[Nexus] Outside XVIII

[VampireRot]

[Little Village]

"Ah. It would let them summon the Dancer without the moon, wouldn't it? Perhaps you're right."

Zanny thinks. The bard's moral values of politeness battle with his natural draconic nature of not-caring-about-tiny-hairless-apes.

[happyturtle]

[Little Village]

"I... I don't know." Player is very tired and indecisive as well which doesn't help. :smallyuk:

[Shadowcaller]

[Little Villager]

"I still want the idol, if you won't join the cult as I hope you won't, I'll pay you for it. I'll give you pretty much all the money I got." Nancy suddenly states with a hint of desperation in her voice, she is quite pitiful really.

[VampireRot]

[Little Village]

Zanny blinks, then looks at Nancy. He slightly cringes, before putting a straight face as to not make her feel too bad for the desperation.

"It's okay, you don't need to pay us."

As much as the dragon likes gold, he isn't exactly running out of it.

"We'll... Help."

His eyes once again seek Darcy, not wanting to make the decision without her input.

[happyturtle]

[Little Village]

"If you have the idol, will it just affect your cult? Not anyone else?" Darcy asks.

[Shadowcaller]

[Little Village]

"I wouldn't like to share our gift with anyone else, just look at what you did when you joined the ritual, this will only be for me and the cult." Nancy replies.

[VampireRot]

[Little Village]

Zanny sighs.

"Okay then. I think we should do it."

He eyes Nancy.

"Will the idol do anything to us? I don't want to "commune" with the Dancer in any way."

[Shadowcaller]

[Little Village]

"It shouldn't really... can'g grantee anything for her though." She nods at Darcy. "She is connected to it now, wherever she likes it or not."

[happyturtle]

[Little Village]

Darcy nods in agreement, and then deadtimes. Feel free to have her on autofollow.

[The Bushranger]

[Beddling]


Thank you, Miss.

I'm sorry, Miss. I don't know anything. My pop and uncle, we're just hired thugs. I just started the other day, when you first arrived in Riverside, Ma'am. His eyes go big as he just realized something. Sorry about that, by the way. I'm glad you and the blue miss got away, to be honest.

"Thank you." Quinn smiles, and decides to take a seat, crossing her legs lotus-style. "It's good to know that there's some decent folk here. So, the others are your father and his brother, then?" she asks, her voice gentle and soothing.





Tavlii giggles. "Why of course, Val. You've seen them, here and in our world. It's how we generate and store and move power for [I]everything. What are you thinking?"

"Well, yeah." Val chuckles a bit. "Just wanted to be totally sure. Now, what I'm thinking," she says, a little slowly as her brain turns the idea over, "is that if I can get enough of that material - preferably in an unrefined state - I might be able to cobble together a hyperdrive and shield generator for one of the airships, which would let us intercept this Death Moon at a reasonable distance from the planet..."



[Beach Cave]


"Seeep!" Cleo nods. "Let's go, bird." She'll walk slowly along the trail towards Town, whistling a happy tune.
"Seeep!"
Tom chirrups happily, flying loops in the air, as he follows Cleo...

Earth to Major Tom. Erin? Ring a bell? You're supposed to be her familiar? Never heard of her? Riiiiiiight. :smalltongue:

[Recaiden]

[Bunker]

"Wait for the replicator to make enough of it."
Tavlii points upwards, likely to indicate the big, noisy, crystal sythesizing machine they have up there.

[Cave]

Cleo offers Tom some bird seed. Besides, it's Ground Control to Major Tom. :smalltongue:

[The Bushranger]

[Bunker]

Val flinches, just a little, at the word 'Replicator'.
But then smiles.
"Hopefully it won't take too long. It will be a real kludge of a design, too - I'm not as good as some of my...co-workers were at the engineering work."


[Cave]

True. :smalltongue:

THAT Junco pecks at the birdseed, then looks up at Cleo, fluffing his feathers.
"Chirrup SEEP."
He sounds almost insulted. He's a bird of refined palate! Birdseed is beneath him!
...but it makes a good appetizer.
And so he scratches and pecks and gobbles it up.

((posted Home, too, BTW.))

[Recaiden]

[Bunker]

"Replicator."
Tavlii smiles at her friend. "That's no problem. We can help. The Broken One is very good at such things."

((I already answered in Home))

[The Bushranger]

[Bunker]

Val, this time, doesn't flinch. :smalltongue:
"Thanks. You/you guys are great. I couldn't ask for a better friend/s," Val says.
And yes, she does, somehow, pronounce the slashes.



[Cave]

Having finished the seed, Tom flies up onto a nearby bush and sings!

[Recaiden]

[Bunker]

Tavlii goes to hug Val, glad she's not asking any awkward questions. Because that would be awkward. "And we couldn't either."

[Cave]

Cleo sits and plays the flute along with him.

[The Bushranger]

[Bunker]

Oh, Val has lots of potentially awkward questions to ask. But she figues she'll ask them at a less awkward time, when, with more knowlege gained without asking, they might not be so awkward.
And she hugs Tavlii back with a happy smile!


[Cave area]

Tom proves to be quite the vocalist, for a junco, but after awhile winds down.

"Seep seep chirrup chirp seep."

...it seems he's lamenting that he can't speak Common, perhaps.

[Recaiden]

[Bunker]

Well, Tavlii is reading her mind to get at them. :smallwink: The hug will end, and Tavlii will turn around to head for the stairs!

[Cave]

Cleo shrugs, and will say in bird that common isn't so great.

[The Bushranger]

[Bunker]

:smallwink:
Val is, at the moment, pondering just how the Broken One got broken, for instance. And also how Tavlii seems perhaps a bit more independent from the rest of Atorre (for varying levels of independent) and if maybe that was because she was the one who caused the Six to be One...

Accompanied by dry, dull, boring hyperdrive schematics. :smalltongue:

As she follows Tavlii up the stairs!

---

[Cave]

Tom nearly does a backflip in surprise on the perch!

[Bird]"'ey now, you can talk with me? Eh what, that's a pleasant surprise 'ere, guv'nor!"

[Recaiden]

[Bunker]

Tavlii is being an experiment. They got the idea from a novel they read. It's where they get most of their ideas, actually. That and Kai's brain. Tavlii's experiment is going much better that the Broken One's, though.
Tavlii ignores those. They are boring, after all.

Up to the surface they go! And wait for Len?

[Beach]

"Of course I can. Glad you enjoy it."

[The Bushranger]

[Bunker]

Aha. If Val knew that, she'd be saying she was quite glad Tavlii's experiment was going well.
She's quite fond of the monochromatic girl. (But not that kind of fond.)

Up they go! And presumably wait, yes.



[Beach]

"Enjoy it? Ma'am, it's rare for me to be able to speak to somebody who can actually 'ear what I'm saying? You know what I mean, ol' chap? Well! I have to say that was tasty birdseed but I wouldn't mind a nip of brandy, eh what?"

[Recaiden]

[Bunker]

What? A BR character who isn't attracted to everyone they meet? * faints *
Oh hey, I have to write again. That's too bad, that Val doesn't like Tavlii. Tavlii is supposed to be testing for the existence of Love, among many other things. Before they write it all the way out of their worldview. They being Atorre, of course. They're really judgmental, have you noticed that? ♪♪♪♫
I think it's a bad idea. I mean, I just remembered there's a lot more to life than love, but it's pretty important, right? Good thing my player can't hear me. Hehe.♪ ♫ ♪


[Beach]

"That's too bad. What about other birds?"I say. I wonder where his accent is from. I've really never heard one like it. Wait, there was that one guy. Richard. From Britain.ia. That's it, ya.

[The Bushranger]

[Bunker]

Yup. :smallwink: *uses smelling salts*
I see, well then, that is too bad, but maybe somebody else might happen across the sweet monochrome girl. Would be a shame to lose the meaning of love from life, since having it around might help them sand off those rough judgemental edge-
Hush, BR-the-character. Nobody invited you to talk here. Besides, that's the kind of thing Toby does, and you hate him, right? :smalltongue:

[Beach]

"Eh, most birds are incredibly boring. They're all talking about wind speed, wing spans, power-to-weight ratios and a fair bit about berries," Tom the Junco observes. "'umans, on the other hand, well, you never know what they're going to talk about, eh what? Say, you wouldn't 'ave a spot of tea, guv'nor?"

And yes, Cleo, Tom speaks with a Cockney accent. :smalltongue:

((And I need to head off to bed. Will post in Home first though. Good night!))

[Lex-Kat]

[Beddling]


Reinholdt glares at the man with a similar name. GLARES.
And turns pink and tries his minor, easily resistible, magical suggestion. "Tell me what I want to know. Why were you hired? Why does that man want Jezebelle dead?"
We are a family of professional thugs. Who's Jezebelle? Then he stops and glares at Reinholdt. Kill me already, darn it.


"Thank you." Quinn smiles, and decides to take a seat, crossing her legs lotus-style. "It's good to know that there's some decent folk here. So, the others are your father and his brother, then?" she asks, her voice gentle and soothing.
Yes, ma'am. It's a family business. But I probably shouldn't be telling you all this. He looks away again.

[The Bushranger]

[Beddling]

"I'm sure that's what they would say," Quinn says softly. "But, I don't think you agree with how the, ah, family business is run, do you Billy? You're a nice boy, and I think you don't like hurting people - especially girls, and that some of the things they make you do otherwise you'd also rather not, right? I'm Quinn, by the way. Quinn Druid."

She smiles again, gently, trying to set poor Billy at ease.

[Recaiden]

[Bunker]

Honestly, I've never met a BR character. I've only heard about them from Lady Auranico. But is it really that bad? Anyway, Tavlii'll be fine. Hey. What are you?
* wakes *
Aren't those things poison?
Anyway, Tavlii is going to head off again once Len undeadtimes. The airship is almost done, and they need to start building more rockets. No real need for her around now that the machines are starting to come back online. She's much more valuable going out to learn new things, and gain experiences.

[Cave]

"Neh. I gots some brandy, if that's any betta. Ran out of tea a few weeks ago. So dat's where we're goin' now, to get some tea." Cleo stands again, glares at BR through the wall, and starts walking off the beach.

[Reinholdt]

[Beddling]

We are a family of professional thugs. Who's Jezebelle? Then he stops and glares at Reinholdt. Kill me already, darn it.

"I'd rather not quite yet. But if you co-operate, maybe I'll grant your wish."

"Tell me what were you hired to do." Reinholdt says, cheating again.

[Morty]

[A Cave, Somewhere]

Dipsnig leads Raz to the cave. It's a relatively small one, reached through a short tunnel. Well, here we are.

[Project_Mayhem]

((Herp derp derp I missed this entirely. Sorry Morty))

Raz slows to a skidding stop.

Cool. Right, I'll need a good while to set this up. The longer it is, the stronger the ward. If you bring me food at some point I can go for a day odd I think.

[Morty]

((Herp derp derp I missed this entirely. Sorry Morty))

Raz slows to a skidding stop.

Cool. Right, I'll need a good while to set this up. The longer it is, the stronger the ward. If you bring me food at some point I can go for a day odd I think.

Sure. I'll bring you some food or send a clockwork penguin with it. Just remember to clean up so Jack has absolutely no reason to be suspicious.

[Project_Mayhem]

Raz nods.

Yeah, I'll use a matter spell to ... crap.

...

Stupid mana drain.

He sighs.

OK, yes, I'll be careful here.

He then goes to the middle of the cave, sits down, and starts chanting.

[Morty]

Dipsnig turns Viima and rides back to the base.

[Lex-Kat]

[Beddling]


"I'm sure that's what they would say," Quinn says softly. "But, I don't think you agree with how the, ah, family business is run, do you Billy? You're a nice boy, and I think you don't like hurting people - especially girls, and that some of the things they make you do otherwise you'd also rather not, right? I'm Quinn, by the way. Quinn Druid."

She smiles again, gently, trying to set poor Billy at ease.
That's right, ma'am. But poppa says I'll grow out of it, just like he did. 'Bad things happen. And it's better they happen to other people, than for them to happen to you'. That's what he always tells me.

"I'd rather not quite yet. But if you co-operate, maybe I'll grant your wish."

"Tell me what were you hired to do." Reinholdt says, cheating again.
To kill you! And stop messing with my head.

[The Bushranger]

[Bunker]


[Bunker]

Honestly, I've never met a BR character. I've only heard about them from Lady Auranico. But is it really that bad? Anyway, Tavlii'll be fine. Hey. What are you?
* wakes *
Aren't those things poison?
Anyway, Tavlii is going to head off again once Len undeadtimes. The airship is almost done, and they need to start building more rockets. No real need for her around now that the machines are starting to come back online. She's much more valuable going out to learn new things, and gain experiences.

