[Nexus Plot] Reunions (C'nor and Arachu)

[Lady Serpentine]

The tall woman - black-haired, and, as always, dressed in leather armor, though this was a new suit, her old one having finally been completely destroyed - settled down on the massive lump of bloodstone that she had agreed to meet her friend at when they first came to the Nexus, scanning the area for them.

The meeting was, after all, set for today, and she planned to keep it, if she could.

[Arachu]

With a loud noise sounding slightly like a thunderclap, a somewhat short-looking figure in a featureless blue robe seems to flash into sight. Her eyes briefly glow magenta before she pulls her hood back, expression flabbergasted and silver hair desperately in need of a good brushing.

She stands there for a bit. "... Woah. I should stop using the Plane of Wind to travel." @.@

[Lady Serpentine]

Lynette grins, hopping off the bloodstone, and darting over to hug her friend, revealing that she's somehow acquired a pure white fox tail in her time here.

"You say that every time... How have you been?"

((Deadtime for a bit, since I have to run to get to the bookstore tonight.))

[Arachu]

B giggles and hugs Lynette.

Pretty good, pretty good~ I think I've been making progress with those Astral computers I've been working on, now they wait for 0.8 seconds before exploding. X3

((Okies~ I'm having a lazy night anyway. :smalltongue:)

[Lady Serpentine]

((As it turns out, they closed an hour ago, so... Yeah, I'm back now. :smalltongue:))

Lynette giggles as well, nodding, and resting her head on B's shoulder.

"So now, theoretically, you actually have time to just barely start thinking about moving your hand after you input the instructions?"

[Arachu]

(:smalltongue: *Hugs*)

B absently cuddles while rambling on. :smalltongue:

Yep~ They aren't even trying to kill me anymore... I think. Maybe that's why they keep exploding. I should probably stop using those gems I find in the Negative Energy. >.>

[Lady Serpentine]

(*Hugs back*)

Lynette smiles, and starts to gently work on getting the tangles out of B's hair, if she's allowed to.


"If they blow up in less than a second now, how could you tell they were trying anything before?

But more seriously, I could probably get you some stuff from one of the heavens, if that would work for a substitute? Ithkariel owes me a few favors, after all..."

Ithkariel being the angel she's contracted with, as part of being a witch.

[Arachu]

B gladly lets Lynette help her with her hair - she hasn't gotten around to putting a brush on a chain yet, so she'd probably have to find a new one. :smalltongue:

I put in some scary red warning lights. :smalltongue:

I dunno... It wouldn't be the same without fighting through hordes of zombies. X3

[Lady Serpentine]

"Well, yeah. There is that. I'll have to come with you one of these times, if you wouldn't mind. Réaltabáis would love it..."

Lynette is quite good at picking tangles and such out of B's hair, having had a fair bit of practice with such things, and nestles against her friend as she does, smiling happily.

[Arachu]

B just giggles for a bit~

(Sorry about the delay, I forgot it was my turn. DXD)

[Lady Serpentine]

((It's fine. I haven't been on much today anyway.))

Lynette smiles, going to sit down on the bloodstone boulder again, pulling B into her lap as she does, if her friend doesn't seem to mind.

[Arachu]

B sits in Lynette's lap, glad to have a rest after all of plane-shifting she'd been doing today~

Say, what's so special about this boulder anyway? It seems like an odd place to Shift to. :smalltongue:

[Lady Serpentine]

"Well, it's a massive lump of bloodstone, and thus unusual. So, y'know, nice meeting point. Plus there's the fact bloodstone has sympathies that help with healing, so being around this much of it makes it easier to patch you up if you need it."

[Arachu]

"That makes sense~ My prototype healing balm turned out to be a dud anyway." :smalltongue:

[Lady Serpentine]

"Huh. You want me to take a look at it? Not sure if our styles are compatible, but I can at least see if there's anything I spot that would be directly problematic with healing..."

[Arachu]

B scratches the back of her head.

"It... Kinda turned out to be explosive. I'm just glad I didn't visit the Fire Plane today. >.>

(I might take a bit, I'm gonna try to sleep once I'm done posting in the LGBTA+ thread. :smalltongue:)

[Lady Serpentine]

Lynette blinks, looking very much like a hyperrealistic cartoon character who's just been hit in the face with something for a few moments.

"...I hesitate to ask, but what is it about you and things blowing up, B? And what do you mean it 'Kinda turned out to be explosive.'?

[Arachu]

B's expression blanks for a bit as she thinks about it.

