't make you burst into flames or anything, Zee."
Ashna sends a little bit of life-force towards Zee, and goes to get some water in a bucket, as that man wants. And heat it.

[InyutheBeatIs]

"No black seal plushie to be found. I wish I could be of more help. But I am under .... restrictions due to my situation." She perks up a bit.

"I just thought of something. This is gonna sound completely stupid but it may just work. A trade. Shoop may come out for a trade. Something of as he put's it "awesomeness". As long as the guy he swiped it from gives him something it may work."

"...Alright. What do you think would work? I can get almost whatever he would want."

[Rebonack]

Hmm...

Zee's not moving much.

Just sorta sitting there. On the table.

Bleeding.

One might assume that the bolt had killed her! Or at least managed to maim her significantly. Though it becomes rather clear that isn't the case when she suddenly sits bolt upright and finishes her thought without skipping a beat.

"-That jerk that I don't remember the name of! But boy did he ever sound mean! And apparently he attacked GLoG or something," the demoness rests her chin on top of her hand, taking on a rather thoughtful look. "And I guess he wants to send everyone to the underworld too since that's sorta the Nerverborn's whole thing isn't it? We'll have to stop him and whatever shenanigans he's up to this time around! Oh! Hey! There's a crossbow bolt in my sternum!"

And with that she yanks it out to read the note.

[Recaiden]

"You're not the Zee I'm looking for, are you?"
Ashna sighs and tries to heal any last damage from the crossbow bolt. Magic is so fun.

[UncleWolf]

The message is rather short.


"Welcome back.

~M.

[Goober]

Nabaz's hair turns purple as she ponders. "It's hard to say. What could a little plushie seal want? You would be surprised. But I think anything that's hand made would work."

She scratches frantically at her back. "I may have found Shoop. I don't know why I took up with an BWAOOOOGGA!" She shuts her mouth quickly.

"Sorry about that. This is what happens when I try to talk about ...well... it."

[Lord Iames Osari]

Minat stands there, holding his scalpel, and sighs. "N-nevermind," he mutters, and tucks it back inside his labcoat.

[InyutheBeatIs]

Nabaz's hair turns purple as she ponders. "It's hard to say. What could a little plushie seal want? You would be surprised. But I think anything that's hand made would work."

She scratches frantically at her back. "I may have found Shoop. I don't know why I took up with an BWAOOOOGGA!" She shuts her mouth quickly.

"Sorry about that. This is what happens when I try to talk about ...well... it."

"It's quite alright. I shall return shortly."

Boss then dissapears, reappearing in a second with a hand-sculpted clay sculpture of Kamina, point a finger towards the air in his signature way. "How is this?"

[Rebonack]

Zee wrinkles her nose a bit at the note. "Huh... I guess Mally wanted to say hello. Kinda weird way to do it, though."

She probably would have smacked him in the face or something if he had used more conventional means of greeting. So the crossbow-bolt in the chest plan was fairly wise.

The demoness tosses the bolt over her shoulder as the flesh-wound is healed up. Yay!

"So anyway, I think I know who's causing your troubles Mister Twitchy by I have no idea where we would find him. I've been out of town for a while."

And then!

Ashna is given an odd look. "What other Zee would you be looking for?"

She sounds puzzled.

[Recaiden]

Ashna laughs.
"Well, aren't there a lot of you? I want the newly immortal Zee who discovered her whole life here was a dream, or something like that. She was being rather horridly selfish about it."

[Goober]

"Only one way to find out." Nabaz puts her tea cup on the table then proceeds to pull her tunic over her head. Underneath she's wearing a plain black tank top. Pulling her hair to the side she turns around.

Her upper left shoulder blade is covered in welts from her scratching at her back all day. The only thing not welted is a tattoo of a little plush black seal wearing a huge gray military coat and a medal on his head like a tiara.

"Is there something on my shoulder... I don't have any markings or anything and it's been itchy since Shoop disappeared last night."

[InyutheBeatIs]

"Only one way to find out." Nabaz puts her tea cup on the table then proceeds to pull her tunic over her head. Underneath she's wearing a plain black tank top. Pulling her hair to the side she turns around.

Her upper left shoulder blade is covered in welts from her scratching at her back all day. The only thing not welted is a tattoo of a little plush black seal wearing a huge gray military coat and a medal on his head like a tiara.

"Is there something on my shoulder... I don't have any markings or anything and it's been itchy since Shoop disappeared last night."

Boss looks intrigued by whatever it was on his shoulder. He then lets out a sigh. "Madam, I believe Shoop is in your shoulder right now."

[The Bushranger]

Val and Marcie, meanwhile, finally undeadtime...

(Captain Tobias remains under an ooze for the night, though.)

Marcie heads over to the bar, while Val stays to listen to Minat.

[Goober]

Nabaz's skin starts to splotch red in places. She's fuming at this point. "Shoop. GET THE HELL OUT OF MY SKIN!" She tries to claw Shoop out of her skin but just ends up scratching herself badly. Cursing she looks over her shoulder at the Kamina sculpture and points at it.

"Look Shoop. It's a trade. Statue for coat and medal."

The room rings with the sound of trumpets. The Shoop tattoo and the sculpture disappear from the room. Leaving Nabaz wondering what on earth happened.

"Is he gone?"

[InyutheBeatIs]

Nabaz's skin starts to splotch red in places. She's fuming at this point. "Shoop. GET THE HELL OUT OF MY SKIN!" She tries to claw Shoop out of her skin but just ends up scratching herself badly. Cursing she looks over her shoulder at the Kamina sculpture and points at it.

"Look Shoop. It's a trade. Statue for coat and medal."

The room rings with the sound of trumpets. The Shoop tattoo and the sculpture disappear from the room. Leaving Nabaz wondering what on earth happened.

"Is he gone?"

Boss smiles. "He's accepted the trade. Thank you very much for your time, and good day." He bows, then dissapears.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Zee wrinkles her nose a bit at the note. "Huh... I guess Mally wanted to say hello. Kinda weird way to do it, though."

