VVVVVigil: Valorous Veterans Vanquishing Venal Vermin

[Shadowcaller]

[Airship Gantry]

Cessie Mithar comes strolling down towards the gantry, in her company she has a large magma elemental which shape might remind others of the sorceress herself, but much larger. But there is also a winged person in her company...

"I'm commander Cessie Mithar and I understand that you've asked for me. But I have a question for you first if I may. People don't often come to VIGIL asking for planar-travel and if they do, they already know of Mrs. Richards project and would ask directly for her. But neither of you did apparently, so I need to ask why you are coming here in the first place. I don't recognize either of you." She looks between the newcomers. It felt like it had been a while since a human visited VIGIL...

[Rebonack]

[Airship Gantry]

Winged person could describe Geneva, yes.

She's a hippogriff, somewhere around the size of an adult male lion. She's mostly shades of grey, ranging from ash to dark slate, looking like a cross between a dappled horse, a snow leopard, and a harpy eagle. Though it should be pretty clear that this woman is no mere beast. She's wearing clothing, for one. Mostly in the form of a bombardier's jacket paired with a pair of flight goggles around her neck. Apparently she just recently got back from some field testing. Her eyes are wide and intelligent, her face more expressive than a normal bird's.

Geneva sits down on her haunches and offers a somewhat awkward smile along with a wave of her talons.

For now?

She'll let the newcomers answer Miss Mithar's question.

She doesn't want to interrupt!

That might be rude.

[Halae]

[Airship Gantry]

"That's my fault, Miss Mithar," Emily says, bowing respectfully to the mage, "My name is Emily Grant, though many know me as Scaleback. You're simply the only powerful mage I know of here in the Nexus. I figured that if you couldn't help us, you'd know someone who could."

Emily indicates the welsh pony boy beside her, "Domhnall here appeared in my closet this morning while I was preparing lunch, and he's a newcomer to the Nexus. We're inquiring about options to get him home, should he choose not to stay here."

[Deathkeeper]

[Airship Gatry]

"Aye siwmae, Madam Mithar and Friend. I'm a guest, if you may consider it such. So...I merely came to ask ya for some help. Your city is very nice. If I were to stay 'twouldn't be so bad. Though I'd need a job. No idle hands here." explains the chatty teenager, grinning ear to ear. He might be staring at Geneva. And it's no wonder; she is a beautiful and wonderful thing, like all of the strange new things he has seen in the last half an hour.

[Shadowcaller]

[Airship Gatry]

Cessie makes no comment regarding the idea of it being "her" city. But she wasn't a nexus native and nor was she "stuck" in the nexus.
She looks between the two again and then at Geneva. "Well, this is your call, Mrs Richards. Do you wish to talk to them about your project? Since it appears at least one of them have interest in it. You're the expert so you make all the calls. I will have some people supervise you considering recent events but otherwise this is all yours."

[Rebonack]

[Airship Gantry]

Have you ever seen a dog sitting on her haunches get really excited about something?

And she perks up and butt-wiggles forward a few inches?

Well, when it's mentioned that the centaur kid got poofed into someone's closet that's exactly what Geneva does. As soon as Cessie makes it clear that it's alright for Geneva to begin talking boy does she ever.

"Oh this is absolutely fantastic luck bridge events are usually isolated to one of several oscillating locations throughout the Nexus so when a new bridge forms in a relatively pristine place the spacetime topography hasn't had time to be deformed further by subsequent bridge events and the last time this happened and I was able to get to it within twenty four hours was over six months ago and I can't believe I'm fortunate enough to have such a great field study opportunity since I just got back from some assessments at the Faerune bridge and I already have all my equipment ready to take readings and we should go right now!"

As she talks, rapid fire and incredibly excited, her wings are gradually opening in a fashion that suggest she could take off at any moment. For the span of two heartbeats she stands there, smiling huge manic grin, before she manages to catch herself.

"Oh, wait, going too fast here. Slow down Geneva, it's isn't like another bridge would open in someone's closet again so quickly when it hasn't ever manifested there before, haha *snort*. That would be crazy! But just in case we should go back to your apartment as soon as possible," she says, leaning a bit closer to Scaleback. "I have tests to run. If the bridge hasn't degraded too much I should be able to get you home mister... umm..."

She finally pauses for a breath-catching span of time.

"What was your name again?"

[Halae]

[Airship Gantry]

Emily nods, "If you think there's gonna be a portal opening into my dresses, then yeah, you've got my permission to check it out," Seems she doesn't have much more to add at the moment, given the strange creature is now talking to Domhnall.