"I dunno! Things just keep exploding." @.@

"I'm... pretty sure I made it at too low a temperature or something... For some reason that made it disagree with pressure tins." :smalltongue:

(... It's ironic that I forgot about already using explosions trying to illustrate how scatterbrained my character gets. XD)

[Lady Serpentine]

((:smallamused:))

"Right. Remind me not to be anywhere near your lab next time you're working, alright? Having my fur burned off was unpleasant enough the first time..."

[Arachu]

B scratches the back of her head.

"Eheh, sorry again~ At least I completed my hair-growth tonic the week before that." X3

[Lady Serpentine]

B scratches the back of her head.

"Eheh, sorry again~ At least I completed my hair-growth tonic the week before that." X3

((Not sure if you meant for it to seem like B has burned off Lynette's fur in the past or not, but if so she's normally a fairly standard human; the only fur she's gotten is when she was in the Nexus, as a result of some rather odd things involving someone under the control of a bunch of random number gods, and was (save for that on her new tail, which was obtained in a separate, but related, incident) burned off in the same encounter.

That said, if you want, we can just roll with it and assume that she ended up furred at one point for some other reason, and B did burn it off. *shrugs*))

[Arachu]

(Oh, I thought that was what you were suggesting. :smalltongue:)

[Lady Serpentine]

((That's fine; it relied on knowledge of what's happened to Lynette since she got to the Nexus.

Which do you prefer we do?))

[Arachu]

(Which what? I still don't have my bearings. @.@ :smallredface:)

[Lady Serpentine]

((I was wondering if you'd prefer running with the confusion and having B have been referring to an earlier incident that Lynette had forgotten about, or retconning that post.

Also, on an unrelated note, I just confused you with Darklord for some reason, and was about to ask you about an LoC game you've never been in...))

[Arachu]

(Oh. I'll say... The first one. :smalltongue:)

[Lady Serpentine]

"Oh yeah... I'd forgotten about that, actually; I was thinking of getting turned into a half-elemental from the Plane of Rabbits and having burning demon sweat poured on me a few days ago."

[Arachu]

"That... Seems like an odd combination of things to do. Couldn't you just polymorph your ears or something?" @.@

[Lady Serpentine]

"Shapeshifting's not really my thing, B. A little here and there, but nothing on that scale; I'm more curses, potions, and a bit of magical lockpicking.

'Sides, I was kinda occupied by the guy who did that to me in the first place, since he didn't exactly stop with those particular spells."

[Arachu]

"Oh, that makes more sense." :smalltongue:

B's tone was joking, but she gives Lynette a hug.

[Lady Serpentine]

Lynette shrugs, and returns the hug, going to tickle B with her tail as she does.

[Arachu]

B giggles~ :smalltongue:

[Lady Serpentine]

"You want to head somewhere a little less outdoors?"

[Arachu]

"Okay, I've been missing 3-dimensional walls anyhow." X3

[Lady Serpentine]

Lynette nods, and taps the small ring she's wearing, which should cause the both to be teleported to the very dim interior of what seems to be a somewhat decaying Victorian manor, specifically the couch, so that they don't end up falling rather hard, given the positions they were in; unless something stops her, the witch reaches up a few moments after their arrival, and opens the valve on a gaslight, which, though flickering and faint, is a significant improvement.

[Arachu]

B looks around, curiously wondering what this place looked like when it was new.

"Where are we?" o.o

[Lady Serpentine]

Probably quite nice, judging by what can be made out of the moldering wallpaper, and the moth-eaten tapestries and furniture.

"My place in The Web; there are lot of old buildings here, so I picked one in fairly good shape, fixed it up a bit, and moved it."

[Arachu]

"Neat~"

B considers using a Magelight or something, but decides she kind of likes the gloominess.

[Lady Serpentine]

"Yep. Gotta be careful, though. Some of the people here aren't precisely fond of me. Namely the Librarian's Guild... Still, they don't usually come this far in, so probably nothing to worry about."

((Lynette may or may not have told B some or all of what's in the bit about the mapping here (http://magistream.com/41-backstage/150740-city-of-bells-ooc.html).))

[Arachu]

B nods understandingly, remembering the last time she tried settling in the Material (something about 'having to lead some mercenaries under an old castle', she muttered last time someone asked about it). x.@

(She has~ Though she may ask random questions and forget bits of the big picture, especially when it seems silly to do. :smalltongue: )

[Lady Serpentine]

(Oh, also, if B's heard the story, the reason the Librarian's Guild is after Lynette is because she failed to complete a contract they put out to kill someone who had been stealing books from them, so it's a little more worrisome than it sounds.)