She probably would have smacked him in the face or something if he had used more conventional means of greeting. So the crossbow-bolt in the chest plan was fairly wise.

The demoness tosses the bolt over her shoulder as the flesh-wound is healed up. Yay!

"So anyway, I think I know who's causing your troubles Mister Twitchy by I have no idea where we would find him. I've been out of town for a while."

"He's in the cemetery. Four of my colleagues are there, too. Only one of us is allowed out at a time."

[Rebonack]

Ashna is provided with a fairly blank look.

Zee is just staaaaaaring at her.

It's kind of awkward, honestly.

"...what are you talking about?"

Looks like she has no idea what Ashna's talking about. Go figure.

With a shake of the head she turns her attention back to mister Twitchy. "Ha! The Cemetary, of course! I should have guessed. That's the Misspelled Cemetary, right? There at the top of that creepy hill near the Slums?"

It is indeed very creepy.

And very misspelled.

[Goober]

"Glad to be of help. Now to patch up my back... is there a medic in the house? "

She sits back down. "I need food and I'm getting too old for this."

[The Bushranger]

"I know...medicine," Marcie says, a bit hesitantly. "I could help, if you want, maam." And she steps over torwards the, now 100% Shoop-free, table.

[Lord Iames Osari]

With a shake of the head she turns her attention back to mister Twitchy. "Ha! The Cemetary, of course! I should have guessed. That's the Misspelled Cemetary, right? There at the top of that creepy hill near the Slums?"

It is indeed very creepy.

And very misspelled.

Minat nods, and turns to Nabaz. "I am a s-surgeon," he offers.

[Recaiden]

"Yep. You're the wrong Zee. The one I want has probably left this mode of reality, out of my reach to murder. But you're still here, and I'm sure Raril's all right out there somewhere. Just like Tahlia and Anaa and the girl with the bone wings and dear Tia."
Ashna tries to give this Zee a tight hug before leaving the Tavern.

[VampireRot]

"Medicine? Hah! Obsolete!"

Zanny steps over. And strums his lyre a few times. It's a very rejuvenating song, and any minor scrapes, scratches and bruises should be healed, along with any fatigue. Magic for the win!

[Goober]

"Could you please? My shoulders killing me. Shoop's been hiding there all day.

She shows Marcie her shoulder. It has been clawed and scratched. It is bleeding and raw.

The wound starts to heal as Shoop poofs back into the room. He is sporting kamina glasses and a kamina sculpture.

"Wow. Thanks guys."

[The Bushranger]

Marcie grabs a bandage from the first-aid pack in her purse, and then...

...the meek-looking brunette glares at Zanny.

GLARES.

"You. Take back, now! Not obsolete!" she snaps, her Common very accented. "Was helping. Not ask your help!"

...oh dear...

[VampireRot]

Marcie grabs a bandage from the first-aid pack in her purse, and then...

...the meek-looking brunette glares at Zanny.

GLARES.

"You. Take back, now! Not obsolete!" she snaps, her Common very accented. "Was helping. Not ask your help!"

...oh dear...

Zanny smirks and holds up his hands in the universal "sheesh lady calm down" symbol.

"Sorry dollface! I can't help it, I live to help people!"

The bard slides some fingers to his lyre and twitches a few cords. The music contains magic to calm everyone down. Caaaalm. :smallsmile:

[Goober]

Shoop appears next to Marcie as Nabaz's hair turns back to its original color.

"I think he likes you."

[The Bushranger]

Marcie...has no resistiance to magic.
At all.
So she calms down.
"Not...doll-face. Soldier," she still protests.
Before being startled by a certain plushie seal!
...thankfully, Shoop is not one of the Plushie Flock.

"Oh? Is...intelligent?" Marcie asks, turning back to Shoop and his crazy woman. :smalltongue:

[VampireRot]

"Heh. Thought so..."

Zanny returns to his seat. Where he sits down and enjoys some wine and shrimp. While watching the silly antics of the plushie seal. The bard was smart enough not to even ask about that.

[Goober]

Nabaz Snorts. "Depends on your definition of intelligent."

A pancake falls outta the sky and lands on her head. The table is then covered with stacks of pancakes, eggs, hashbrown. Plates of bacon and sausage.
Removing the pancake on her head, she places it on her plate.

"Oh dinner breakfast food. Care to join me Marcie?"

[The Bushranger]

BR appears. "Hey! Summon Mass Condiments is MY spell! :smalltongue:

Marcie looks over at Val, then shrugs, and turns back to Nabazz with a smile. "Not bother? I would love to." And she takes a seat, cautiously, at the table.

[Goober]

"No trouble at all. Eat. is good for you."

Nabaz starts stuffing her face. She really is hungry. Shoop has poofed over to the other end of the table. The pancake nearest to him has bite marks in it.

"Don't worry about Shoop. There's not much you can do about him."

(time for deadtime now)

[The Bushranger]

Marcie giggles, and starts eating as well, happy to have a friend.

[Rebonack]

Zee is hugged!

And remains totally bewildered!

Not the faintest idea what Ashna was rambling about. But this is hardly the first time that she's been clueless about something. It's sorta a running gag with her, honestly. And one that isn't about to stop any time soon.

"Eerr... anyway... I have the feeling that simply running over to the Cemetary, kicking the gate down, and opening up some hurt on this guy probably wouldn't work out too well. What with the rule breaking and the fact that he totally sounds like a boss encounter of some kind..." the demoness muses as she busies herself with making a tuna sammich for a giant anthropomorphic puma.

"We'll probably need to find some other people to go on the quest with us. once we've got enough help we're sure to emerge victorious!"

[Earl of Purple]

In the corner of the room is a table, and sitting at that table is a man with a pointy black goatee, stubby horns sticking out from his black hair and his face and hands are covered with red skin, slightly darker than the red of his irises. He is wearing a sombre black tunic with a white two-tailed scorpion sigil emblazoned upon the front and a pair of leggings. At his waist is a mace forged of black hell-steel, and around his neck is a silver amulet depicting another two-tailed scorpion.

The tiefling cultist looks around the room for interesting people (PCs) whom he will attempt to watch discreetly.