I'm BR's original character from HALO, I think Arlem knows me well enough. And I think better judgemental than naivé, to a point. Also, half-ghost her.
...and who let you out to talk?
Dunno if smelling salts are poisonous. Not so if only sniffed as opposed to injested, tho, I bet.
Anyway. Clearly Tavlii will head out to seek out new life, and new civilisations - I mean experiences. And Val will hang around supervising airship construction, watching rocket construction, and trying to draw out hyperspace window generator schematics from memory.

[Beach Cave]


"Neh. I gots some brandy, if that's any betta. Ran out of tea a few weeks ago. So dat's where we're goin' now, to get some tea." Cleo stands again, glares at BR through the wall, and starts walking off the beach.
"Ah, a nip o' brandy is always good, guv'nor. Makes somebody else drunk when I drink, tho. S'always amusing, eh what?"

And Tom flutters off, possibly following Cleo.

The Fourth Wall Masons' Union, meanwhile, would like a few words with Cleo. :smalltongue:

*******

[Beddling]


That's right, ma'am. But poppa says I'll grow out of it, just like he did. 'Bad things happen. And it's better they happen to other people, than for them to happen to you'. That's what he always tells me.

"Well, you see, he's right to a point there," Quinn concedes with a nod. "But while that may be the case, causing bad things to happen to other people isn't a good thing. Instead you should be fighitng to protect people from the bad things happening, to be what the bad things fear."

[Reinholdt]

[Beddling]

To kill you! And stop messing with my head.

"Then behave." Reinholdt ponders a bit.

"Who is the man who hired you exactly. And I'm not just looking for a name here. What's his relationship with Jonas?"

[Recaiden]

[Bunker]

Okay. I'm Cleo. Really Rec's first character. Jon says he was first, but the ideas fer me came out ahead of time, even if that worthless druid got onto the screen afore I did. Nice to meet you. Now, Arlem, Arlem... was 'e dat depressed cleric the boss told us to keep away from?
Tavlii does leave, waving goodbye to Val and Len.

[Cave]

She decides not to share any alcohol with the bird, and goes to look for a ...something. Deadtiming for now, I think.
And after what she did to the last union representative, I'm guessing those words are "Yes sir, right away sir." :smalltongue:

[Lex-Kat]

[Beddling]


"Well, you see, he's right to a point there," Quinn concedes with a nod. "But while that may be the case, causing bad things to happen to other people isn't a good thing. Instead you should be fighitng to protect people from the bad things happening, to be what the bad things fear."
I don't know. Poppa wouldn't like that idea. Besides, if what you are sayin' is true, then Poppa and Uncle are the bad people.

I wouldn't want to harm them. He stares at his feet.

"Then behave." Reinholdt ponders a bit.

"Who is the man who hired you exactly. And I'm not just looking for a name here. What's his relationship with Jonas?"
Rendfield turns his head back away. Tight-lipped once again.

[Reinholdt]

[Beddling]

"Look, I'm not particularly out to make your life difficult, but you did attack us and this guy did go and kill a good friend of mine, so I'd rather really like to know why. The more co-operative you are, the happier everyone is."

[The Bushranger]

[Bunker]

And Val (semi?-)deadtimes to wait on Len!

Nice to meet you too, but, hey, careful what you say about druids. Tobias might hear you. And I like to think I was BR's first character, myself, but it's really a toss-up between myself and Orion, I reckon. I suppose that's a good way of describing Arlem, for better or for worse. Nice kid, but he'll always call the glass half-empty, yeah.


[Cave]

Tom, not having anything else to do, gets contagiously deadtimed and/or flies away.

Fair point. :smalltongue:


---

[Beddling]

"Well, you wouldn't have to. And I wouldn't say they're necessarily bad people, but rather...misguided. Maybe seeing you doing good at being good might help them?" Quinn suggests. "And aren't you old enough to be deciding what you want to do for your life, anyway, instead of letting other people choose for you?"

[Recaiden]

[Bunker]

"What, 'that Druids are worthless!'? I'm not afraid of Tobias anymore. Nice kid, you say? Boss said he was mentally unstable and really dangerous, even if he was family."

[Shipyard]

One (1) airship is completed. Everyone clambers down and sets down their tools.

[The Bushranger]

[Bunker, Shipyard, ICB in general. :smalltongue:]

And Val manages to arrive just in time, bearing a bottle of champagne. The better to christen the airship, of course.



Yes, yes, and yes, on all counts, with regard to Arlem. Still a good kid though even so. And I think the only person who scares me more than Tobias does is Edna Mode.

[Recaiden]

[ICB]

Which we leave to Intro and Tobias, of course.

"If you say so. I've only the word of the Lady Vaan to go on. And no matter how serious she is, she's not to reliable. Where are you physically? Using this psychic amplifier always gives me a headache. So much worse than the shield helmet."

[Rae Artemi]

[Bunker]

Oh, hey, uh, stuff happened where Len was... I sort of lost track of him for a while...

Yeah, he leaves the bunker too. He probably goes off looking for Morbit, if he isn't needed.

[The Bushranger]

[ICBs]

Indeed.

Presumably, Val doesn't find Len at the moment. :smalltongue:

Off somewhere with Marle, actually. Offscreen, as it were, due to her NPChood. Psionic boosters you say? Careful, those things are dangerous.

[Lex-Kat]

[Beddling]


"Look, I'm not particularly out to make your life difficult, but you did attack us and this guy did go and kill a good friend of mine, so I'd rather really like to know why. The more co-operative you are, the happier everyone is."
Rendfield speaks softly. I'm sorry about your friend. But we are just thugs. It's our job. We don't know anything more than who to shoot at, and when. We usually aren't even told the why. He then goes back to silence.

"Well, you wouldn't have to. And I wouldn't say they're necessarily bad people, but rather...misguided. Maybe seeing you doing good at being good might help them?" Quinn suggests. "And aren't you old enough to be deciding what you want to do for your life, anyway, instead of letting other people choose for you?"
Billy just shakes his head, as if Quinn doesn't understand. You don't understand. This is how I was raised. My brothers are thugs. My cousins are thugs. My Poppa and his brothers are thugs. Paw-paw and his brothers were thugs. It's a family business. I can't just walk away from it. It wouldn't be right.

[Fan]

[A monolith near a sandy hill, and a tiny creek]

Lloyd arrives again, innocuously, and quietly to the scene, looking rather flustered.

His hair mussed, and his skin flushed, but more importantly, carrying a red checkered sack of goodies for his.. currently only friend.

However, the goodies are set aside quickly, and with a scrutinizing glare he examined the monolith, and sighed when he saw the breaks in the soot..

It seemed.. he had been found out. It would've happened eventually, and he probably should have broken out in a fashion that didn't make it so glaringly obvious.

[Project_Mayhem]

Raz finishes his spell and returns to the NO

[Reinholdt]

[Beddling]

Rendfield speaks softly. I'm sorry about your friend. But we are just thugs. It's our job. We don't know anything more than who to shoot at, and when. We usually aren't even told the why. He then goes back to silence.

Reinholdt sighs. He believes him. Sometimes what you don't know can save your life.

"Alright. Fair enough. What can you tell me about your employer though? Anything?"

[Moros66]

[Meadow]

A somewhat subdued looking Elijah (discripion here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9572615&postcount=241) and in my sig) walks down a path that runs parallel to a large verdantly green meadow that has a slight hill rise out of it on the left side.

He moves off the path and walks up the hill stopping at his summit. He pulls a knife from his back and starts to carve odd symbols into the earth in a circle. Once he has spent about twenty minutes doing this he sits down the centre of the circle and starts to chant in an odd language.

[The Bushranger]

[Beddling]


Rendfield speaks softly. I'm sorry about your friend. But we are just thugs. It's our job. We don't know anything more than who to shoot at, and when. We usually aren't even told the why. He then goes back to silence.

Billy just shakes his head, as if Quinn doesn't understand. You don't understand. This is how I was raised. My brothers are thugs. My cousins are thugs. My Poppa and his brothers are thugs. Paw-paw and his brothers were thugs. It's a family business. I can't just walk away from it. It wouldn't be right.

[Beddling]

"..."

Quinn sighs, shaking her head. "I guess I can understand how you might feel that way. You could try...changing the family business for the better? Being bodyguards, perhaps, instead of simple thugs who kill a woman who has two young children who don't understand why their momma isn't coming back?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Little Village]

"Good... thank you." Nancy replies carefully, not really sure how to approach them now. "There is a long way to travel however, the place we are going to lies very deep within the Noctraul Woods here nearby." She points at a tree-line in the distance.

[happyturtle]

[Temple of Artaris]

[Temple of Artaris]

"Whu-what?" The man says as he is awaken by the spider. His eyes go open and he looks to his side, staring Mister Squiggles in his many eyes.

There is a moment of silence.

"GAHHH!" He leaps up from the bed and have moved to the corner of the room at an amazing speed, "Squish it! Someone!" He yells at Michalson and Moff.





Mister Squiggles chitters. The spider was what... 6, maybe 7 times the size of a man? Maybe 5. Some number where at least two or three people could ride on his back with ease.

Yeah. Squishing. It ain't happening.


*poke poke poke to Michalson, Moff, and Rot*


[Little Village]

"Good... thank you." Nancy replies carefully, not really sure how to approach them now. "There is a long way to travel however, the place we are going to lies very deep within the Noctraul Woods here nearby." She points at a tree-line in the distance.

"Far enough that we need supplies?" Darcy asks.

[Morty]

[Temple of Artaris]

*poke poke poke to Michalson, Moff, and Rot*
Darcy asks.

((>.> <.< Whoops.))

Don't worry, this spider is harmless, Michalson says calmly.

[Shadowcaller]

"Far enough that we need supplies?" Darcy asks.

"That depends..." She glances carefully at Zanny "Can you fly there?"

[VampireRot]

[Temple of Artaris]

Rot is still waiting outside the church, away from the others. Cause, you know, churches and vampires don't mix. :smallannoyed: He's spending his time just staring at random people on the street. Staaaring.



[Little Village]

Zanny nods.

"Yes, I can fly all of us."

[WarKitty]

[Cliffs Cave]

"Bad scientist, no doughnut." Quinn stands. "Sir, I think I know somebody who might be interested in your work..."

She suddenly has a Cunning Plan come to mind to solve everything!


Brillian finally undeadtimes after his player's stupid papers.

"Really? I would love to meet them! Would you like some hot chocolate?"

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok blinks.

Well...we could, but that'd be kind of a...

Hmm...if everyone was there, anyone trying to kill the two of you would have the entire other half of the party trying to kill them for making the attempt. Maybe it's not such a bad idea.

Actually, that'd be awesome. And aside from the Magbots who don't really count at all, I haven't much in the way of real family either. S'weird how that seems to be the case for a lot of people...

The paddleboat lifts off into the air, as Magtok thinks over a mental list of possible destinations.

Well, I've already got a clone being swamped in AMEN, but we could always go visit the grumpypants apocalypse-stopping nastyfaces in WATCHTOWER and tell them the news. Or we could try the ring out on any nasty GLoG people who try to use fancy superpowers to take back the paddleboat, or go back to the island, or try to find someone who'll cater the wedding and do priestly things and such somewhere.

((*Pokes EleventhHour*))

[EleventhHour]

Paddleboat

"Weeell..." Elle ponders this, while shinificating the area they're flying over. It's a catgirl, shiny things, and a way to make them.

"That all kinda sounds boring, really. You have robots for invitations, going back to GLoG, again, will only go badly..." Hm, what does that leave, "Er... what's a Watchtower?"
She looks up for a moment, "I guess we can go there. Somewhere new, right?"

[happyturtle]

[Little Village]

Zanny nods.

"Yes, I can fly all of us."

"Of course it's pretty dangerous. An intense experience. Are you sure you can handle it?" Darcy says to Nancy in a malicious tone.

[Shadowcaller]

[Little Village]

Nancy shrugs "We can always walk if it's so dangerous." She says dismissively, glaring at Darcy, clearly annoyed.

[Temple of Artaris]

There is a long pause of the man looking between the dire spider the others, as the spider doesn't seem to be doing anything, he let's out a short breath of relief, still white as a sheet.

"Alright, who the heck are you then? You don't look like to belong to a church exactly, are you some kind of bandits or something? Because I only own the clothes I wear."

[VampireRot]

[Little Village]

Zanny chuckles at Darcy and Nancy's antics.

"I can keep the danger to a minimum, don't worry. The scales might be a bit uncomfortable though."

[happyturtle]

[Little Village]

Darcy grins at Zanny, then steps back to give him room to transform.

[Shadowcaller]

[Little Village]

Nancy follows Darcy's lead, backing away carefully, seemingly a bit nervous about what's going to happen.