"So... Now that I've got a chance to show you the City, anywhere in particular you want to go?"

[Arachu]

(She hasn't heard the Librarian's Guild part yet. @.@)

"Hmm... Ooh, I've been wondering what Nightgrove looks like~"

(She assumes it's either reasonably safe or reasonably easy to get into. Also she's wondering what this "Bell" is and what it does. :smalltongue: )

[Lady Serpentine]

(Safe? She thinks Nightgrove is safe? :smalleek::smalltongue:

It is easy to get into, though.

Anyway, an introduction-y thingamajig that might help you get a handle on the City, and help make my descriptions more sensible:

Look on the city now, newcomer. See the gilded towers of Godtown shining in the light of the moons, glowing with faesparks and ghostlight, purple and green. Or freezing into ash and gleaming shards of ice as the mage-lords duel with baelfire, for that's a fine sight too, watching men turned to silvered statues limned with white flames.

Or if such things are not to your taste, turn your gaze to Nightgrove. Look through the streets and buildings as the Bell of Shadows tolls, watch the world twist into new forms, the night coming alive to prey on life, or take it as a counterpart. Pretty, isn't it, the way that the shadows rise like mist?

That's the core of this place, really. Finding the beauty in the pain and blood, if there is any. Much like alchemy, really. Purifying muck to get something better from it, and putting strange parts together to make wonders. Though in this case, as often the good ends up being the muck itself, with a change of perspective... At least, it is for me. Others have said far different things.

But in any case, whatever it is to you, welcome to the City of Bells.
))

"Depends on when you go... Mid-hour during the day is probably safest, so if we leave now, we should make it at around the right time, but there are more interesting things at other points, too. Up to you."

[Arachu]

(Well, compared to Shifting into unknown coordinates in elemental planes. XD)

B shrugs, "We can visit it later~ Which places are you talking about?" :smallbiggrin:

(Note that she's been a bit too busy to hone her social skills for... Well, ever (I think I'll have her be about a century and a half old, maybe also explain how at some point). :smalltongue:)

[Lady Serpentine]

(Well, if you have what's possibly (barring channeling weird Lovecraftian monstrosities) the most dangerous thing one can do with magic like that as a baseline, I suppose I can see that... :smallwink:)

"Mainly Nightgrove... It changes with the time, you see. But there's some good stuff out in Cloudcatch too, or at least there might be, depending on what the airships have brought in."

[Arachu]

(... *Decides to save it for when it's even more interesting* X3)

"Hmm... It would be neat to see some airships. Haven't seen one in decades, I tell you." XD

[Lady Serpentine]

Lynette grins, and nods, looking intrigued.

"What kind were they? Oh, and you can climb well, right? Or fly? Because if not, getting out of here could be a problem."

[Arachu]

"Oh, they were something else. Dwarves designed 'em to colonize the Wind plane without getting too much vertigo. They were kind of like bathyspheres, but pointier." XD

"Flyin's easy. Why do you ask?" o.o

[Lady Serpentine]

"'Cause we're about four stories up and the stairs are gone?"

[Arachu]

"... Good reason." :smalltongue:

[Lady Serpentine]

Lynette nods, going to gently push B out of her lap; should she be successful, she'll then head over to the window, and apparently simply drop out with a wave to her friend.

[Arachu]

B dives dramatically out of the window without a second thought, activating her flight pendant as she does.

(She has several accessories on her person, all enchanted and all somehow kept track of by her. Well, except for the long keychain covered in mundane but shiny charms and religious symbols she's (totally legitimately) collected over the years. :smalltongue:)

[Lady Serpentine]

(Speaking of accessories, do you think Lynette would have given her one of these (http://lunchingonlamias.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-spell-totem-sheath.html)?)

Lynette is rapidly climbing down the wall, using hand and footholds that most would eschew as far too risky.

Below, a tall woman with dark skin and hair, covered in elaborate black tattoos, with a wolf as tall as she is at her side, is watching B warily.

[Arachu]

(Yep~)

B allows herself to fall at near-terminal velocity before abruptly halting just an inch above the ground. Normally this would knock someone unconscious, but the pendant had been designed to prevent that.

She looks at the woman curiously, wondering if Lynette knows her.

[Lady Serpentine]

The massive wolf steps between them as the woman looks up to Lynette, who gives a brief nod, which is followed by the woman stepping back around the animal, expression having softened a bit, and offering a B a hand, so it's safe to assume the answer is yes.

"Name's Aernya. This is Gela. You?"