[Lord Iames Osari]

"Eerr... anyway... I have the feeling that simply running over to the Cemetary, kicking the gate down, and opening up some hurt on this guy probably wouldn't work out too well. What with the rule breaking and the fact that he totally sounds like a boss encounter of some kind..." the demoness muses as she busies herself with making a tuna sammich for a giant anthropomorphic puma.

"We'll probably need to find some other people to go on the quest with us. once we've got enough help we're sure to emerge victorious!"

"Just remember that some of colleagues are there too," Minat says.

[FireFox]

Smaragdos undeadtimes, apparently bored and looking around for something to do.

[Trobby]

Captain Tobias undeadtimes! ...For now...though his player is still a little slow on the details of what is going on, so for the moment, he'll be listening to Minat and Val, to know what he should do.

"Do you...think we can help him?" Tobias asked, not as familiar with demonology or dark magic forces as his fear of them would have you believe.

[Kyrian]

Panther-man and Drew try waking up again. A little black box appears beside Drew:


Hunger: _ _ _ _ < - - -

Panther-man blinks at the box,
"Can you turn that off?"

Don't you think if I knew how, I would have by now?
Drew sighs, the box changes:


He couldn't figure it out if it came with instructions. Which it did.

[The Bushranger]

Val and Marcie, meanwhile, finally undeadtime. Marcie pokes at the deadtime ooze around her table companion, while Val yawns and tries to figure out what's going on with the discussion that was going on when she got ooze'd.

[Kyrian]

Neither Panther-Man nor Drew would be able to answer that, as they haven't been much use to their player here at all.

[FireFox]

Smaragdos, the emerald robed mage, looks at the floating box curiously. That's something he hasn't seen before.

[Trobby]

"Have you...ever encountered beings of this nature?" Tobias asked Val, still listening in on Minat's conversation.

[The Bushranger]

Marcie, meanwhile, looks over at both Smaragdos, and then at the twosome with the little yellowfloating boxes.

--

"I don't think I have. Unas, yeah, but not...things like this," Val says, frowning. "But, if we can help, we should."

[Kyrian]

Panther-man gets up, and heads to the bar for drinks.

Drew begins to look around. And notices Marcie looking over. And then he ends up staring.

[The Bushranger]

Marcie (whose tektek can be found on her character-thread post) notes the staring. And the Flemish brunette looks away quickly, shifting uncomfortably in her seat, not used to being stared at.

[Kyrian]

Drew quickly turns away when he sees her turn away.
It's ok, Drew, you weren't really staring.

The box reappears:


He was.

[FireFox]

Smaragdos chuckles, thinking Drew suffers from a very amusing curse, and orders another drink at the bar.

[Trobby]

Marcie, meanwhile, looks over at both Smaragdos, and then at the twosome with the little yellowfloating boxes.

--

"I don't think I have. Unas, yeah, but not...things like this," Val says, frowning. "But, if we can help, we should."

"Yes...as long as our help is welcome." Tobias nods. "That message...it worries me. It suggests something is coming, or has already arrived."

[The Bushranger]

Marcie, meanwhile, decides to order another glass of llamaade from Paige, still looking uncertain about herself.

---

"Good point." Val nods. And then sighs. "Here, something's always coming, here, or going, it seems..."

[Trobby]

"It must be hard, etching a living out in an environment that changes so constantly."

[Kyrian]

Drew finally stands and slowly, and I mean slowly, makes his way towards Marcie's table. Seriously, he's like side-shuffling his way there. Kinda sad, kinda nerdy, pretty funny actually.

[The Bushranger]

Marcie (who happens to be sharing a table with the deadtimed Nabaz and Shoop) looks over at Drew as he approaches, and smiles a bit. "Oh. Hello," she says. "I, Marcie. You?"




Val shrugs. "A little. My...old job was exploring strange new planets, though. So I guess I'm kinda used to it." She chuckles.

[Trobby]

"Ah...I suppose I'll adapt soon enough then." Tobias grinned a little in jest. "I've sailed to nearly every corner of the world where I'm from, so an entire new one just means an entire new set of challenges to overcome."

[The Bushranger]

"At least you won't be weeping for want of a new world to conquer," Val quips, giggling a bit.

[Kyrian]

Marcie (who happens to be sharing a table with the deadtimed Nabaz and Shoop) looks over at Drew as he approaches, and smiles a bit. "Oh. Hello," she says. "I, Marcie. You?"

Drew almost runs. Almost. Yes, he's a little chicken like that...

Hi. I'm Drew...

[Chas the mage]

Aether sits, drinking. Hes drinking rather heavily and his clothes are dirty even though they seem new, and he has some fresh cuts and minor wounds which he doesn't seem to notice. His blond hair seems to be washed for once and he is cleanly shaven, more clearly revealing scars on his face.

[The Bushranger]

Drew almost runs. Almost. Yes, he's a little chicken like that...

Hi. I'm Drew...

"Pleased meeting you, Drew." Marcie's voice has a "western European" accent. Almost Dutch, perhaps, or French, but neither. "You wished speaking with me?" She smiles a little.

[ApeofLight]

Foro the completely natural magma monkey undeadtimes.

[Prince_Selm]

An odd looking person enters the tavern and just kind of stands there.

This sort of thing happens all the time. There's no obvious reason why anyone might take notice of such a thing. Just in case, though, I shall honor you with a description.

The man, for he appears to be male, is rather young, maybe early twenties and has short, brown hair. His eyes are of the same color and his face looks friendly. He wears a tan coat that is perhaps a size or two too small. Underneath the coat, he wears a brown shirt with green pants. Around his waist is a small, leather bag with a rose emblazoned on it. It matches the silver rose symbol hanging around his neck. His boots are large and black and seem to clash with the rest of his appearance.

This rather ecclectic man just seems to exude... something. He just seems rather sociable.

[Chas the mage]

Aether, the imperial, looks over to the new-comer. He is described several posts above.

[Trobby]

"At least you won't be weeping for want of a new world to conquer," Val quips, giggling a bit.

Tobias grins at the thought, but shakes his head.