[VampireRot]

[Little Village]

Zanny returns the grin and transforms. The only way to describe it is... *Poof!*. Where the hawt bard was a second ago towers a huge green-scaled dragon. Huge and glittering green eyes turn toward Nancy.

Zanny lowers his neck and head to present a section of his upper back that is ideal for riding, two of the spikes that line his spine forming a small dip where two or three people could sit. As he warned, the scales aren't exactly comfortable.

"Let's go then."

Zanny puts up with Darcy as a rider due to their relationship, but would rather not have Nancy on his back. :smallyuk: Ah well, the things you must do.

[happyturtle]

[Dragonriding]

Darcy clambers up, giving Nancy a hand if she needs it. Being a shapeshifter means she can make herself perfectly comfortable.

Off to plot?

[Shadowcaller]

[Little Village]

On the railroad dragons back we go!

Nancy is acting as nervous as anyone that for their first time in their life is expected to be. She spends most of the trip hanging on to Zanny's scales for all that she is worth.

The journey itself is rather gloomy, the weather is cloudy, even with some rain at the middle of it, the landscape is never changing, acre after acre of grey woods.

It's starting to get pretty late and your might get rather hungry after such a long journey as you finally can see it, the citadel, rising up in the distance like a great mountain in the middle of this huge forest.

The clouds covering the skies are dark now and it looks like this is going to be a both starless and moonless night. "There, there it is, Ashwood citadel, just as I remembered it..." Nancy says, now finally daring to let go of Zanny's scales a bit to point out the dark shadow in the distance. "So what now?"

[VampireRot]

[Ashwood Citadel]

"A rain of death and destruction? Or would you prefer subtly?"

Zanny's personality may change a wee bit in dragon form. Probably just from the perspective. The dragon slows down and lowers his altitude to skim the treetops, to make it so a glance outside a citadel window wouldn't immediately give them away..

[Lord Magtok]

Paddleboat

"Weeell..." Elle ponders this, while shinificating the area they're flying over. It's a catgirl, shiny things, and a way to make them.


Paddleboat

To WATCHTOWER, then! Fwooosh!

...Maggy, did you really just say "Fwooosh!" aloud?

Ugh, whatever. At least you made sure to have all this nuttiness on display before marriage, so Elly doesn't get any sort of buyer's remorse later on. To WATCHTOWER, then.

[happyturtle]

[Ashwood Citadel]

"Let's start with subtlety." Darcy says. After all, they can always go 'Rawwr! Attack!' later, if subtlety doesn't work, but it's a lot harder to switch tactics in the other direction.

[Shadowcaller]

[Ashwood Citadel]

"Agreed, you might as well destroy the idol we are after with your tantrum, or they'll do it as soon as they realize we are after it." Nancy says, grabbing on tightly to Zanny once again.

[VampireRot]

[Ashwood Citadel]

The riders probably feel a deep rumbling coming from the dragon, as Zanny chuckles. A fair distance from the citadel, he lands and will let Darcy and Nancy off.

"We should walk the rest of the way, so they don't notice."

If they agree to this and get off, he'll transform again and start walking.

[happyturtle]

[Ashwood Citadel]

Once he's back in human form, Darcy takes Zanny's hand. "Can you tell us anything about the people we're facing?" she asks Nancy. "How well do you know them? Will they recognize you?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Ashwood Citadel]

"I lived here once, it was like... 7 years ago I think, I was living in the local church before they had to close down due the cult moving in so I had to move." Nancy states "So I doubt someone will recognize me, but I imagine a quite a lot have changed around here since I left." She looks in the direction of the citadel that is partly covered by the nearby trees.

"The cult itself is just a few armed brutes really, or at least it was when I left the village, much have most likely changed." She pauses, looking at Zanny and Darcy again "So are we going straight to the citadel or do you like to visit the village first? I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

[VampireRot]

[Ashwood Citadel]

"If you want to get food, we can. I'd prefer to get the idol and get back as soon as possible, though."

Zanny is not hungry at all. It's a reptile thing, though dragons aren't technically reptiles of course.

[happyturtle]

[Ashwood Citadel]

(Didn't we just have a meal back in the village?)

Darcy has no strong opinion one way or the other, and will deadtime boringly.

[The Alexandrian]

[Dropship Brawl: Scar's Final Moments]

The spell is successful, the ship is transformed into dirt. A very rich soil, might I add. The blanket of dust begins to rain down on all the observers, quite possibly nearly smothering them/the one observer with its thick earthly abundance. At the very least, it should act as an annoyance and limit the field of vision for all on the ground near the dropship's location. The explosives within the ship, however, were not changed to dust. They begin their descent from what was the ship. All twelve of them. One seems to be heading toward the spellcaster's location and, with the dust, it might be rather difficult to see. The missile itself is a hellfire which would probably send out lots of shrapnel if it detonates.

Ghoul evades the robot only to have the ship begin to turn to dust and fall from the sky. Of course, the holes in what once was the hull are rather easy to escape through.

To any onlookers, it would appear as if Scar was having a heart attack. He grips his chest and his eyes open wide as he glances at his chest. What doesn't resemble a heart attack is the wound he clutches in his chest that wasn't there a moment ago. The blood flows out as if unhampered as Scar crashes to the floor, lifeless. Or rather, Scar crashes through the dirt floor and plunges into the sky. Its a dead bird! Its an anvil from an old cartoon! No, its a bloodied corpse! It is better than falling to one's doom I suppose. On his head is a stamp. It reads "Six O'clock." though that might not be of great import.

Meanwhile, Alex's body has been reconstructed, but no spirit returns to it. It too falls to the ground from its high perch. Dr. Victor Frankenstein lied! That cad...or maybe not.

In another realm that is between here and nowhere, two figures hover while speaking to a giant disembodied head. The realm is in the shape of a cube for this moment. The room itself is divided into two parts, a light side and a dark side. In the dark side is a vile, featureless spectre. On the other, a rather placid, logical spectre. The head speaks to both in three distinct tones, one of anger, one of sorrow, and one of mirth. The head itself is indescribable. It is and it isn't. It may be that it does not exist, but the words it utters are just as critical either way.

"You two are mad. Mad indeed. You two are men that are mad. Mad men. Two stout figures who stand in conflict with each other but would be much more mad without one another. And as you have accepted me, the lord of all madness into your hearts and very essence, I am going to grant you both my greatest gift, more madness. Madness for all!"

The spectres do understand what is occurring, though they seem unable to raise their voices to respond or indicate any sense of agreement or disagreement.

With this, the head begins to address the dark side of the room alone.

"You will arrive first. You will be as mad as a hatter. In fact, that is exactly what you shall be. You will be the Mad Hatter himself! You will fit quite well with that role indeed. I only need the size of your head that I may make sure your hat fits properly. Of course, your rather inflated ego may change the size of your head at any moment, so this would be a waste of time to take your head measurements. Of course, you won't have time to waste, seeing as, for you, it will always be six o'clock. Yes, you will make a proper mad hatter."

Satisfied with its decision, the head now turns to address the light side of the room.

"As for you, you seem to be a good sort of mad but mad all the same. For you, I will craft a body and you will retain your wit and intellect. However, you may find yourself in many an odd situation with only these gifts to rely on to survive. And, as for the increase in your madness...I will make you a pirate...no. A wannabe pirate! It will be your burning desire every waking moment of your life! Quite a humorous spectacle with the events I plan on placing you into. Now there remains one thing alone, to explain why I seem so sane to you both. Complete sanity is the highest form of madness. Regardless I tire of speaking to both of you so I bid thee adieu. I said adieu!"

With the second adieu, both spectres vanish and begin to materialize in their new forms in the Nexus. Alex is gone but it seems that his essence is being split and reused as a god's plaything. And as with any birth, great pain is experienced, though this pain does not belong to anyone but Scar, who was used to seal the god's "pact" with the two spectres. After all, using one's own blood to seal a pact is so outdated. Make another spill their blood for your gain! That is madness...or is it rational thought?

[ThirdEmperor]

Prince arrives on the scene and begins to dig through the dirt, looking for Scar's body, as well as any documentation of Alex's death.

[Morty]

[Temple of Artaris]

There is a long pause of the man looking between the dire spider the others, as the spider doesn't seem to be doing anything, he let's out a short breath of relief, still white as a sheet.

"Alright, who the heck are you then? You don't look like to belong to a church exactly, are you some kind of bandits or something? Because I only own the clothes I wear."

Trust us, we're not bandits. We're pilgrims. Potential converts, if you will.

[Haruki-kun]

Haruki arrives at the beach carrying a surfboard, an icebox with soft drinks, and an old-style radio to set the mood. He's wearing swimming trunks, a T-shirt, and sunglasses. After setting up a beach umbrella and a towel on the floor, he goes tostand in the water.


[B]"BEACH PARTY!"

[ThirdEmperor]

Haruki may notice a large, very overweight dark and light orange striped cat stroll onto the beach. He might also notice it grabbing the cooler and searching it for drinks.

[Morty]

Mark shows up on the beach. He's a thin, humanoid figure wrapped in a robe, with pale, yellow eyes. The heat doesn't seem to bother him, but he does put on sunglasses.
[B]Well, well, well. Finally something is happening around here.

[Haruki-kun]

[Beach]

Haruki looks at the cat and smiles. The drinks are to share after all.

He turns to the ocean and looks at the waves. The day is beautiful. The sun is shining, not a cloud in the sky.

"Right! I already know Flash, Cut, Strength and Fly! Time to learn Surf!"

But it looks like he's waiting for someone.

[UncleWolf]

[Beach]

A small sail can be seen on the waves as a tiny raft begins to approach. A voice can be heard singing...

"Those buccaneers drown their sins in Rum, and the Devil himself would have to call them scum..."

The figure comes into view, showing a barechested man, obviously a pirate by the large purple hat with a feather in it, with a large barrel with him on the raft. His raft lands, and he shoulders the barrel of rum.

"Every man on board would have killed his weight, for a bag of guineas or a piece of eeeeeight!"

Blood finally realizes he isn't alone and stops singing. "Oh, a party...um..." he looks at a loss of what to do for a moment before popping open the barrel.

"Rum anyone?" the pirate offers with a smile.

[Lord Magtok]

Beach

Still clad in his usual robes, and carrying a massive umbrella designed to coat him entirely in shadow, Magtok reluctantly shows up, wondering if this is part of his punishment for exploding part of the moon or something.

He raises an eyebrow at the angel, briefly wondering what he did to deserve this horrid fate.

I thought you could only know four moves at a time though, Ruki. Or did they change that in the dumb smelly later generation games, too?

[Morty]

A small sail can be seen on the waves as a tiny raft begins to approach. A voice can be heard singing...

"Those buccaneers drown their sins in Rum, and the Devil himself would have to call them scum..."

The figure comes into view, showing a barechested man, obviously a pirate by the large purple hat with a feather in it, with a large barrel with him on the raft. His raft lands, and he shoulders the barrel of rum.

"Every man on board would have killed his weight, for a bag of guineas or a piece of eeeeeight!"

Blood finally realizes he isn't alone and stops singing. "Oh, a party...um..." he looks at a loss of what to do for a moment before popping open the barrel.

"Rum anyone?" the pirate offers with a smile.

[B]Rum? Like you have to ask! Mark the Marraenoloth happily accepts the offered rum and downs it. Could anyone explain to me what surfing is?

[ThirdEmperor]

The drinks are for sharing? That might be a little hard, as Chezchire is drinking all of them.

[Haruki-kun]

[Beach]

Haruki takes the rum, has a sip, and passes it on to Magtok. "No, Maggy, they still only learn four. The difference is that contrary to popular belief, I'm not a pokemon*."

As if he'd just noticed him there, he looks at the cyborg critically. "What in the Moon's name are you wearing?"

*"I'm a Digimon." :smallcool:

@TE: Welcome to my parties. Drinks are Infinity + 1.

[Lex-Kat]

[Beddling]


Reinholdt sighs. He believes him. Sometimes what you don't know can save your life.

"Alright. Fair enough. What can you tell me about your employer though? Anything?"
Rendfield folds his arms over his chest. More silence follows.

"..."

Quinn sighs, shaking her head. "I guess I can understand how you might feel that way. You could try...changing the family business for the better? Being bodyguards, perhaps, instead of simple thugs who kill a woman who has two young children who don't understand why their momma isn't coming back?"
We never killed no woman with children, that I know of, ma'am.

But if you let us go, I can only promise that I will try to steer my family into that of bodyguards. But I can't promise that I'll be successful. Uncle Rendfield is a stubborn man.

And then Melody tries to push her thoughts into Reinholdt and Quinn's minds.

Fredrick Von Davies is the old Czar of this Ministry of Underhanded Destroyers and Decievers. When he was in his forties, and ready for retirement, he took Johan under his tutelage and raised him to be his successor. He was like a son to Frederick.