[Arachu]

"You can call me B~" ^_^

She just manages to keep from reporting her progress on her computer, reminding herself that she should at least wait until it actually fits into a conversation. :smalltongue:

[Lady Serpentine]

"Huh. She talks about you a lot... Wonder how much of it's true?"

Gela, meanwhile, leans down to sniff at B.

[Arachu]

"I guess that depends on what she's been saying." :smalltongue:

"Say, does Gela mind being petted by strangers~?"

[Lady Serpentine]

Gela makes a sound that is, undeniably, a laugh, though more like something a hyena would make than a human, and shakes her head.

[Arachu]

B blushes quite a bit. X3

"Oh, sorry. Been a while since I met a non-humanoid that understands Common (well, one that let me know at any rate :smalltongue:)." ^_^'

She still reaches out to pet her, of course~

[Lady Serpentine]

Gela licks B's... Well, probably most of her, really, considering the Warg's size, clearly enjoying the petting, and not minding at all that B didn't realize she was more intelligent than a dog or wolf.

"She says it's fine. From what Lynette says, you're not from around here. No real way to know she can tell what you're saying. So. Explanation.

She's a Warg, which are basically wolves who have been mutated by Fae involvement. We think they may even have crossed the Hedge and come back at some point.

In any case, I'm Tla'mxi. We've always bonded to wolves when we come of age, but once we came here, we started bonding with Wargs instead, or with both. It's a lot more fulfilling, really... Basically, it gets you a sister, but closer; you're together for the rest of your lives, no matter what happens, and work your lives around each other."

[Arachu]

B giggles and hugs her new friend~

"Well, it is kind of bad of me considering how many canines I used to talk to. That, and how often things in the Astral look completely inanimate." :smalltongue:

[Lady Serpentine]

Gela whines inquiringly, she nuzzles B, seeming to enjoy the hug.

"She wants to know what you mean about talking to canines? Of course, so do I, for that matter..."

[Arachu]

"Oh, I studied with empaths for a few years when I lived in the Material. I'm a bit... Well, really really rusty, but we used to communicate with everything from horses to birds. Only the supernatural ones could make sense of anything more structured than emotions for some reason, though."

(For some reason I keep thinking of B having an accent similar to Merril's. X3)

[Lady Serpentine]

(Merril... You wouldn't happen to be referring to an extremely shy Dalish elf, would you? Because that name sounds very familiar, and she's the only one I can think of for it right now.)

"You live outside the Material now? What plane? Or does it vary?"

Meanwhile, Lynette hops down behind B, and goes to stealthily hug her, hoping to be able to surprise the other woman.

[Arachu]

(Yep~ I thought about specifying the one from Dragon Age 2, but I forgot. :smalltongue:)

"I have an apartment-shaped Astral vehicle that - eep!"

In the half-second it takes her to register that it's Lynette hugging her, B nearly jumps out of her skin. X3

[Lady Serpentine]

((I suspect that this will make all of her dialogue, serious or not, several percentage points more amusing. :smalltongue:

Also, sorry if there are delays; one of my characters is giving birth to a god right now, so I'm writing up a fairly long post.))

Gela snorts disapprovingly, glaring at the witch; clearly, she's not at all happy about having the nice snuggly person taken away.

Lynette actually seems somewhat contrite, giving B a slight, but hopefully reassuring, squeeze, and going to rest her head on her shoulder, smiling up at her apologetically.

"Sorry about that, B. I didn't mean to startle you that badly..."

[Arachu]

(X3)

B scratches the back of her head. "It's fine, I just got caught up in all the explaining is all~" :smalltongue:

[Lady Serpentine]

"You enjoying their company, then? That's good... They did make sure you're in the loop about them, right?"

[Arachu]

"I think I am. Can't really be certain this earl - wait, when did you leave?" @.@

[Lady Serpentine]

Lynette frowns, looking rather confused.

"Wait, what do you mean? I left?"

[Arachu]

B looks very confused. :smalltongue:

"Well I mean, you were acting like you went to do something just now..." @.@

(Lynette's starting to remind me of a couple of my old high school friends. X3)

[Lady Serpentine]

"Oh... You mean with making sure you were in the loop? Nah, I was just making sure you knew about Gela and such. Sorry about the confusion."

[Arachu]

B hugs Lynette.

"It's okay~" ^_^

[Lady Serpentine]

Lynette hugs back, smiling.

"Alright. Speaking of going places, though, we should probably head over to Cloudcatch if we're going to..."

[Arachu]

B raises her right hand and extends its index finger.

"Right." X3

[Lady Serpentine]

Presumably, then, off they go!