"The world isn't mine to conquer. Merely to see and to appreciate, as it is for every free man. I do not own the world, but I would like to know it a little better."

[Kyrian]

"Pleased meeting you, Drew." Marcie's voice has a "western European" accent. Almost Dutch, perhaps, or French, but neither. "You wished speaking with me?" She smiles a little.

Drew sounds, quite American. And shy.

I saw you. From over there. And so I thought I'd come here, and say hi. And stuff...

[The Bushranger]

"Oh. Well...'hi'." Marcie, still learning EnglishCommon, smiles. "Is nice of you. You new here?"

Val watches from her seat with a smile, before turning back to the Captian.
"Well, conquer the knowledge of it, then? I have to admit I haven't done too much exploring, aside from the island."

[Kyrian]

Yea...It's a long story. Not very interesting.

The box reappears,


It is a long story. Could be interesting.

[The Bushranger]

Marcie seems to notice The Box for the first time. And jumps back with a startled eep!
"What is that?" she asks, pointing at it with wide eyes.

[Trobby]

"Oh. Well...'hi'." Marcie, still learning EnglishCommon, smiles. "Is nice of you. You new here?"

Val watches from her seat with a smile, before turning back to the Captian.
"Well, conquer the knowledge of it, then? I have to admit I haven't done too much exploring, aside from the island."

"Oh? I really think you should. It's a wonderful thing to discover new parts of the world, and what exactly is Marcie getting herself into over there?" Tobias asks, finally noticing that Marcie is doing something entirely different.

[Kyrian]

Drew turns to see what she's talking about and sighs.

A stupid annoyance I've noticed ever since I was twenty...

[The Bushranger]

"I agree. And I think," Val says with a grin, "that Marcie is attracting attention from a cute boy." She giggles.

---

"Oh. Is it your...familar?" Marcie asks, having picked up on some of the local lingo. "Or a...sin-bee-oat?" She sounds out the unfamiliar word slowly.

[Kyrian]

Sinbeeoat?
Drew raises an eyebrow, unfamiliar with what word she may even be trying to talk about.
I guess you could call it my familiar. That's how Kalim describes it. Or as an annoyance. I mean, it really does give away personal information at times.

[The Bushranger]

"'Symbiote'," Val calls over, helping her friend out.

Marcie nods. "Ah, yes. Symbiote. And, if it is annoyance, why not make it go away?" she asks, figuring there's a good reason, but being in the 'making conversation' stage at the moment.

[Trobby]

"I'm more familiar with the term familiar myself." Tobias added reassuringly, though tried not to get between them too much, noting Val's grin and giving her a slight wink.

[Kyrian]

Drew shrugs,
I've tried. It isn't always around, but it's annoying when it is.

He looks back over to the table that he'd left. Panther-Man, Kalim, is seated again, raising an eyebrow in amusement as he watches Drew.

[The Bushranger]

"A familiar is a...magical animal, that a magic-user has as a companion," Val explains to Captain Tobias, winking back and giggling softly. "Like the proverbial black cat that follows a witch, or a sorcerer's owl."

---

"Oh. Could be annoying, yes," Marcie agrees. Then remembers her manners. "Have seat?" she offers, waving to a chair. "Llamaade is good, Drew."

[Trobby]

"Thank you, Val." Tobias replies, choosing not to point out that he knew this already. He's torn between observing Val's interaction, and keeping his eyes on Minat. So right now, his attention is split between the two.

[Kyrian]

Drew nods, and sheepishly takes a seat,
Thank you. I'll have to give a Llamaade a try.
And sure enough, he orders one.
So where did you come from, Marcie?

[The Bushranger]

Val blinks in surprise, then giggles.
"Sorry. My mind was wandering and I thought you said less familar."
She blushes a good bit.
"I should probably go ahead and eat something more.."



"I was soldier in Flemish Defense Forces," Marcie says proudly. "Third Home Air Defense Division. Arrived here via...accident." Now, she looks a good bit sad...

[Kyrian]

Drew tilts his head. He understood...well, honestly near none of it. But give him a point for trying, right?
I take it, not a good accident?

[The Bushranger]

Marcie shakes her head quickly. "No. Was...displaced in time. Lost many friends. Finally frozen seeking rescue." Her smile returns a little. "Was found by her." And she points at Val, who waves.

BR apologises, but his eyes are going wonky, so he really should deadtime...

[Kyrian]

Same with Kyr really. Gotta be at work in 5 hours...

Drew nods,
Good to be back in the land of living, right?

He should know...

[Rebonack]

Time to wake Zee up!

And what better way to wake her up then by throwing something at her!

And what better thing to throw than an armored bear!

Wait, what?

A pixelated portal swirls into existence near the ceiling, giving no real warning before disgorging an enormous brown bear covered from head to toe in thick plates of brass armor. The beast hurtles through the air like an angry, fuzzy missile before slamming into the bar, all but obliterating it.

This results in Zee going, "Eeee! Armored bear attack!" and leaping out of the way at the last possible second, avoiding the fiery explosion that ripples out from the point of impact, bursting bottles of booze and blackening the wood-work.

...where did the explosion come from...?

[Lord Iames Osari]

Minat hides from the giant armored bear.

[VampireRot]

Zanny undeadtimes to find a giant armored bear in the tavern! And explosions!

"Ack! What's going on!? Random encounters aren't supposed to happen inside taverns!"

The bard leaps atop a table and starts playing his lyre. Blue sparks fizzle as his fingers dance along the strings. A large, inciting and sizzling living salmon appears flopping near the door. The succulent scent of the raw meat promises a great meal. Mmmmmm... The bard's illusionary magic tries to make the bear chase after the salmon to a place away from the tavern. He'll handle the explosion after the bear is gone.

[ApeofLight]

Foro undeadtimes and sees the giant bear. " Hooray! Fun time! " He cheers happily pulling his staff out from behind his ear.

Soon the magma monkey has the staff out and at it's normal size for him. " Foro suggests bear give up now. " Foro says with a smile on his face.