Stimpson here figures that Frederick had Jezebelle assassinated because she was the ultimate cause of Johan's fall.

[ThirdEmperor]

Growling at the apparent lack of finite amounts of soft drinks, Chezchire summons a rather large bottle of rat poison and a hypodermic needle, then begins poisoning the drinks.

[UncleWolf]

((TE, this is supposed to be a silly/fun event. Don't ruin it.))

[ThirdEmperor]

(Chezchire considers rat poison fun..... But okay)

Quickly getting bored of poisoning sodas, Chezchire conjures a beach blanket and takes a nap.

[Lord Magtok]

[Beach]

"I'm wearing what I always wear, because the sun is bright and cruel and nasty and evil. What in the name of Raptor Jesus's bifocals are YOU wearing?

Magtok points a pale, flesh-coated finger out from under his umbrella and at Haruki, where it immediately catches fire upon exposure to sunlight. Someone's definitely been in their MagCave for far too long.

Oww! Darn it, that's only supposed to happen to Rot!

He dips the finger in an unpoisoned drink, and then gulps the rum down, because it's free and being offered to him by a powerful angel who could break his legs by blinking at them really hard and why not.

[Haruki-kun]

(Chezchire considers rat poison fun..... But okay)

((But the rest of us don't.))

Haruki dumps the poisoned drinks and replaces them with immune Angel drinks.

"Excuse me for a second, Maggy." Out of nowhere, a traditional folding dressing screen appears. He pushes Magtok behind it and throws him actual beach wear. And sunscreen cuz... yeah.

"Put that on!"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Beach]

A little further up the beach, a skeleton with a shotgun dressed in good ol' western clothing, complete with a sheriff's badge and ten gallon hat tipped to a suitably jaunty angle, is wandering aimlessly along, his spurs going jingle jangle jingle as he wanders.

After a moment or two he notices the pirate, skeleton, cyborg, cat...and whatever Mark is.

The skeleton whistles a little tune and wanders over to investigate. "What's going on here then?"

[Morty]

Mark is a Yugoloth, a Neutral Evil fiend from Gehenna. Only he's not really evil at all. He looks like a skeletal human wrapped in a robe.
[B]It's a beach party, man. He downs another bottle of rum.

[Shadowcaller]

[Ashwood Citadel]

"If you want to get food, we can. I'd prefer to get the idol and get back as soon as possible, though."

Zanny is not hungry at all. It's a reptile thing, though dragons aren't technically reptiles of course.

[Ashwood Citadel]

"Alright, let's try to make this fast then." Nancy says starting to lead you through the dark woods towards the citadel in the distance. It takes a while, but finally you start to move up the hill. It looks quite old, parts of it appears to have even collapsed due age.

"It's different from what I remember it..." You hear Nancy say, mostly to herself as she glances down at the village from below, it doesn't appear to be in the best condition either.

Getting up the hill you notice the dawnbridge is down and the irongate is open, but there are no guards in sight, the citadel look just as empty this close as it did from a great distance.

You get a feeling of wrongness already as you start to cross it, something that feels like it's draining you. Nancy does not appear to get this feeling but does still seem to realize something is wrong.

"No guards... strange, I don't like this. We should already have been spotted by now and the gate wouldn't be open like this."

[Lord Magtok]

Beach

Magtok shakes his shinier fist as he grudgingly drags himself to the dressing screen thingy.

Fine! But when the sun bounces off of my head and burns a hole into someone's face like some sort of horrific magnifying glass of doom, you'll get no apologies from me! None!

A few minutes later, he drags himself back out of the dressing screen thingy, and gulps down some angelic rum before glaring sinisterly at it. Whilst not quite a demon, holy things like that drink still had a tendency to leave a weird, guilty sort of aftertaste in his mouth.

There. I came to your silly party, dressed accordingly, and drank some rum. Am I off the hook for blowing up part of your beloved moon now?

[VampireRot]

[Beach]

"Yay! Beach party!" :smallbiggrin:

Devi, wearing short shorts, a tank top, sandals, and sunglasses, skips onto the beach. The Thermomancer puts a purple towel down and grabs a soda.



[Ashwood Citadel]

Zanny takes everyone to the beach for the party follows Nancy. He winces at the draining.

"Looks abandoned. I think something... bad happened here."

[ThirdEmperor]

Chezchire opens one eye lazily. How interesting. The skeleton man has a raft, which is a good way to get out onto the ocean without getting wet. Ocean has fish. After a few seconds of mental calculation, Chezchire teleports onto the raft, fishing pole in hand.

[Haruki-kun]

[Beach]

He'll never be off the hook for blowing up the Moon. Haruki photoshops the reflection off Maggy's metallic head. "Hooray!" he says as he takes off his shirt and then drags the cyborg to the water. And Mark, too.

"Surfing works like this. You need a long, flat piece of wood that floats. Then you get on it in the water and... uhm.... well, the waves.... sorta....

And then you go WOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" he says all of this while gesturing and pretending to surf while on land. Clearly, the only surfing experience Haruki has comes from Pokemon videogames and maybe a Nickelodeon Cartoon.

"It's deep science," he adds.

[happyturtle]

[Ashwood Citadel]

"... everyone stay close." Darcy says, and shapeshifts a blade into her hand, but in a way to make it look like it's a normal hand holding a blade, rather than a blade arm.

[Morty]

[B]So you stand on a pice of wood and ride on waves? Cool! Mark immediately tries that. And, obviously, ends up in the water.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Beach]

"Beach party? Huh, well, when in Rome..." Lucas takes his hat off and tosses it away, then heads over to the drinks. He flicks out his pocketwatch and stares at it, then at the drinks, then shrugs and grabs a bottle of rum.

How does a skeleton drink?

Answer: He doesn't.

Instead, Lucas ducks behind the dressing screen, puts on some more appropriate clothing, and flicks a little switch on the side of his pocketwatch. When he walks back out, he seems to have become rather less skeleton-y, and rather more...human. He brushes his messy black hair out of his eyes, puts on a set of sunglasses, and takes a swig from the bottle of rum.

[VampireRot]

[Ashwood Citadel]

Zanny looks at the blade with interest, and stays close to Darcy.


[Beach]

Devi grabs a surfboard that was sticking out of the sand. Its a beach, those are all over the place. :smallannoyed:

"This is how you do it, sillies!"

The Thermomancer runs into the water, unconcerned with getting her shorts and tanktop wet. She swims out a good ways, and does some funky temperature changes with convection currents and stuff. A huge wave appears, which she then grabs with the board. And surfs.

...

She's really good at it. Now she's doing a handstand. :smallcool:

[Haruki-kun]

[Beach]

Haruki stares at Devi and cheers on. He seems genuinely amazed. "AWESOME! Let's go try it!"

He runs into the water, surfboard in hand.

He washes up on shore a roughly three minutes later. "Harder than it looks."

[Shadowcaller]

[Ashwood Citadel]

Both Nancy and Zanny might find it harder to use any of their supernatural, or in Zanny's case, natural abilities, all excessiveness beyond that of a normal human feels like it's slowly starting to drain away the deeper they go into this place.

Nancy however that already is as normal as a human can get does not appear to feel this drain at all, but the empty courtyard appears to make her uncomfortable in a more traditional sense.

"Alright, I don't know where they hid the relic or if it's even here anymore, but there is only one way to find out." She says as she stands in the middle of the courtyard that is mead of dead yellowed grass mostly, the darkness is nearly perfect as there are no moon or stars to light anything up, but you get the feeling it will be even darker inside the building.

Nancy points at a door in the distance "That leads into the sleeping quarters and the machine rooms." She turns 180 degrees to the main gate leading into the fortress "That leads into the main building, more likely that it's there really. So where do we start?"

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

{Beach}

A cloud of sand is kicked up in the distance and getting closer as a Masked LLama comes running down the beach toward the gathering party. As he gets closer, he stops and pants.

I thought I...*Gasp* ...heard someone....say....*pant pant* free soda?

*He waves to Haruki and everyone.*

[Recaiden]

[Beach Party]

There's a Riace looking suspiciously at the surfers. That's way too much water in one place. He'll stick to drinking for now.

[ThirdEmperor]

Chezchire, seeing the wave coming towards him, teleports back onto the beaxh with a snarl.

[Recaiden]

Well, if there's another cat-thing there, Riace just has to go surf to show them up. He grabs a surfboard and heads out onto the water. And falls off quickly to wash back up on the beach, gasping for air.
Probably should have thought about the fact that he can't swim before doing that.

[Haruki-kun]

[Beach]

Haruki looks up. "Oh, hey, Atreyu! Free Angel Soda right over there!" he says, pointing. "And surfing over there. Can you surf?"

[Morty]

[Beach]

Mark swims back to the beach and snaps his fingers, which causes his trusty boat to pop out of the extradimensional space onto the water. He grabs another bottle of room and stretches on the boat.

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

*The llama looks around studying the faces and not seeing many new people. However, he does see a cooler full of sodas, and a pile of sodas off to the side. The sodas in the cooler might be colder, but he'd have to stick his face in the icy waters to get it. The pile of sodas are much easier to get to, so he goes over and bites into the side of one, so that it punctures and drains the tasty beverage into his mouth.*

*He turns to Haruki.* Nope. Never learned to surf. no beaches in Camelot. Is it easy?

[VampireRot]

[Ashwood Citadel]

Zanny's looking a bit less hawt, as some of his enchantments give out. But he's still good-looking. The bard gestures toward the fortress.

"Let's look in there."



[Beach]

Devi, still on her surfboard, giggles at all the people failing. She tunes down the convection or something to make smaller waves.

"Silly people don't know how to surf!"

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok raises an eyebrow at Haruki.

He's...he's a talking llama. How on earth could he possibly know how to surf? You have wings to cheat with, and still can't get it ri-

Sunlight bounces off of Magtok's head and lights some unlucky NPC on fire.

...Oops.

[Gnrlshrimp]

"You never know. Perhaps he'll turn out to be a champion surfing llama!" Lucas chuckles and takes another swig of rum. Not in the mood for trying surfing, he simply lies down on the sand and relaxes, laughing occasionally as he watches people trying to get to grips with surfing.

[ThirdEmperor]

Laughing at the poor NPC, Chezchire wanders over to Riace and attempt to poke it in the face. That..... Was absolutely, completely and disgustingly pathetic.

[Haruki-kun]

[Beach]

"But I'm not a cheater, so I don't use the wings. I'm not like you... let me guess. Magnetized your surf board so it holds you down?"

He turns to the Llama.

".....Atreyu are you drinking the rat-poisoned Sodas?" :smalleek:

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

*The llama ponders the question, drinks another, gargling a bit, and nods* Probably! They do have more of a kick than usual. I kinda like it. Its a good thing I'm not a rat, aye?

[Haruki-kun]

[Beach]

It makes perfect sense. "Yeah! I suppose it is!"

Haruki turns to Magtok. "Well, then. Let's see how you do."

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

*The llama will devote himself to the task of saving any rats in the area by drinking all the poisoned sodas while his player goes to take a quick shower.*

[Lord Magtok]

[Beach]

It makes perfect sense. "Yeah! I suppose it is!"

Haruki turns to Magtok. "Well, then. Let's see how you do."

Beach

Oh, I'd love to, but I umm...I have to deadtime! Yep, my player has to go do stuff, so as much as I'd like to surf, I-

Actually, I've still got time for one last post before I go for a little while.

Traitor. :smallyuk:

Magtok grudgingly takes a surfboard and proceeds to fail horribly, fly through the air back to the party, and get his head lodged in the sand.

Mmmpgh! Mmmpgh!

The cyborg flails about helplessly in the sand, his massive cranium keeping him stuck in place.

[ThirdEmperor]

Hey, you know what they say? If you fail, try and try again for my amusement. Chezchire says to Magtok, beofre turning to talk to Haruki. Would you mind overly much if I teleported him back onto the surfboard? Because this is priceless.

[Morty]

[B]Come on, cat, says Mark, stretched on his boat. Everyone's having fun, quit being a party-pooper.

[Reinholdt]

[Beddling]

Rendfield folds his arms over his chest. More silence follows.

We never killed no woman with children, that I know of, ma'am.

But if you let us go, I can only promise that I will try to steer my family into that of bodyguards. But I can't promise that I'll be successful. Uncle Rendfield is a stubborn man.

And then Melody tries to push her thoughts into Reinholdt and Quinn's minds.

Fredrick Von Davies is the old Czar of this Ministry of Underhanded Destroyers and Decievers. When he was in his forties, and ready for retirement, he took Johan under his tutelage and raised him to be his successor. He was like a son to Frederick.

Stimpson here figures that Frederick had Jezebelle assassinated because she was the ultimate cause of Johan's fall.
"Like a son. Figured as much. But what's this MUDD?"