[Deathkeeper]

[Airship Gantry]

Not a centaur, technically. Centaurs are horses. Domhnall is a pony.
Domhnall also had absolutely no idea what any of that meant.
"I haven't the foggiest notion of what you just said. But it sounds good!" he says, beaming.
This fluffy creature is adorable.

[Rebonack]

[Airship Gantry]

"Great! We can go right now," Geneva chirps before trotting off toward the nearest tram to the surface.

Awaaaaaaay!

"Sorry if I'm being a giant dork. This is just really exciting!" she admits.

You are being a giant dork, Geneva.

The giantest dork, even.

Adorkableness aside, she intends to return with the duo back to Scaleback's apartment using whatever mode of transportation they used to get here.

Could she fly there faster?

Yeah, probably.

But it would be rude to ditch them.

Also she doesn't know where the apartment is.

[Halae]

[Airship Gantry]

Emily turns back to Cessie for a moment, and bows respectfully once more, "Thank you for your time, Miss Mithar. It seems we've gotten what we need."

And with that, the massive woman steps back onto the ferry to get it piloted down to the ground, so that she could take the pair back to her apartment, "I have nothing against people being excited. Just don't get too far ahead of yourself."

[Deathkeeper]

[Airship Gantry]

"No problem, 'Cos. You're fine.
And thank ye, Ma'am." he says to Geneva, and then Cessie. He's happy to let these people take him around and around for now.

[Purple Eagle]

The fox just waits, then.

Awen, on the other hand, nods. Okay, if that's how she should do them, even though she'd rather do push-ups the same way as Karasu.

She puts her knees on the ground, and keeps on trying to do them.

"...probably," she concedes. Then, she promises: "I'll look into it." She doesn't really see all that many paths to finding out, though. Given that she gets her powers from a dead eldritch being with ties to fairies and the dreamland...she's not entirely sure how to find out anything or even what to look up.

[Skybase training grounds - by the track]

Karasu switches to planks, concentrating while she holds the positions for quite a while, and also so she can watch and guide Awen to take the correct position. "How'd you meet him, anyway?" She asks, nodding to the cute creature. "Any chance I could learn to at least understand him?"

Makuro tilts her head and looks down at her strange, disproportionate body. "How could this possibly be anything but mutant? I don't know what a naginata is. And a scythe scaled to these limbs would be a nightmare to carry around. Plus... I have enhanced strength, I think. I would prefer to learn how to use my fists, if it's the same to you." There's always the possibility that Karasu's talking about a sickle, rather than a scythe, but even so Makuro would rather know how to use her fists. She worries she'd break something else, since she's not really had to unleash her full strength yet.

[Clinic -> Training Grounds]

Karasu simply nods thrice. "Good choice. Helps you get a handle of your strength as you train. Very well, I shall teach you a move and see how you take to it. Let us return to the training area, Makuro-san." She says, leading Makuro back to the Training Grounds.

"Can you recall the fighting stance I used?" She asks, once they get there.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Training Grounds - Elves]

"That would be Cessie Mithar. She and I go way back," Wenomir says. "She's a powerful sorceress and a good friend. I wouldn't have kept Vigil together without her," he adds frankly.

[Training Grounds - Elves]

"If you ask me, she has a bit of a stick up her butt." Anika remarks with perhaps a bit too much frankness. Something she seems to be trying to back-peddle on the very next moment. "But she's really cool too... with her fire-magic she melts demon by pointing at them." The druid nods as she is now avoiding Wenomir's gaze by looking at Rain.

[Training Grounds - Elves]

"A... sorceress?"

Rain doesn't really register the pretty rude way Anika describes her, as she's too surprised by Wenomir's revelation. "If you have a... you're friends with a... You must be powerful indeed."

[Wenomir's House]

Wenomir looks at Cassandra, feeling conflicted. The way she looked at him... but he doesn't want to push her. This is a precarious situation and she seems as withdrawn as Kr could be... but also prone to emotional reactions.

"So what did you do after... everything blew up? I know you've joined MERC."

[Wenomir's House]

Cass pauses for a moment, taken aback by the general nature of Wenomir's question.

"-I'm... a mercenary, as you say. I've tried my hand at treasure hunting as well."

Also drinking, and spying, but those are two things that don't need to be mentioned.

[Morty]

[Training Grounds - Elves]

Wenomir's expression turns to scowl at Anika's outburst. He normally appreciates her candour, but he won't hear Cessie spoken of this way.