[Rebonack]

Explosion, singular. There's only one explosion in the tavern at the moment.

One man hides from the armored bear! That's probably wise!

Another attempts to bait the bear away with fish! Sadly the bear is angry, not hungry, and this attempt to patronize it only serves to further increase its frothing rage! With a bone rattling bellow the beast charges at the bard, aiming to take his head clean off his shoulders with one of its massive (and armored) paws!

The bear ignores Foro!

Too bad the explosion doesn't!

The roiling cloud of flames, ash, force, and hate lashes out at the magma-ape with a psudopod of pure destructive power. The heat probably won't bug him much, but the massive concussive force of said limb exploding on contact might!

Apparently it's an explosion elemental. Probably a close relative to the elemental plane of badassery.

Zee, meanwhile, is busy dragging a customer to safety. Got peppered with some wood shrapnel. Ouch.

[VampireRot]

Grr. Stupid rage. Always stops the illusions from working. Time to get serious.

Zanny dodges the incoming paw by dropping down on his back, but then easily pulls himself up again using only his legs. Those break-dancing lessons come in handy. The bard jumps off his table to another, his feet carefully not touching a single glass of alcoholic beverage.

Zanny puts his hand on one end of his lyre and jerks it to the other end, hitting all the strings. A dagger appears in his hand, which he promptly throws at an unarmored joint on the bears body. He quickly strums up another dagger which is also launched at the bear. A third scale puts a long rapier in the bard's hand. Which he readies for stabbing.

[Trobby]

"What the..."

*BOOM!*

Is what Captain Tobias is suddenly experiencing. And generally, when something made of fur is exploding at you, it is a good time to find cover.

"GET DOWN, VAL!" He yells, pulling her under the table for cover, hoping that Marcie will be smart enough to do the same.

A wild bear on a rampage...this is not good. He pulls his gun out, and prepares to fire on the bear if he can manage to get a clear shot...

[Rebonack]

Bah, looks like Ape is MIA.

Moving on!

Getting a clear shot on the bear shouldn't be terribly hard. It's a bear. A very large bear. Wearing armor. The armor will make getting a shot that actually counts for anything a little harder, though.

As Zanny so carefully leaps away the bear proves to have no such compunctions against smashing stuff, booze included. The table is sundered in a shower of shot-glasses and splinters by a mighty paw-swing. As for the dagger, unarmored joints on the bear seem to be rather lacking. The heavy brass armor plates are under-girded with steel chainmail, which does a decent job of taking most of the bight out of the throw. Looks like that bear means business!

The beast charges Zanny once more, intent on simply plowing him to the ground.

As for the explosion, it seems to have grown bored with the lava ape and turns its incendiary attention on the good captain and his pals. The volatile being hurls a chunk of itself at them, which will rather unsurprisingly explode violently on contact with pretty much anything.

[Kyrian]

Kalim stands and takes note of the situation, determining which attacker should be dealt with first.

Kyrian would love to roleplay more but is posting from an iPhone while stopped at a light.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Minat sees that Zee is helping somebody who's injured and carefully tries to crawl over to them while staying hidden.

[VampireRot]

"Damnit! Stop wrecking the booze! I drink that!"

Zanny grimaces at the poor brave alcohol's sacrifice. The bard jumps... high! Much higher than a regular human. With a fancy front-flip that was in no way necessary, Zanny tries to land on the bear's back. He'll probably just stand on the raging bear's back like it was a flat and unmoving floor. The bard tries to stab the bear in the back of its neck if he succeeds in this daring maneuver. If its wearing a helmet, he'll try and flick it off with his rapier.

[Trobby]

Getting a good shot at an armored bear would be a difficult shot for your average marksman.

Tobias was no average marksman. He was far from average, and far from under-equipped.

His targeting device sought out the area of greatest vulnerability, both from a magical and physical point of view, examining the armor for weakness, and any magical aura for an equally weak point.

It found it, and Tobias knew well enough how to aim his gun at the point it chose.

With both hands, taking a careful shot with the hammer half-cocked, he fired.

And as he did so, a flash of light issued from the muzzle, a blue light that streamed forth like a laser, but carried with it the magic power to pierce through three inches of Adamantium. Tobias knew this, because he had tested it himself. And he had aimed it at the most vulnerable spot on the bear's body.

There was a good chance it would go straight THROUGH the bear, assuming it would hit him properly.

[Rebonack]

Zanny manages to do a cool flippy maneuver onto the back of the rampaging bear! What an awesome trick! He lands on the bear and stabs it good right in the neck! Too bad that won't outright kill the bear any time soon.

The beast hefts itself up onto its hind feet and stumbles backwards, aiming to smash the bard into a nearby wall that happens to be stocked with fine ales.

Zee and the maimed guy are presently huddled behind part of the bar that isn't blasted to smitherenes at the moment. Makes for decent cover. Poor maimed guy, who we'll call Lewis from here on out, has several rather nasty wounds from big pointy pieces of wood being stuck through him. Someone might want to do something about that.

The demoness looks rather irritated at the moment.

"Stupid curse... I would still be able to help him if I didn't have it..." she glances up at Mister Twitchy as he scurries into their hidy hole. "You said you're a surgeon, right? Can you help him?"

The captain's shot strikes true! Right through the heart! Too bad grizzly bears can still survive for a good fifteen seconds after their heart has been exploded. Also too bad that the captain was so focused on the bear that he didn't notice the pyroclastic ball of death being hurled at him.

It'll probably be exploding in his general proximity any moment now.

[Trobby]

"Hah! Perfect sho...oh shi-!"

His mind changes tracks fast, and his concerns are simple. He grabs Val, and jumps away with her, the blast hitting the back of his coat as he tries to escape the main force of it, not having time to tuck his gun away or reload it, just tumbling away from the blast as fast as he can.

[VampireRot]

What kind of bear is this?! Stabbed through the neck and shot in the heart and still alive and kicking?! Darn you cruel magic-filled world! :smalleek: Zanny curses his luck. Not the fine ales!!!