Reinholdt rolls his eyes at Rendfield. "You're only causing more trouble for yourself and your family. What can you tell me about the Master?"



[Temple of Artaris]

There is a long pause of the man looking between the dire spider the others, as the spider doesn't seem to be doing anything, he let's out a short breath of relief, still white as a sheet.

"Alright, who the heck are you then? You don't look like to belong to a church exactly, are you some kind of bandits or something? Because I only own the clothes I wear."

Mister Squiggles chitters and steps forward to offer a leg to shake. He's Mister Squiggles! How do you do? They were here to find... something. A demon his player thinks. Perhaps.

[Haruki-kun]

[Beach]

Haruki grabs Maggy's feet and pulls him out of the sand.

"Well, so much for that," he says at upside-down dangling cyborg. "Wanna try that again?"

[ThirdEmperor]

[B]Come on, cat, says Mark, stretched on his boat. Everyone's having fun, quit being a party-pooper.

Oh fine. Chzchire says, teleporting onto the boat and resuming his quest to impale a fish and devour it alive. Who are you anyway?

[Morty]

[B]Name's Mark, the Marraenoloth says, waving a half-empty bottle of rum. You?

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

*The llama lets out a large belch having finished off all the soda. Anyone in a 10 ft cone from the llama may need to make DC14 fort save or be stunned for 3 rounds.

He looks around, very embarrassed at his behaviour.*

[ThirdEmperor]

Chezchire. Says Chezchire, waving a paw which now mysteriously has a live trout in it, despite the fact he has yet catch a single fish.

[Haruki-kun]

"Hey! Do llamas surf? Well, do they?" Haruki looks like he's very excited about the idea. So much, that he's still dangling Maggy by his feet.

[Morty]

Chezchire. Says Chezchire, waving a paw which now mysteriously has a live trout in it, despite the fact he has yet catch a single fish.

Well, pleased to meet you. The Yugoloth takes a shot of his rum.

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

I don't...I don't know. I've never tried. There isn't an avatar of it, though. I guess I can try.

*He trots over the water's edge and stares at the board, stepping on one timidly.*

[ThirdEmperor]

So what do you do around here? Chezchire says, lazily gutting the fish with a claw. I'm quite new to the Nexus, trying to figure it out.

[Lord Magtok]

[Beach]

Haruki grabs Maggy's feet and pulls him out of the sand.

"Well, so much for that," he says at upside-down dangling cyborg. "Wanna try that again?"

Magtok is plucked from the sand, and crosses his arms across his chest as he frowns up at the angel dangling him by his legs.

No.

[UncleWolf]

[Beach]

Dani Devi will likely find a surfboard floating lazily next to her, Blood laying on his back on it with a couple bottles of rum. His face is covered by his hat, but he holds out one of the bottles to her. "A drink, lass?"

[Haruki-kun]

[Beach]

"Well, you're boring," says the Angel, dropping Maggy on the floor. He extends a towel and goes to get a soda. Stretching a bit, he lays down on the floor. "Wanna take a break, then?"

The radio starts blasting music.

[VampireRot]

[Beach]

Dani Devi will likely find a surfboard floating lazily next to her, Blood laying on his back on it with a couple bottles of rum. His face is covered by his hat, but he holds out one of the bottles to her. "A drink, lass?"

[Beach]

"Hey! Thanks! Yeah!"

Devi grins and takes it. She makes it icey cold before taking a long swig. The girl gets a queasy look on her face, not exactly used to such beverages.

"Is... good?"

[Morty]

So what do you do around here? Chezchire says, lazily gutting the fish with a claw. I'm quite new to the Nexus, trying to figure it out.

I teach the kids at the school how to row. Which is of course just a ploy so he can keep an eye on Decker. Used to ferry people acros and along the River Styx.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Lucas finishes his drink and flicks the switch on his pocketwatch again, causing his human body to fade and become nothing but bones once more. He reaches out for his hat, plops it over his skull, and starts snoozing. It's an odd sorta whistling snooze, what with the way the air flows out of various places...

[UncleWolf]

[Beach]

Blood smirks when he hears her. "It's not fer everyone. If ye don't like it, it's okay. I'm Blood by tha way."

[ThirdEmperor]

Good enough job I suppose, keeping an eye on the demon kid and all, specially as you can tip one of the boats over once in a while for a laugh. Chezchire says, eating the wriggling fish, talking and reading the OOC text at the same time. Hmmm.... Would you have ever ferried a guy named Mariquill? Down the Styx I mean? He's a old.... Friend, and I'm wondering whether he's still kicking.

[EleventhHour]

Paddleboat

To WATCHTOWER, then! Fwooosh!

...Maggy, did you really just say "Fwooosh!" aloud?

Ugh, whatever. At least you made sure to have all this nuttiness on display before marriage, so Elly doesn't get any sort of buyer's remorse later on. To WATCHTOWER, then.

"Vrooooosh! Wooosh!" Elle tries to make sound effects, too. Not as good ones. I guess she hasn't flown much. "So, what is Watchertowers, anyway?" And she leans over the side a bit, to leave a whole trail of shiny all the way to the Watchtower thread!

[VampireRot]

[Beach]

"Uh... Okay. Thanks though."

Devi hands back the bottle.

"I'm called Devi. It's a good name!"

The Thermomancer nods. It is a good name.

"Your's is good too. Nice to meet you."

[UncleWolf]

[Beach]

Blood sits up on his board, allowing Devi to see the tattoo above his heart, a hand of poker cards. Two Aces, Two 8s, and a fifth card showing a beautiful woman holding an old style wheel. "Glad to meet ye." He offers his hand with a smile. "Ye here with the party?"

[VampireRot]

[Beach]

Devi shakes his hand happily.

"I guess. I like beaches, and parties, so I love beach parties and came to this one."

Logic! You can't beat it! She points at the tattoo.

"What's that mean?"

[UncleWolf]

[Beach]

Blood raises his hat, showing dark blond hair and a long goatee. He smiles as he looks down at the tattoo. "This? It's one of my symbols to Fortuna, Goddess of Luck. It also be The Dead Man's hand."

[VampireRot]

[Beach]

Devi 'oooh's.

"Luck goddess? Neato. Guess its good to have a bit of luck when you're sailing."

The girl peers at Blood.

"You are a pirate, right?"

Pirates are cool. Devi approves.

[UncleWolf]

[Beach]

Blood grins and stands before giving her a bow, low enough to give her a flash of a tattoo on his back, a large one, but he's too quick for her to be able to see it completely. "Captain Blood, at yer service. I even have me own ship if ye want to see it."

[VampireRot]

[Beach]

Devi looks curious about the tattoo, but her eyes widen and she forgets about it immediately.

"I love pirate ships! Can I really see it?" :smallbiggrin:

[UncleWolf]

[Beach]

Blood gives a smug smirk for just a moment before giving a piercing whistle. After a long moment, a rope ladder drops down from above. "Climb aboard Fortuna's Wrath if ye want to see it."

[VampireRot]

[Beach]

Devi remains wide-eyed and happy.

"Cool!"

The Thermomancer grabs the ladder and scrambles up it, unconcerned with leaving the surfboard behind. Probably because it wasn't her's.

[The Alexandrian]

[The Dust Cloud Which Once Was A Dropship]

Prince might be able to locate the remains of Scar, hands still grasping the hilt of the seemingly nonexistant blade which killed him atop a mound of soil.

Machine pieces litter the dirt, so Prince might find some random crushed junk in the soil, but no flesh of Alexander Pyborne. His blade can be found near Scar, but there is no sign that he is truly dead other than that.

And what is that falling from the sky near Prince? It is one of those twelve missiles that were freefalling from the sky mentioned before.

It is a rather nice picture, an exhalted clawing through the dirt to find something. It represents what they do, start on top of the earth and dig their way down to their own grave.

[UncleWolf]

[Beach=>Fortuna's Wrath]

Devi will see a giant airship above her, at least, the bottom of it. It's hull glows like an opal, the light flickering off of it in dozens of colors. Her prow has a mostly naked woman holding a wheel as her figurehead. There are no sails, and when she reaches the top, a strong cannoneer grabs her hand to pull her up. "Welcome to the Fortuna's Wrath, Miss."

The deck has a few dozen people on it, running repairs and maintenance. The railing has been replaced with higher armor to protect those who walk on her.

[VampireRot]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

"Thanks. Wow! This is awesome!"

Devi looks around with wonder, and rushes to one side of the ship. The Thermomancer enjoys the great view. And of course, tests some of her powers by lowering the temperature a couple of degrees about a mile away. Successfully. :smalleek:

The naked figurehead doesn't bother her, as figureheads are generally expected to be something like that.

[UncleWolf]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

The Captain drags himself up and overboard before pulling a lever to wind the rope ladder up. One of his crew offers him his pistol harness, and he pulls it on. "Thank ye, lassie. I spent quite a long time making this ship. She has the best Arcana Drive I could find. There are guest rooms for ye if ya want to spend a bit here."

[VampireRot]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

"It's an awesome ship!"

Devi turns to Blood, grinning.

"I'd love to stay for a bit."

The girl returns her gaze to the view.

"What's an Arcana Drive?"

[ThirdEmperor]

[The Dust Cloud]

It would indeed be a rather nice picture, were he Exalted at the moment, or even a true Exalt. Nevertheless, he does hear the missile, and with a muttered curse slices the corpse that was once Scar's head off and throws the body straight at the missile, dropping to the ground as he does so.

[UncleWolf]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

The Captain smiles and removes his hat, offering it to her. "Here, let me show ye." He gives a nod to one of the crew and he takes a step closer to Devi. The floor lowers, like an elevator, and she'll see several decks pass by. Gun Deck, Sleeping Quarters, Storage, and finally...The Arcana Drive.

The strange metal walls are covered in glowing runes, wards of protection and reinforcement, and in the middle, is what can only be the Arcana Drive.

It's a massive golden orb, spinning in the air, with dozens of smaller ones spinning around it like an atom. Lightning and arcs of fire move from the little satellites to the main orb, a sharp crack sounding with each strike. Cables are connected between it and the hull, infusing it with the magical energies.

"That is the Arcana Drive."

[VampireRot]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

Devi whistles.

"Wow... So it's a magical engine?"

The girl... magically senses for its temperature. :smalltongue: Forever curious.

[ThirdEmperor]

[In the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's]

The Weatherman! floats along lazily on his pet tornado generally relaxing and watching the clouds. The he spots the Fortuna's Wrath and forgets all about clouds. Did I mention he loves sky ships? Caus he does. Snapping his fingers, he changes directions, the miniature tornado zooming downn towards the skyship, although it's not powerful enough to do any damage or pull the ship off course.

[The Alexandrian]

[Dust, Cloud, Dropship]

Prince's manuver works. The missile harmlessly explodes in the sky. And I thought that only worked in action movies.

[ThirdEmperor]

Nevertheless, it is awesome. Prince returns to searching the rubble for a camera, a recording, a memory chip, anything thhat shows even a bit of Alex's demise.

[The Alexandrian]

[Dust Cloud]

A black box like machine is discovered. It has a screen and functions. The security footage only shows Alex's body being rebuilt, however. The last thing that is recorded is the hum of the machine being reactivated and plummeting through the floor. As he drops through the floor, the screen flashes with the phrase "I wanna be a mighty pirate.". This phrase makes it so that the falling through the floor portion of the video is not complete thus providing rather inconclusive evidence of Alex's demise.

[Haruki-kun]

[Beach]

The day being nearly done, Haruki starts a fire and hands out marshmallows and other around the fire stuff. Smiling, he sits in front of the fire to warm himself up.

[The Bushranger]

[Cliffs Cave]


Brillian finally undeadtimes after his player's stupid papers.

"Really? I would love to meet them! Would you like some hot chocolate?"

"No thank you. And if you'll come with me?" Quinn says, smiling tightly, and standing, dusting herself off. "We can get this done with, right away."

----

[Beddling]



We never killed no woman with children, that I know of, ma'am.

But if you let us go, I can only promise that I will try to steer my family into that of bodyguards. But I can't promise that I'll be successful. Uncle Rendfield is a stubborn man.

And then Melody tries to push her thoughts into Reinholdt and Quinn's minds.

Fredrick Von Davies is the old Czar of this Ministry of Underhanded Destroyers and Decievers. When he was in his forties, and ready for retirement, he took Johan under his tutelage and raised him to be his successor. He was like a son to Frederick.

Stimpson here figures that Frederick had Jezebelle assassinated because she was the ultimate cause of Johan's fall.


"Like a son. Figured as much. But what's this MUDD?"

"Well..."
Quinn starts to answer, then trails off, tilting her head and looking thoughtful. ~You know...that would make a lot of sense,~ she thinks back to Melody.