Assuming nothing odd happens on the way, they'll reach Cloudcatch as fast as can be expected, entering by way of one of the major slave markets.

[Arachu]

B seems unusually quiet as she takes in all the architecture and people about.

[Lady Serpentine]

A few of the slaves wave to them, apparently hoping to be bought, but the trip to the airship docks is otherwise probably fairly uneventful, unless you want to throw something at them.

[Arachu]

(Can't think of anything else to add. :smalltongue:)

[Lady Serpentine]

(Would you prefer I post their arrival at the docks, or to timeskip to them leaving there, then?)

[Arachu]

(Arrival makes sense~)

[Lady Serpentine]

After much walking, they will, eventually, arrive; the docks are a huge structure, with at least four dozen floors in each of the two towers where Westgate used to stand, each of which covers at least a block, and constantly has airships arriving and departing.

Towards ground level, Raviien (humanoid bird-folk), Tla'Mxi, constructs magical and mechanical, elementals, humans, elves, True Fae, Carcass Fiddlers (tall humanoids with orange tusks, and thick greyish hide, most of whom are carrying musical instruments made from the dead bodies of various species), undead, and Cobbleborn are inspecting and hauling away an enormous selection of wares.

[Arachu]

B seems a tad skittish in the open, but she's amazed by all the diversity - she hadn't even heard of some of some of these species, and though she studied Fae as much as the next mage she hadn't actually met that many. She tries not to stare at anyone that's looking and walks close to Lynette or Gela when she gets too shy.

(What's a Cobbleborn? :smalltongue:)

[Lady Serpentine]

((Cobbleborn:
Any individual who has been magically imbued with mechanical or animal components/traits; less commonly, any animal that has had something of the sort done to it. The process is mainly restricted to the City of Bells, where it's usually used as a punishment for criminals, but there are certain areas outside the City where it's also reasonably common, and some choose to be altered voluntarily, or are changed for a specific purpose, often by extralegal groups.

Due to their wide variety of origins, Cobbleborn do not have any unifying culture, save that most of them are City natives or long-term residents.))

In any case, Lynette, noting the shyness, goes to put an arm around B, smiling reassuringly at her, and Gela curls protectively around the mage, walking in such a way that it would be rather hard for anything to get near her without approaching from the front.

[Arachu]

B relaxes a little and smiles~

"So~ Anything to do around here? I feel... A bit overwhelmed out here in the open." @.@

[Lady Serpentine]

Lynette shrugs, and thinks for a bit, then grins crazily; B is probably well aware that this particular grin indicates an utterly mad plan the witch just came up with.

"You want to steal an airship for a while?"

[Arachu]

:smalleek: "Well... That escalated quickly!" :smalltongue:

Of course, once she has a bit to process it she develops her own, somewhat more maniacal grin. X3

[Lady Serpentine]

She asked if there was anything to do and said she was uncomfortable being in the open. Clearly, the way to solve both problems is to steal a confined space. :smalltongue:

"So. We should probably have a bit more of a plan than that, then. The towers are fairly well warded against magical entrance in the part that actually holds the docks, and you're not familiar with the area anyway, plus it's crowded, so since I have no real desire to end up merged with something, that's probably out.

Any ideas on how to get past the guards? Or really, any ideas at all?"

[Arachu]

Screw the rules we have magic. X3

"D'ya think they're very well-trained to spot illusions? I have a mean never-ending hallway. :smallamused:

Otherwise... Maybe we could distract them somehow? Or hit a tavern." :smalltongue:

[Lady Serpentine]

Well, she did decide to hang out with a witch-thief.

"Probably not. Though we could still hit a tavern if you like. Probably be less risky, too; the airships are sort of important."

[Arachu]

B sighs in mock disappointment. "Okay~" :smalltongue:

(Sorry I took so long; I thought it was your turn. :smallredface:)

[Lady Serpentine]

Lynette shrugs, smiling at her friend, and goes to gently squeeze B against her side for a moment.

"So... Which are we doing, then?"

[Arachu]

B shrugs too. "Tavern sounds fun." X3

[Lady Serpentine]

Lynette nods, and, presumably, they head off to a tavern! Probably there's one nearby, though I don't have a description of one handy at the moment, so feel free to make the place if you want to.

[Arachu]

(I can't think of a description. D:)

[Lady Serpentine]

((Well, I have a couple of prospects now... Does B mean "Hit a tavern" as in rob it, or is she just talking about going out to one?))

[Arachu]

(Just going to one - not that she'd mind stealing from it, to be fair. :smalltongue:)