What to do? Maybe he can grab the wall and use super strength to keep the bear from crushing the booze and him against it! Or maybe he can teleport the ale away with magic! Perhaps a polymorph spell to turn it into a frog? Ah! Wait! I know! Zanny strums his lyre and- CRASH!

...

Gets crushed against a wall of fine ales, most of which get crushed as well.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo! :smalleek:

[Kyrian]

Fifteen secounds could be a very long time. For a bear. Long enough at least to hurt someone. So Kalim has to act fast.

And so he rushes the bear. As he makes the distance, his soul becomes semi-fused with that of the soul of a bear he had met on previous adventures.

What does this mean? Well, quite simple is that since Kalim only partial fused his soul with the bear's, he only gains something that a normal bear would have in terms of ability. In this case, Kalim is taking a bear's typical weight.

So essentially, he's throwing himself, with the weight of a bear, into the bear.

[Rebonack]

The explosion elemental seems displeased that its last attack missed the Cap and his pals. They would have burned so beautifully, too! The creature hefts a pair of pseudopods toward the ceiling, making a horrible rumbling bellow before smashing both limbs into the floor.

Huh...

Nothing happened.

I could have sworn it would have blown up or some-

The ground under Tobias decides that now would be the best time to explode violently.

Zanny might be glad when the bear is peeled off him after being tackled by a guy who happens to weigh as much as a bear at the moment. The beast stumbles away, crashing through another table. Seems to be ruining a lot of furniture today.

[ApeofLight]

And Ape is back!

Foro gets thrown across the room and into a wall!

The magma ape is dazed for a few seconds and it seems like the explosion turned it's back on him.

Which means Foro gets a free strike in before it notices him again.

Yeah, thwack that elemental explosion with the Staff of the Monkey King!

[Trobby]

"..."

"Well, that wasn't so ba-"

*KABOOM!*

The rather violent explosion sends Tobias flying, though he still holds Val in one arm, keeping the deadtimed character safe. The force of the blast locks one of his bullets into a chamber, and with a quick pull of the hammer, just a flick of his thumb, he fires a magically-propelled bullet at the Bear. Not enough to send it through, because that would probably cause problems for the men trying to simultaneously ram and ride the bear. But he does aim it, at the bear's most vital exposed part.

Right at the eye.

*THUD!*

Ahh..and that would be Tobias hitting his head against the bar at quite a speed. Speed caused by an explosion. Explosions are fast, you see. He'll be taking a little nap now...

[Lord Iames Osari]

Zee and the maimed guy are presently huddled behind part of the bar that isn't blasted to smitherenes at the moment. Makes for decent cover. Poor maimed guy, who we'll call Lewis from here on out, has several rather nasty wounds from big pointy pieces of wood being stuck through him. Someone might want to do something about that.

The demoness looks rather irritated at the moment.

"Stupid curse... I would still be able to help him if I didn't have it..." she glances up at Mister Twitchy as he scurries into their hidy hole. "You said you're a surgeon, right? Can you help him?"

Minat nods. "I'll need some hot water or strong alcohol," he says, pulling out a small wallet-like object and unfolding it to reveal a decent collection of medical instruments.

[Kyrian]

Kalim stands and watches the bear, cracking his neck and preparing for something more from it.

Can never be too careful. Especially when Rebonack is involved... :smalltongue::smallwink::smallbiggrin:

[Rebonack]

Random Encounters™ can be dangerously unpredictable.

Foro smacks the explosion elemental! Surprisingly enough that actually seems to hurt the thing. Makes about as much sense as stabbing something made of fire would hurt it, though. So it gets smacked. This results in a small explosion that may very well wrench Foro's staff out of his hands.

Hopefully he has a firm Monkey Grip on it.

The second shot at the bear bounces off its armor this time around. Blast, must have moved a bit to throw the round off its course this time. Not at all bothered by its presently exploded hear the animal roars at Kalim before charging the man. Probably plans on mauling him.

Zee, meanwhile, nods and procures a bottle of Dragon's Liver Buster from an intact cabinet. The stuff is basically pure ethanol, so that should work well enough.

[ApeofLight]

Foro always holds onto things with a firm Monkey Grip. Though that does cause problems when things explode after he hits them. Mostly him doing backflip problems but he can land on his feet...

Most of the time...

Foro lands up on his back after the explosion that sent his staff flying over him but not out of his hands.

[Kyrian]

Kalim roars right back at the bear. See, in the few brief moments he had, he was fusing the soul a little bit more with his. That brings him into stage two of his abilties.

GO WEREBEAR!

Well, kinda. The problem is he waited just a little bit two long. Don't get me wrong, the changes happen quick, as Kalim's done this enough times to understand how to make it quick and easy for him. But right as he hits his full werebear potential, the bear hits him. Sure, he's still got the bear weight, and now he half looks it, with the fur and everything, but it wasn't fast enough to keep from getting crashed into by the bear.

[Rebonack]

And getting crashed into by an angry bear really hurts like hell.

As the beast collapses on top of him it raises one mighty claw in the air to take his jaw clean off his face when!

*thud*

It slumps over on him dead.

Guess its undieing rage just wore off.

As for the explosion elemental...

It seems to have just dissipated completely. Seems it ran out of explosion.

Wow.

Odd.

That's uncannily anti-climactic. Not like a normal random encounter at all. Usually there's loot and the warning and stuff. Almost as though-

The bear wisps away into a mist of strange black and white vapor.

-something else is going on...

[Kyrian]

Kalim reverts to normal and looks around.

"Ok...."

[ApeofLight]

Foro blinks. Then stands up. Blinks again. Looks around.

" Where's the loot!? " He calls out.

The ape knows when there's a random encounter and that was a random encounter. Therefore there should be loot!

Unless... It wasn't a random encounter:smalleek:

Foro starts to look this way and that. " Foro has bad feeling about this... "

[Trobby]

Tobias doesn't have much feeling about it at all. Or any feeling, at the moment. Though he's always been a fast healer, he is entirely too unconscious to form an opinion on current events.

[Lord Iames Osari]

A quick wipe of his instruments with the DLB, and Minat sets to work removing the splinters and shrapnel from the unfortunate man. Where moments before he was twitchy and nervous, now he seems calm, focused. Even his artificial eye has stopped roving about.