Then smiles at Billy.
I know it won't be easy. But I think you might be more successful than you think." Quinn nods. "I'm afraid we'll have to keep your weapons, though."

[Lex-Kat]

[Beddling]


"Like a son. Figured as much. But what's this MUDD?"

Reinholdt rolls his eyes at Rendfield. "You're only causing more trouble for yourself and your family. What can you tell me about the Master?"
Melody sounds confused. I thought the acronym made it frightfully obvious?

Rendfield remains stoic in his refusal to speak.


"Well..."
Quinn starts to answer, then trails off, tilting her head and looking thoughtful. ~You know...that would make a lot of sense,~ she thinks back to Melody.

Then smiles at Billy.
I know it won't be easy. But I think you might be more successful than you think." Quinn nods. "I'm afraid we'll have to keep your weapons, though."
Okay. Thank you, ma'am.

[Reinholdt]

[Beddling]


Melody sounds confused. I thought the acronym made it frightfully obvious?

Rendfield remains stoic in his refusal to speak.

Kinda. Are they in charge of Riverside and just crime lords or something? What do they destroy? Maybe that's where the Master is. There's lots more to know!

I'm getting nowhere with my guy so I think I'll go check out downstairs.

[UncleWolf]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

Devi whistles.

"Wow... So it's a magical engine?"

The girl... magically senses for its temperature. :smalltongue: Forever curious.




The Weatherman! floats along lazily on his pet tornado generally relaxing and watching the clouds. The he spots the Fortuna's Wrath and forgets all about clouds. Did I mention he loves sky ships? Caus he does. Snapping his fingers, he changes directions, the miniature tornado zooming downn towards the skyship, although it's not powerful enough to do any damage or pull the ship off course.

[[I]Fortuna's Wrath]

Blood nods. "In a way. It is what amounts ta be the Fortuna's Wrath's soul." Devi will see the temperature varying wildly, going for hundreds of degrees above zero, to a hundred below, but no matter what, the air feels the same.

On deck, several of the crew spot the tornado, and at this time of day...

"Elemental!" Shouts the Bosun. "Get the mages and cannon!" The deck comes to life as three spell cannon raise out of the deck and are aimed at the incoming Weatherman. They are giant creations of metal and magic, their barrels shining with silver and runes, but one, bigger than the others, holds the face of a demon on it, it's screaming mouth being loaded with a spell canister...

Down below, Blood hears the shout and curses. "Devi, we may be under attack."

[VampireRot]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

Devi stares in awe, even more so with the temperature changes. Magick. She loves it.

Her semi-trance is broken by Blood's words, which makes her gasp.

"What?! That's not good! I can help if you need me to!"

[The Bushranger]

[Beddling]

Quinn nods, smiling, and goes to untie Billy.
Being very careful, jusssst in case. :smalltongue:
"You're really a very nice boy, Billy. I think you're stronger than you think you are," she says.
As she answers Melody and Reinholdt telepathically.
~He does sound like a good lead for our 'Master', yes. I think we should be paying him a visit, don't you?~

[Lex-Kat]

[Beddling]


Kinda. Are they in charge of Riverside and just crime lords or something? What do they destroy? Maybe that's where the Master is. There's lots more to know!

I'm getting nowhere with my guy so I think I'll go check out downstairs.
I'm not getting anything more from Stimpson, either. I'll join both you and Quinn.

Quinn nods, smiling, and goes to untie Billy.
Being very careful, jusssst in case. :smalltongue:
"You're really a very nice boy, Billy. I think you're stronger than you think you are," she says.
As she answers Melody and Reinholdt telepathically.
~He does sound like a good lead for our 'Master', yes. I think we should be paying him a visit, don't you?~
I'm thinking Frederick Von Davies is the Fred that just escaped, not the Master.


{Night. DEADTIME}

[Reinholdt]

[Beddling]

"Yeah, I just meant maybe the Master works for that organization as well or something."

Reinholdt checks Rendfield's bonds, ensuring they're nice and tight and leaves Rendfield tied up when he heads downstairs back to the basement door he found.

[ThirdEmperor]

The Weatherman, noting the giant freaking cannons aiming at him, drops into the center of the tornado so the winds shield him. He then begins to dance, a very weird, confusing dance, like someone took an old ritual dance and put it to a new tune. As he dances, the clouds behind him shift, forming the words:

I surrender! Don't shoot! Really! Please!

[UncleWolf]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

Devi stares in awe, even more so with the temperature changes. Magick. She loves it.

Her semi-trance is broken by Blood's words, which makes her gasp.

"What?! That's not good! I can help if you need me to!"


The Weatherman, noting the giant freaking cannons aiming at him, drops into the center of the tornado so the winds shield him. He then begins to dance, a very weird, confusing dance, like someone took an old ritual dance and put it to a new tune. As he dances, the clouds behind him shift, forming the words:

I surrender! Don't shoot! Really! Please!

The other two cannon are loaded, but don't fire. The Bosun nods at another crew member, who amplifies the first one's voice with a simple spell.

"You will leave our airspace immediately, or be fired upon!"

Hearing this, Blood stops and breathes a sigh of relief. It wouldn't be good if a fight happened while he had a lady visiting. "No, I think we'll be alright, but we should stay here for the moment anyways. It's the safest part of the ship."

[ThirdEmperor]

But I wanna be a sky pirate too! Yells the Weatherman back.

[VampireRot]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

Devi nods.

"Okay."

She looks a bit nervous and shifts closer to Blood. Instinctive thing. >.>

[UncleWolf]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

The Bosun shakes his head. "Fire a warning shot. Cannon...lets do Cannon 3, grape."

The designated cannon, one of the ones without the demonic visage, fires, a cloud of grapeshot erupting from it's barrel with a loud crack of smoke and flame. It'll likely pass very very close to the Weatherman.


Blood allows himself a slight smile and takes a couple of paces towards one of the walls before tapping it. After a moment, it swings around, revealing a table, bottle of wine, and a few sweets preserved by a simple spell. "I believe we can relax fer the time being."

[VampireRot]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

Devi's nervousness is momentarily forgotten at the ship's next marvel. She "oohs" appreciatively and sits down while grabbing for some wine.

"Fancy! This ship gets even cooler every minute."

[The Bushranger]

[Beddling]

~Ah. Dang. It wouldn't be that easy, would it?~ Quinn sighs mentally.

[ThirdEmperor]

Weatherman flinches as the shot almost grazes his nose, then drops the tornado, dropping onto a solid cloud that forms beneath him. Look, I know it's your life to risk and all, but is shooting at someone who wears the anthromorphic incarnation of weather is a good idea when you're in the middle of the sky? He yells, voice booming like thunder. Seriously, I'm not a eldritch abomination, supervillian, pyschopath, evil god or destructive spirit of any sort or classification! I just think your ship is really cool and want to take a look! I even got rid of the tornado.

[UncleWolf]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

He'll hear the sounds of most of the crew laughing. Weather? Really? How can an airship like this afford to be afraid of the weather?

The Bosun raises his voice one last time. "This is your final warning! We will not accept any boarders that are not authorized!"


Blood takes a seat on the comfy couch that appeared with the table, sprawling on it, but leaving room for her to sit as well. "Thanks. I've put in a lot of effort into this ship. It's my entire fortune. And it isn't as good as my first ship was either, but unfortunately, I lost her to my own mother, The Iron Matron of the Northern Seas, in a poker game."

[VampireRot]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

Devi giggles and takes a seat next to Blood on the couch.

"A poker game? Pirates gamble too much."

The girl seems to like the wine much more than the rum she sampled previously.

[ThirdEmperor]

The Weatherman is just about to ask how to get authorization, when he hears the crew laughing. Cue internal flashback to his childhood explaining why he hates being laughed at! Actually, it's not him but his hat that you should be worried about. Becausehis hat is, in fact, Weather. Who they just laughed at. Had the hat eyes, they would narrow, had it hands, they would be thrown into the air in suitably dramatic fashion, had it a mouth it would give a speech on hubris. As it is? It just makes it's point. Two massive hurricanes explode into existence, one on each side of the Weatherman, their winds contained so they don't rip the ship apart or hurl it off course, but the roar nonetheless so deafening that a god could not hear itself think. With a boom of thunder, massive bolts of purple lightning explode forth between the tornado's, spelling out the words in jagged, burning script:


This is why you should be afraid.

[UncleWolf]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

The men and women of the crew look up at the storms and words, but do not seem afraid in the slightest. But, they do seem to look a little respectful at the display of power. "We are not afraid of anything you can bring to us. We have rode through the Seven Winds and Hells, and you have nothing we haven't seen before!" The Helmsman shouts back.

Blood, meanwhile, doesn't seem concerned at all, especially since each of his crew has been trained to be able to do everyone else's job when needed, including his own. "Perhaps, but, it was a family reunion, and she promised not to try and kill me that time around."

[VampireRot]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

Devi nods knowingly, though she doesn't really. Amnesiac and all, her family isn't something she's familiar with.

"She's got a nice name too. All you pirates have cool names." :smallbiggrin:

I mean, The Iron Matron of the Northern Seas? Wish that were my mom. :smalltongue:

[ThirdEmperor]

The hat speaks, it's voice booming through the air.

You think you've seen everything? Think again. There are a thousands gods of weather, but there is only one me. Everything that isn't touching the ground is my domain, and if you do not apologize for disrespecting me, and more importantly almost breaking my wearer's heart by shooting at him when the poor simpleton just wanted to lok at your ship, I will ensure you never again enter it. You may be afraid of nothing in the skies, but if you defy me, I will ensure you spend the rest of your days on land, every bit as trapped as any other insect.

[UncleWolf]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

"It was a warning shot, and we ordered you not to persist in coming closer! We will not fire again, unless you attempt to enter our airspace, understand?" The Helmsman shouts.

Blood gives Devi a slight smile and sips some wine as well. "Thanks, but her real name is Margaret. Just don't tell her I told you that. She'd kill me. And if I said her age, she'd skin me alive first, then use my hide for a treasure map."

[ThirdEmperor]

I will not leave until you apologize to the boy. Laughing in the face of a god? That I can respect as bravery, if idiotic and bound to get you killed. Shooting at someone for no reason? Especially when that someone has the brainpower of a brick and the common sense of a lemming? That is not gonna fly, nor is this vessel if you do not.

[Darkcomet]

((TE, if I may offer an honest suggestion, I think many people would appreciated it if you stopped being so...overbearing with your extremely high-powered characters.))

[ThirdEmperor]

(He's actually entirely bluffing. He can't actually kill anyone, or attack them.)

[UncleWolf]

The Helmsman simply looks back at the Weather. "No. I will not apologize for what we have done, but, I will say that we are sorry that we considered it necessary to do it." She says calmly. "Apologizing for what has been done, does not mean a thing, but apologizing for the reasons of it, does."

[ThirdEmperor]

Fair enough. And really, what is the world coming to when you can't even look at a ship without being threatened? Weather says, before both he and his avatar disappear in a bolt of lightning.

[happyturtle]

[Ashwood Citadel]

Zanny's looking a bit less hawt, as some of his enchantments give out. But he's still good-looking. The bard gestures toward the fortress.

"Let's look in there."



Darcy loses both the shapeshifted blade, and her 'Darcy' disguise. Her form shifts to make her shorter and more muscular, and she draws a bog standard dagger from her belt to carry instead. She is still recognizable as Darcy though, and she still think Zanny looks hawt. :smallwink:

[VampireRot]

[Ashwood Citadel]

Zanny doesn't comment on the disguise's disappearance. Though he would be gladdened to hear that he's still hawt without the magic. :smalltongue:


[Fortuna's Wrath]

Devi sips some wine, then giggles.

"Margaret? Hehe. Do you have an un-piratey real name, or is it really Blood?"

[happyturtle]

Ashwood Citadel

I'm sure Darcy would want to know if he still finds her hawt when she's not in her Darcy disguise. But at the moment, she's rather on edge and trying to draw on her barbarian training to prepare for the ambush she expects at any moment.

[Lex-Kat]

[Beddling]


"Yeah, I just meant maybe the Master works for that organization as well or something."

Reinholdt checks Rendfield's bonds, ensuring they're nice and tight and leaves Rendfield tied up when he heads downstairs back to the basement door he found.

~Ah. Dang. It wouldn't be that easy, would it?~ Quinn sighs mentally.
Melody joins them with Billy. Hmm. I guess so. I couldn't get anything else about him from Stimpson.

She grins to Quinn. I see you decided to cover poor Billy up. Did you get anything.

Billy blushes brightly again.

[WarKitty]

[Cliffs Cave]



"No thank you. And if you'll come with me?" Quinn says, smiling tightly, and standing, dusting herself off. "We can get this done with, right away."