[Earl of Purple]

A red-skinned chap with stubby horns and a pointy black goatee undeadtimes around about now. He's wearing a sombre black tunic and green breeches, with a white two-tailed scorpion emblazoned prominantly upon the tunic. Seeing the devestation and destruction, he gets up and draws a heavy, black mace from his belt-loop.

[Snares]

Two people appear to have chosen a particularly awkward moment to enter the tavern. One is a tall man, wearing a sharp, but slightly shabby pinstripe suit. His hair is short and grey, and his eyes are a similar shade of slate. Despite the age his hair would appear to hint at, his skin is surprisingly smooth, and his features are unremarkable and rounded. His companion is a boy, appearing to be in his mid-to-late teens, wearing a red jacket with a floral pattern and high collar, with black trousers and shoes. His hair is black, longish and unkempt, and his eyes are a common shade of brown - but his facial features appear similar to that of the first man, if a bit more defined; his nose is sharper, his eyes a bit brighter. He would appear to be the older man's son.

"This is all part of the plan, you see. We've survived this long, we'll find a way, no matter what this place-" says the older man, before the boy cuts him off.

"Look. Something's... happened." he says, pointing at the wrecked interior of the tavern. They both pause to survey the scene of chaos in front of them. "I'm going to help out," adds the boy, shrugging off the older man's brief attempt to pull him back and taking a few steps into the tavern. The older man takes a step inside too and stands awkwardly by the door, glancing around nervously.

The boy stands in the centre of the room for a moment and looks around for anyone who looks as though they're in charge of fixing up this chaos. He notices a man who appears to be a surgeon removing pieces of wood from a man in one corner, and walks over.

"Is there anything I can do to help here?" he asks, a moment before realising he probably shouldn't be interrupting the surgeon's concentration.

[Earl of Purple]

"You can help me right these tables and chairs. Don't worry too much about the mist/monster at the moment; it's currently in chronal stasis, but keep an eye on it as it may return to the current timestream at any point. My name's Defelent, what's yours?" This chap is red-skinned, with stubby horns, a pointed black goatee, a black tunic with a white two-tailed scorpion emblazoned on the front, green breeches and a silver amulet representing another two-tailed scorpion. The two-tailed scorpion may be identified as the holy symbol of Dalachrech, Demon Lord of Invertebrates, and Defelent may be recognised as a tiefling, depending on how much these two know of extraplanar beings and their activities.

[Snares]

The boy turns around as Defelent starts speaking, and seems a little taken aback by his appearance for a moment. He's still not quite gotten used to all the different entities abounding in the Nexus, and as such doesn't recognise him as a tiefling, nor does he know the meaning of the symbol on his tunic.

"Uh... OK. I'm Efrim." He offers his hand in a handshake to Defelent, and, should he accept it or not, then goes off to start righting the tables and chairs.

The older man has remained standing next to the doorway the whole time, rigid, glancing around, his hands kept glued to his sides. As he sees Efrim go to start picking up some chairs, he begins to hurry over to him. He talks quickly and quietly to Efrim. "I don't know what just happened here, but I'm not comfortable being in some place that looks as though it just got trashed a second ago. We just need to get our hands on some of this stuff, and find out way back to-"

Again, he is cut off by Efrim mid-sentence. "Look dad, I find it pretty damn unlikely that any of our various murderous family members have tracked us all the way here... wherever the hell this is. We don't even know how we got here, we don't know how to get back, we don't even know where this is. Maybe someone here can tell us that, huh?"

The older man looks at the ground for a second, then looks back up. "Well, you go talk to your... weird... red friend," he says, trying to sound angry but coming off more nervous, especially when he nearly jumps out of his skin as a piece of wood drops off a table and clatters to the floor. He scowls at the bit of wood and stalks off back to his spot by the door.

Efrim turns to Defelent. "Sorry about my dad... and would you happen to know how this place got so... wrecked? And, while you're at it, where we are exactly? We... kind of..." He thinks back to his arrival here, everything going black for a second before this world melted into view, and the sight of his father popping into existence in mid-air before landing face first in the dirt. "... landed here."

[Earl of Purple]

"Don't worry about insulting me. I've heard worse. This is the Nexus, a meeting place of worlds. Your situation is not uncommon; I arrived when I was lost in a wood, fleeing bigots who feared my nature. There are many ways here, but less back, and eventually even those whom want most to leave come to enjoy it here. I am a tiefling, a human, like yourselves, only one of my ancestors was a demon. I am not entirely certain as to the events, as I was enmired then as the cause of this is now." The tiefling doesn't stop work as he speaks. At least, not until he Deadtimes.

[Lord Iames Osari]

((Sorry about the wait...))

Minat doesn't look up. "No, I've got everything under control for now..."

[Snares]

"You almost certainly have heard worse. My dad can be running through the house with a man behind him trying to knife him in the head, and the best he can come up with is 'You're a very bad person!'"

Efrim listens intently to the rest of what Defelent says. The Nexus, a meeting place of worlds... a hard place to leave. Something tells him that he won't be finding his way back to the Artelo mansion any time soon, and part of him is very glad of that.

"That's interesting. They used to say that my family had a demon in its ancestry too... way back, though. Waaaaaaay back. And there's probably little truth in it. More just a story to scare people."

He continues to work, setting the tables and chairs upright until the tavern looks to be in a reasonable state again. Well, if you discount the explosion marks. He wonders if this sort of thing is a regular occurrence in the Nexus.

[Trobby]

After some housecleaning is done, Captain Tobias shakes his head and opens his eyes, a little trickle of blood coming down from his bandana, with the origin masked by its color. He looks down, checking to make sure that Valeriya is alright, before surveying the damage to the Tavern.

"...wow...you weren't kidding Val...things are quite...exciting here." He said to her, still a little out of it from his concussion.

[The Bushranger]

Same with Kyr really. Gotta be at work in 5 hours...

Drew nods,
Good to be back in the land of living, right?

He should know...

Marcie, coming out of deadtime, nods...and seems to have been protected by the ooze from the un-bear-able drama... "Yes. Very much so."



...Val, meanwhile, is rather dazed from having been tackled to safety by Captain Tobias, and blinks. "That was...just another day in the office," she says as she sits up, rubbing her own head.

[Trobby]

"If that's just another day, I'd hate to see what Mondays are like."

Of course, it IS Monday, so that might have something to do with it...

Tobias thought this, and felt a slight bit of dampness on his head. Looking at it, he finds his hand smeared with blood.

"Ah...this can't be good..."

[Snares]

Efrim, his clearing up finished, wanders over to the group of people who now appear to be conscious.

"Hey! You all okay over here? What happened?"

The older man by the door leans against the wall and begins to tap his foot.

[The Bushranger]

Val, who is a dusky-skinned, brown (but "frosted" slightly)-haired woman of military bearing, looks up at the newcomer and nods. "The Nexus happened, I think...oh dear. Captian? You OK?"

She waves to Marcie, who gives her companion an apologetic (and shy) smile, then hurries over.
Since she's the bearer of the medkit.

[Trobby]

"Y-yeah...I'm a little dizzy, but I think I can stand-"

Tobias began this, but wasn't able to finish. As he tried to pull himself up to his feet, the searing pain in his head protested against this, and pulled him firmly back to the ground, causing him to wince in pain.

"Or maybe I'm losing just a little too much blood right now...ah..."

He shifted his torso a little, and discovered a brand new source of extreme discomfort.

"And I think I may have bruised a rib or two on impact. Ahh..."

He rubbed his sore body, and pulled at the ties on his bandana, taking it off to reveal a head full of brown locks matted with blood. He was still bleeding, but it had at least slowed down a bit. And he had quite a bit of bruising under the mat of hair.

[The Bushranger]

Val quickly tries to haul Captain Tobias right back down and into a chair. "You, sir, are going nowhere until we get that looked at." she says firmly, as Marcie grabs a bandage and an alcohol pad, and starts to work on that head wound of his.

[Trobby]

"I've...ah...had worse." Tobias admitted, as the alcohol was applied to his wound. "Though I admit I wouldn't want to have worse again...Are you alright, Val?"

[The Bushranger]

"I'm fine. You shouldn't have hurt yourself protecting me," Val protests, blushing a bit, and smiling. "You'll be alright."

Marcie, having finished the alcohol, starts wrapping the Captain's head in bandages.

[Trobby]

"Heh...what sort of gentleman would I be if I didn't go foolishly risking my life to save a beautiful woman?"

Yes, he did just call her beautiful. Openly. He might be a little dizzy from the blood loss, and not moderating what he says quite as well.

...Or...

[Kyrian]

Drew shakes away deadtime, and sees Marcie busy at th moment, so he heads back to where Kalim stands.

"She's cute, Drew."

Drew turns red,
Wait what?? Yea. Maybe. Yea...

Kalim chuckles at his companion.

[The Bushranger]

Val, at hearing that particular compliment from the Captain, blushes and ducks her head.

Marcie, meanwhile, grins at her friend over the Captain's head as she finishes the bandaging. "Your ribs," the former FDF soldier then says in a firm voice.

[Trobby]

"Ah? Oh right, of course..."

The captain doesn't SEEM to notice Val's blushing...but then again, he is a sly dog, and he could be grinning to himself as her head is turned down for all she knows...

He pulls his coat off, hanging it over a chair and wincing a little as his ribs stretch in an unpleasant manner.

"I don't think they're broken, but they're probably tender right now."

[Kyrian]

Drew shakes away deadtime, and sees Marcie busy at th moment, so he heads back to where Kalim stands.

"She's cute, Drew."

Drew turns red,
Wait what?? Yea. Maybe. Yea...

Kalim chuckles at his companion.

To make sure BR sees...

[The Bushranger]

((Eep. Sorry, Kyr. Ya ninja'd me. :smalltongue:))

"Still need to wrap them," Marcie says firmly, looking over at Kalim and Drew for a moment, wondering who they're talking about.

"Better be careful not to injure them further," Val points out, her cheeks still rather pink.

[Trobby]

"Alright then. Hope nobody here minds..." Tobias reached down, and pulled off the white cotton shirt with the black bird emblem on the front, placing it on the table, and sitting up as straight as he could for Marcie to wrap his ribs.

[Snares]

"Are you done in here yet?" says Efrim's father, his arms folded.

Efrim takes a quick glance around. The place is in some kind of order, the injured are being treated, and he actually knows where he is now. "Yep." He walks over to the door. This Nexus place is dangerous. Definitely. But a good place for a fresh start, where his name won't hang over him.

"So what now?"

"We find somewhere who wants the skills that I have. And whatever skills it is that you have."

"Don't forget who you're talking to. The only man ever to have stayed head of the Artelo family for ten years without being killed off by one of his relatives!"

"Yeah, through dumb luck. Lots of it."

"Skill, my dear son, skill! We need to find out who's in charge of all the crime around here! With my reputation, I'll have a place at the top in no time."

"Your reputation..."

Efrim sighs, and the two of them exit the tavern, neatly going into deadtime straight afterwards.

[Kyrian]

Kalim cracks his neck, using the moment to spot Marcie looking their way,
"going to talk to her more?"

Drew follows Kalim's glance and turns darker red when he notices Marcie looking.

[The Bushranger]

Val, needless to say, can't help but look at the Captain a bit as his shirt is removed. >_> :smalltongue:

Marcie, meanwhile, has turned her attention back away from Drew, and sets to work wrapping Captain Tobias' ribs with the skill of a trained field medic.

[Kyrian]

She's busy. I'll be fine...

Kalim gives another chuckle and sets their table upright.
"Sure. I'm going to get another drink."

As Drew sits, Kalim walks over to the bar.

[Trobby]

"You're pretty good at this, Marcie." Tobias comments, and looks forward, noticing Val's considerable blush.

This time, she is SURE he smirked a little. Or maybe a lot...though he winces all the same when Marcie tightens the bindings a little.