Why certainly! The man stands up and reaches over to grab a long lab coat. He will follow Quinn out.

[Shadowcaller]

[Temple of Artaris]

"Yeah, right, you look like real pilgrim material alright." The man says with some sarcasm, forgetting the gigantic spider for a moment, "You look more like your the guys I hang around with before they threw me out. So, what are you really doing here? Is money involved?"

He sounds curious really.

Outside the temple rot can notice a huge metallic skyship with it's front shaped as an eagle soar out from the clouds, the population turns their heads upwards, staring at it with awe, while this doesn't seem to be a everyday occurrence, they seem to recognize the ship that quickly flies by without landing.

"Whoa." A young boy nearby rot exclaims, trying to get out of his mothers tight grip to get a better look at the ship "It's the eagles glory!"

His mother however have other plans and tugs him back towards her. "You aren't going anywhere with weird-looking man's around mister." She scolds in a quiet tone that was not intended to be heard by Rot, which most likely means he is the 'weird man'.

[Ashwood Citadel]

While then atmosphere at this dark place is almost so heavy you almost can breath it, no sudden attacks are made. As you step into the main room you see a corridor lit by a few numbers of torches leading the way in.

Nancy takes the lead as you start to go along the corridor, but at some point a strong wind can be heard coming from outside, the gate closing and the torches around you blowing out, all at once, leaving you in complete darkness.

"****..." You hear Nancy mumble, shocked, but without any real force or anger in her voice, a bit cowed by the sudden event.

[Reinholdt]

Rendfield wasn't talking either. Probably best to bring Billy with just in case the other two manage to escape and try something while we're busy.
Reinholdt gets to work opening the door again, using the crowbar. Ugh.

[B][Temple of Artaris]

Mister Squiggles pulls back the leg he offered to shake with and chitters angrily at the man for being rude. He wonders if this religion still allows the eating of humans as natural food sources.

The spider then looks for the exits to the room to see how many there were. They obviously wouldn't accomplish whatever it was they were supposed to be doing by staying in here.

[happyturtle]

Ashwood Citadel

"Hold still. I'll get a light," Darcy says. She feels her way over to the wall, to tryy and retrieve the closest torch and if she does, then to try and relight it with a tinderbox.

[VampireRot]

[Ashwood Citadel]

Zanny thinks Darcy is hawtter than Turtle, but she's still fine.

The bard scowls at the darkness, and wishes he could have his excellent dragon eyesight in human form without using magic. As the draining makes him wary of using his music, he waits hopefully on Darcy.


[Temple of Artaris]

Rot scowls at the mother, hearing her easily enough.

"Weird-looking man? Seriously? That's your best snide comment to the side about me? Amateur."

The vampire snorts and tries to get a good view of the airship. Which is rather hard to do when you're holding an umbrella up at the same time.

[UncleWolf]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

"Hmm?" Blood asks, distracted by the woman and the wine, though it's not clear which distracts him more. "Oh, no, it's really my name. Pirate born and raised."

The crew return to their normal duties, though the Helmsman notices the other airship in the distance, and turns her spyglass towards it...

[VampireRot]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

"That's cool!" :smallbiggrin:

Devi grins, and has another sip of wine. Then squirms a bit.

"Devi isn't exactly my birth name either, though. I forgot that one." :smallfrown::smallredface:

[Shadowcaller]

[Ashwood Citadel]

Zanny thinks Darcy is hawtter than Turtle, but she's still fine.

The bard scowls at the darkness, and wishes he could have his excellent dragon eyesight in human form without using magic. As the draining makes him wary of using his music, he waits hopefully on Darcy.


[Temple of Artaris]

Rot scowls at the mother, hearing her easily enough.

"Weird-looking man? Seriously? That's your best snide comment to the side about me? Amateur."

The vampire snorts and tries to get a good view of the airship. Which is rather hard to do when you're holding an umbrella up at the same time.

[Ashwood Citadel]

The torch is lit and gives you some well needed light within the darkness, making you able to see the corridor before you. "Great, mind litting up more of those? I have the feeling-"

Suddenly the whole place seems to shake and you can hear a blood-chilling moan coming from deep within the walls of the citadel "Uhuhuuuuu...."

[The Temple of Artaris]

There is only one exit out of the room unless you count the lonely window within the rest room, in the unguarded corridor outside it however, there are stairs leading up the the unexplored floors above.

Rot see the ship pass by rather quickly going towards inside. The mother stares at Rot a bit, before she purposefully drags away the little kid from him, Rot might also see her ending up talking with a nearby guard.

[VampireRot]

[Ashwood Citadel]

Zanny jumps a little in fright. Ahh, scary moans! :smalleek:

But then the dragon's expression hardens, and he glares at the walls.

"If you bloody moaning ghosts have nothing important to say, why don't you just shut up and let us be?!"

False bravado, while being false, is always helpful for the actual resolve. Also, he's always wanted to do that.


[Temple of Artaris]

Rot continues standing there holding his umbrella. He shifts uncomfortably, out of boredom and things happening to a plot clone.

The guard gets a wave, and an award-winning fanged smile. Which award it would win, however, is up to debate.

[UncleWolf]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

The helmsman notices the ship's course, and with a few orders, directs Fortuna's Wrath to parallel it and get closer.

If Blood notices the movement, he doesn't say or reveal it. He gives Devi a slightly sad smile. "Aye, I know how it is sometimes. I've lost my memories a time or two as well, normally after some kind of horrible wound. Are ye scarred anywhere?"

[VampireRot]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

Devi matches the sad smile and, as if just to be sure, feels around on the top of her head for a second. No scars or bumps.

"No."

The girl sips her wine slowly.

"I remember no details about anything before the Nexus. But I do remember knowledge."

[Chaotic Bob]

[That place with the explosions and dropships and stuff]

The moment the ship began to fall apart, Uleryu gave a satisfied nod and stepped back behind his fold in space, to safely watch what happened next.

It has never been his style to sit around and wait for something ugly to happen. Because something ugly always /does/ happen.
Firing off your spell, then backing off, tends to offer the best results.

In this case, it saves him from an inconvenient missile and a hell of a lot of dust getting into the folds of his robes.

Conveniently,this manual surveillance offers him all the proof he needs of Alex's death, after the Prince digs up the remains.
This should be satisfactory for the leaders at SAINT.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Eagle's Glory]

The ship continues towards inside, completely ignoring the approaching Fortuna's Wrath.

[UncleWolf]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

The Eagle's Glory will probably find the other ship fast approaching. Behind the armored walls of the pirate vessel, the gun crews begin to load their rounds.

Below deck, Blood suddenly stands with a smile and offers Devi his hand. "I do believe we're about to pillage a ship, so if ye'd like to watch, ye may come on up."

[VampireRot]

[Fortuna's Wrath]

Devi ooohs once again, taking the hand without hesitation.

"That sounds cool!"

Apparently the girl has no morals. >.> Perhaps a side effect of the amnesia, maybe the "Thermomancy", maybe she's just not a "good guy".

[Terumitsu]

((A bit late but stuff happens))

Ghoul luckily managed to just clear the area before the now dirt-ship fell to earth. Ignoring the irony of that statement, what was mostly on her mind was landing properly. The good thing was that she was now over a large quantity of loose dirt that would be perfect to soften her fall at least. That said, she thought that she could do better than that and began to mess with some of the settings on her energy shielding. Properly configured, the device could produce an impressive array of various functions if one wished to forgo the protection conferred. A thin, blue-green membrane unfurled from around her and into a hazy ellipse with a slight incline towards the front. It worked admirably well for an impromptu glider but it would be rather taxing on the device itself. She could keep it up for about ten minutes tops before she had to worry about any damage at least, which should be long enough to hit the ground, assuming no unexpected updrafts came along.

While she was up here, she decided to send a message to SAINT to confirm her progress. No reason why not when she had the time at least.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Eagle's Glory]

The ship continues at the same speed but suddenly a old musty, but magically enchanted voice can be heard in the air "Please refrain from engaging in any violence, this is the Hestopian sky ship Eagles glory, any hostilities made against us will be considered an act of war."

[UncleWolf]

[Airships]

On Fortuna's Wrath, Blood guides Devi to the deck, and opens up the weapons locker, showing a wide variety of weapons from the ages. "Take yer pick if ye need one."

The Helmsman replies to the call. "This is Fortuna's Wrath, and this is your only warning. Deactivate any weapons you have, and no one will get hurt when we take your cargo! I repeat, Deactivate any weapons you have, and no one will need to be hurt!"

[VampireRot]

[Temple of Artaris]

"I hate my unlife."

Poof.

Where'd the vampire go? :smalleek::smallconfused:


[Fortuna's Wrath]

Devi looks over the weapons with interest, though she has no clue how to use them besides "point away from self and pull trigger". Eventually, she grabs a Walther PPK. I'm not even going to think about the possibility of one not being stocked. :smalltongue:

"Cool!"

She holds the gun in both hands, a bit worried about accidentally pulling the trigger and shooting someone. Er, shooting someone not meant to be shot.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Eagle's Glory]

"This is your final warning, we are protected by act 125# Open Air, any actions against us will could be punished with a prison sentence possibly as long as 50 years."

As the voice speaks, the ship continues it's course.

[happyturtle]

[Ashwood Citadel]

Darcy hands the torch to Nancy. If she wants more, she can light them herself. Darcy expects to be rather too busy for that. "Yeah, ****, come out come out wherever you are!"

[Shadowcaller]

[Ashwood Citadel]

There is no reply, but the citadel have stopped shaking at least, Nancy however, hasn't "What the hell was that?!" She asks as she accepts Darcy's torch, looking around wildly, bleak as a sheet.

She seems to wait a while for anything else to happen, but it doesn't. The citadel have returned to it's dark silence once again.

Nancy takes a deep breath, pulling down her hood once again "...alright, so there is something here, you can deal with that sort of stuff right?" She asks nervously.

[VampireRot]

[Ashwood Citadel]

"I might be able to, but something in here is draining my magic."

Zanny looks away. Yeah, without his dragon form or music, he's useless in a fight. His only skill in weaponry is a bit of fancy swashbuckling footwork with a rapier, and that's mostly for show.

[The Alexandrian]

[Dust Mound]

The assassin should be able to glide down with relative ease. The missiles are not hindering the glider's functionality at all. However, the missiles seem to spell something with the settling dirt as they detonate. "TEA" is the word that is spelled. Evidently, a mad god is leaving hints as to what happened to Alex and his body.

[ApeofLight]

[Forest]

Andrew, a man dressed in all black, comes out from Inside along with Nuara and her unicorn. They come out into the forest, the forest that has been touched by fall. All of the leaves have turned orange, yellow, and red. Most of them have even fallen to the ground. Andrew walks out and takes a deep breath. " Ahh... nice forest air. "

[Artemis97]

[Forest]

A light, cool breeze seems to follow them as they walk through the forest. It caused the leaves above their heads to gently rustle as the branches swayed and picked up those that had fallen and sent them swirling and dancing along the path.

The large black unicorn stopped to paw at the leaves layered under the trees, searching for still green shoots of grass that was hidden underneath.

Nuara smiled at it all. At the rush of sound and the explosion of color. It was almost like being home again. This was her season, when she felt most alive. The winged elf paused to lay a pale hand against the trunk of a large tree. She closes her eyes for a moment and seemed to be listening.

"Someone's already begun their transition." she notes. "But the energy is faint. I don't recognize it, either."

[Reinholdt]

[The Temple of Artaris]

There is only one exit out of the room unless you count the lonely window within the rest room, in the unguarded corridor outside it however, there are stairs leading up the the unexplored floors above.

Rot see the ship pass by rather quickly going towards inside. The mother stares at Rot a bit, before she purposefully drags away the little kid from him, Rot might also see her ending up talking with a nearby guard.

Mister Squiggles decides to just go ahead and exit the room and let Michalson and Moff deal with the man. Since they're stalling him so effectively.

Oh. Stairs! Stairs always leads somewhere. Mister Squiggles heads to climb up them, but prefers to use the wall they're probably attached to to do so. So he's kinda sideways.

[ApeofLight]

[Forest]

A light, cool breeze seems to follow them as they walk through the forest. It caused the leaves above their heads to gently rustle as the branches swayed and picked up those that had fallen and sent them swirling and dancing along the path.

The large black unicorn stopped to paw at the leaves layered under the trees, searching for still green shoots of grass that was hidden underneath.

Nuara smiled at it all. At the rush of sound and the explosion of color. It was almost like being home again. This was her season, when she felt most alive. The winged elf paused to lay a pale hand against the trunk of a large tree. She closes her eyes for a moment and seemed to be listening.

"Someone's already begun their transition." she notes. "But the energy is faint. I don't recognize it, either."

[Forest]

Andrew smiles. Fall was one of his favorite and least favorite times. So many good and bad memories where stored there.

Then he turns with a confused look at Nuara. " Transition? Oh, you must mean the death sleep of the trees. " Andrew says walking over to the same tree as Nuara. " Back in my home town that's what we called it when I was a child. We didn't know why we just knew it happened at the changing of the seasons. " Andrew chuckles. " Though that saying wasn't used much when I left. There was a professor of science that had all sorts of reasons as to why it happened. I hardly understood anything he said. "

[Artemis97]

[Forest]

"Death sleep? Hm. I suppose that is accurate enough." Nuara agrees. "Though, perhaps hibernation would be the best way to describe it. We put them to sleep, so they can survive the winter and be awoken again in the spring. What is a professor?" She asks, opening her eyes again to give Andrew a curious look.

[ApeofLight]

[Forest]

Andrew blinks in surprise. " Yeah, that was how the professor put it. " He says with a smile and a nod. " Oh? You don't know what a professor is? Hmm, well... there the kind of people that try and figure out why things work and why things are. Why is the sky blue, why do the trees lose there leaves, why does the sun come up and set, what is it that makes plants grow, what are people made up out of. They try to find the answers to all sorts of things and then they go around spreading that knowledge to everybody. "

[UncleWolf]

[Airships]

"Fire cannon twelve, in front of the prow. Flare." Blood orders a set of gunners. With little effort, they aim the spellcannon, and it fires, a streak of red fire that explodes in front of the other ship. It won't cause damage, but should cause a lot of light and noise.

"Warning shot fired! Again, disarm yourselves." The Helmsman orders before guiding the ship even closer, trying to get close enough for people to board.

[Artemis97]

[Forest]

"Oh, they're druids." Where Nuara was from, those questions had more mystical answers than one might usually expect. Often it boiled down to 'the Fey did it'. Druids were the ones who explained that to the other mortals, and told them how to keep the Fey appeased, so the whole cycle kept working and everyone stayed happy. Often they also acted as intermediaries between the Fey and Mortal realms.

[VampireRot]

[Airships]

Devi clutches her Walther PPK and watches with an awed grin on her face.

She adds a bit of magic to the flare. A wave of heat should roll over the The Eagle's Glory, not hot enough to hurt anyone or ignite anything, but still noticeable.

[ApeofLight]

[Forest]

" Oh, well... I don't know if they could be considered that. Well, here let me put it this way. " Andrew looks around quickly and then picks up a rock. " One of the more famous professors figured out a way to explain why things fall. " He says and drops the rock.

" It was something like that things attract each other. Though the only reason why we feel it with the ground is because it is so big. So things attract each other but the attraction is small unless there is a lot of stuff involved, like the whole planet. Or at least it was something like that. I should have paid more attention in school. " Andrew says with a chuckle.

[Artemis97]

[Forest]

"The Earth is our Mother, and all things must return to her." Nuara explains her view of things. "but, surely, there are more important things to concern oneself about? What do you know of the Harvest? or the Hunt?"

[ApeofLight]

[Forest]

"Yeah, I suppose so. Harvest and Hunt? Well, not much actually. " The man in black says with a shrug. " You see I was a merchant's son so I didn't learn much about hunting or harvesting. " He's probably misinterpreting what she's saying.

[Artemis97]

[Forest]

Actually, he's understanding just fine, but Nuara tends to think of those things as very broad and very important topics.

"Oh, I see. Did you learn to be a merchant, then? Like your father? Or did you choose another path for yourself?" Nuara asks, stepping away from the tree and moving to continue their walk.

[ApeofLight]

[Forest]

" Yes, I was going to be a merchant but not a traveling one like my dad was. I planned on opening a small general store in the town I lived in. " Andrew says keeping pace with Nuara. " That way I could raise a family... " Andrew falls silent for a moment, just walking along.

The man in black seems to be touching something underneath his shirt where a necklace pendant would be. " But... but do to some circumstances I found myself here. Trying to help the unfortunate and those in need of help. " He says with a somewhat sad smile on his face.

[Artemis97]

[Forest]

Nuara stayed quiet for a moment, turning her eyes to the colorful leaves above them. "Well," She begins, after a bit of thought, "I am glad you were here. I do not know how long I would have lasted without your help." The elf turns to give Andrew a small smile.

The unicorn walks along, too, but it's begun to stay. Sometimes it walked ahead of them, other times it lingered behind. Always looking for good things to eat in the autumn forest.

[ApeofLight]

[Forest]

Andrew smiles back and nods. " I'm glad that I was able to help. " He says and then continues to walk in silence for a moment.

After a while he speaks up again. " You know, I think an eternal summer would get boring after awhile. I mean the best thing about summer and spring is the new life and growth that comes with it. But the only reason the new growth comes is because all the old things where done away with. I guess you could say that winter's death is actually the beginning of a rebirth. "

[happyturtle]

Ashwood Citadel


[Ashwood Citadel]

There is no reply, but the citadel have stopped shaking at least, Nancy however, hasn't "What the hell was that?!" She asks as she accepts Darcy's torch, looking around wildly, bleak as a sheet.

She seems to wait a while for anything else to happen, but it doesn't. The citadel have returned to it's dark silence once again.

Nancy takes a deep breath, pulling down her hood once again "...alright, so there is something here, you can deal with that sort of stuff right?" She asks nervously.


[Ashwood Citadel]

"I might be able to, but something in here is draining my magic."

Zanny looks away. Yeah, without his dragon form or music, he's useless in a fight. His only skill in weaponry is a bit of fancy swashbuckling footwork with a rapier, and that's mostly for show.



"I'm sure we can handle it," Darcy says, completely bluffing. Without magic and shapeshifting, she's just a low level barbarian with a dagger. Her player hopes the GM took all that into account when designing the plot. :smalltongue:

[Artemis97]

[Forest]

Nuara winces, not expecting such a sudden reminder of the troubles facing her homeland. "That is exactly what it is. It also weeds out the weak, allowing the strong to live on and to pass on that strength. Winter makes the world stronger." She summises.

[ApeofLight]

[Forest]

Andrew smiles and nods. " Yep, that was what I was thinking. " Then he notices the wince. " Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to remind you of your troubles. "

[Artemis97]

[Forest]

"It is alright. I will have to face that harsh truth soon enough. I cannot run from it forever. The whole world will suffer for it." Nuara sighs and stops to lean against a nearby tree, before sliding down to sit at its base.

((Deadtime for me))

[The Bushranger]

[Cliffs Cave]


Why certainly! The man stands up and reaches over to grab a long lab coat. He will follow Quinn out.

Quinn stands as well, smiling. "Well, then. Please follow me."
...and she'll lead the way, assuming it's OK, to inside, and the ISF Headquarters.

-------

[Beddling]


Melody joins them with Billy. Hmm. I guess so. I couldn't get anything else about him from Stimpson.

She grins to Quinn. I see you decided to cover poor Billy up. Did you get anything.

Billy blushes brightly again.

Quinn chuckles and grins back. ~Well, I -am- a married woman. And I did get a bit of information, but not as much as you did - it was more steering Billy here in making better life choices for himself and his family~

And Quinn finishes untying billy, then steps back. "Well, there we go. Just one last question, did you know anything about Johan?"

[ApeofLight]

[Forest]

"It is alright. I will have to face that harsh truth soon enough. I cannot run from it forever. The whole world will suffer for it." Nuara sighs and stops to lean against a nearby tree, before sliding down to sit at its base.

((Deadtime for me))

[Forest]

Andrew frowns a bit but then smiles walking over to Nuara. " You know something someone once told me? They said, don't be sad, smile, move forward with a smile on your face no matter how bad things get. " The man holds out a black gloved hand out towards Nuara.

" I've found that as long as I move forward with a smile things eventually get better. So, keep moving forward, alright? " The man says to the winged elf with a big smile on his face.

[Shadowcaller]

[Ashwood Citadel]

"Magic draining? Seriously? Then what are we supposed to have you super powered people for?" Nancy remarks, rather annoyed at this latest series of events that have occurred.

"Well, you better be of some good..." She then says, turning around, going deeper into the citadel. In case you follow her, you will reach a quite empty common room, it looks to have been deserted for some time, in the middle of the room is a large table where rotten fruit have drawn fruit flies and other creeps that buzzes around it, you can barely see this in the light of Nancy's torch however.

She swings around the torch a bit, revealing portraits of various people all looking at you from each side of the room, you almost get the feeling that they are watching you as are passing them by. Looks to be various lords and ladies, including their families. This place appear to have a rich history really.

"Hmm... I think we should head upwards, the last lord of this place had a office in one of the towers, the whereabouts of the idol might be there."

[Temple of Artaris]

*waits for Moff and Morty*

[The Eagle's Glory]

"We warn you again, we are on a imperial mission, hostile activities will have dire and political consequences, we will respond to any attack made against us." The voice replies in the same metallic tone.

[happyturtle]

[Ashwood Citadel]

Darcy lights another pair of torches, and hands one off to Zanny, then sticks a couple of spares in her belt. "Lead the way," she tells Nancy, not bothering to answer her not-so-veiled insults.

[Morty]

[Temple of Artaris]

"Yeah, right, you look like real pilgrim material alright." The man says with some sarcasm, forgetting the gigantic spider for a moment, "You look more like your the guys I hang around with before they threw me out. So, what are you really doing here? Is money involved?"


We're here to retrieve something. Or possibly someone. Don't get in our way and we won't get in your way.
Michalson looks around.

[Project_Mayhem]

[Meadow]

A somewhat subdued looking Elijah (discripion here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9572615&postcount=241) and in my sig) walks down a path that runs parallel to a large verdantly green meadow that has a slight hill rise out of it on the left side.

He moves off the path and walks up the hill stopping at his summit. He pulls a knife from his back and starts to carve odd symbols into the earth in a circle. Once he has spent about twenty minutes doing this he sits down the centre of the circle and starts to chant in an odd language.

Alex, obfuscated walks up behind him. It stands at a distance, upwind just in case, and watches for a short while. It then moves closer and multiple sharp bone spears rapidly extend from it's body, aimed at Elijah's back

[VampireRot]

[Ashwood Citadel]

Zanny takes the torch. He frowns at Nancy, unable to think of a proper comeback. Well actually, he has thought of a couple, but they involve music and magic.

And only one had mind crushing in it. >.>

"Mind the paintings. They look haunted."

The bard nods at each painting he passes, giving a polite and friendly smile. Not good to offend ghosts, especially without magic. Though he doesn't know if they're haunted for sure.

He follows Nancy.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Temple of Artaris]

The stairs leads upwards where Mister Squiggles can hear (or rather detect the sound with the equaling of the hearing sense spiders has) the sound of a human snoring. Going upwards he can see that a door at the end of the stairs have been slightly opened and some light shines through it.

As the spider approaches the door, a brown cat slinks past, behind the door is yet another corridor with a number of doors, one of them slightly open where the snoring noise is coming from. At the end of the corridor is yet another door, this one looks to be locked however.

[Michalson]

"Easy there boy, I'm just a poor jester, I'm not going to get in your way..." The man replies "But I have been around here a while, maybe I can help? We could split the earnings?" He grins, a few of his teeth missing and the the others yellowish by poor dental care.

Michalson will find that the room, beside the beds, the cleaning stand, the wardrobe and the window is pretty empty.

[Ashwood Citadel]

"Paintings aren't scary, monsters are..." Nancy comments as you start to head up some of the stairs, leading into some kind of old kitchen.

It's very dirty, dust and grime covering the tables, a few empty bottles laying around on the floor. It's at that point you hear laughter around you, like the kitchen was filled with people once again.

"Haha! Three cheers for a good work done!" You hear a distant yet oddly close male voice exclaim, but you see no one there.

Cheers and more laughter are followed, but suddenly you hear another voice "Shhh... what was that? Someone just closed the door."

"Oh, that was just the door."

There is another series of laughter, but then you hear the sound of someone trying to open a locked door. "It's locked! He locked us in!"

"Hehe... who cares? We got wine here to last for centuries!"

There are more laughter as the voices seems to fade out, leaving you in silence once again within the dark kitchen. Nancy looks pretty stunned by this phenomena, anyone inspecting the door you just opened will notice that there are scratch marks all over the inside of it, and it does not seem like they have made by any animals...

[VampireRot]

[Ashwood Citadel]

Zanny shudders and shakes his head.

"Ghosts and memories."

The bard looks around and inspects the kitchen in full. No skeletons, but the marks on the door... :smalleek:

[Reinholdt]

[The Temple of Artaris]

Mister Squiggles is no lockpicker.
But hey! There's a cat!
Mister Squiggles chases it and shoots a sticky web at it hoping to trap it. Lunch time!
The last time he had a cat was Eldy and let's face it... that wasn't very filling for very long.