"Powerful? Well, I suppose I am," he admits. Magic is so commonplace here that he forgot how sorcery was viewed with suspicion back home. Useful, yes, but in the same way a bonfire is useful. "She's going to want to meet you and listen to your work as well. We'll need to schedule a meeting when she and I both have time. Right now, Anika can show you around the more public parts of the island and maybe introduce you to some people."

[Wenomir's House]

"Hm. I feel like this is a path I might have gone down, myself," Wenomir muses, leaning back and studying Cassandra. "As a sellsword I'd at least still lend my weapon to who I chose. And you did manage to get through Kalya's defences and sneak in without me noticing, so that speaks pretty well of your skills."

[Shadowcaller]

[Training Grounds - Elves]

"Yeah, I know basically everyone around here already." Anika boasts while carefully still avoiding Wenomir's gaze. "But, uh, we got people who can do all sort of things around here. Like shoot guns or or use goblin magic to make all sort of things, like golems."

[Ashen Lilies]

[Training Grounds - Elves]

"What's a golem?" Rain asks, deciding it's a good idea to quickly change the topic.

[Wenomir's House]

"Kalya? Is that your... spirit mage? Based on the wards, they seem... knowledgeable. But not very security-minded." Says Cass, a bit of huff entering her tone as her impatience mounts.

[Morty]

[Wenomir's House]

Wenomir breathes deeply. Well, he's never been much of a conversationalist and this is getting awkward.

"You seem restless. Is there something else you were expecting? Or wanted to talk about?"

[Training Grounds - Elves]

Wenomir nods to Anika and Rain before heading back to train the recruits. He lets Anika answer the question about golems.

[Shadowcaller]

[Training Grounds - Elves]

"Golems are awesome, they are big walking machines powered by magic that can slap people around. I mean, what's not to love? We don't have any of those here at the base, but I've seen Cessie just making them with her mind of whatever, which is pretty cool. They don't appear to be actual golems though. More like elementals, you know, fire, water, air... that sort of thing. Shaman-stuff." Anika briefly explains. "Anyway, we could go and see Blanche who can shoot guns, monk-lady who can punch or hidden armor lady who can sword." And others Anika can't recall right now.

[Earl of Purple]

Training Grounds

"I think so." She will adopt the pose she remembers when she arrives at the arena. She's got quite a good memory, but unlike her physiology it isn't enhanced by her power. So she's not copying it exactly- and an exact copy might not work best with her strange elongated limbs. She's matching it pretty well, though.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Wenomir's House]

Cass takes a deep breath of her own, before looking Wenomir straight in the eyes.
"Wenomir, you've been reading me since I stepped into your house. Is that really something you need to ask?"

[Training Grounds - Elves]

"Punching or swords sounds... manageable." Creating elementals? With your mind? Rain doesn't know what an elemental is, but it sure sounds spooky.

[Morty]

[Wenomir's House]

Wenomir looks Cass right back in the eye. There's not many ways to interpret that, is there? It's all moving very fast, but there's a tension in the air that needs resolving. Maybe they'll be less awkward around each other afterwards. Or, at worst, they'll have enjoyed themselves.

He smiles and moves with this sudden spring into motion that Cass might find familiar from Kr's memories. Wenomir always could go from being still to moving like a blur. He tries to pick her up from the couch and hold her in his arms bridal-style.

"No, I suppose not. How about we discuss this in a more comfortable setting?"

[5a Violista]

[Skybase training grounds - by the track]

Thanks to Karasu's help, Awen is at least able to get the form of the on-the-knees pushups down.

"It - it was because...because he had a broken leg and...and...and I saved him," she manages to say between push-ups, while breathing heavily.

For his part, the fox continues to act cute.

Even though breathing heavily makes it hard to speak, the witch still tries to answer. "Maybe," she says. "I'm sure it's..." still breathing, muscles straining "...possible. But I never..." She brings her body down in another push-up "heard anyone" She tries to push up, but isn't making any progress upwards, "speak anything" still trying to push upwards, but her arms start to give out "like it before."

She collapses down on to her stomach, trying to catch her breath. "So, good luck."

[Shadowcaller]

[Training Grounds - Elves]

Rain doesn't know what 'shaman-stuff is? D=

"Alright, whoever of those we find first then. Don't worry though, they're not scary." Well, she had never actually seen miss knight without her helmet on, but she was a member of VIGIL which had to mean she was one of the good guys, and a hero.
Then as if to finish her own train of thoughts, she remarks. "I mean, heroes are always good-looking, right? No need to worry."

Speaking of good-looking, there's Calm Reed!
"Hey! Reed! I got a friend I want to introduce you to!" Anika waves to the monk as they approach.

[Morty]

[Training Grounds - Elves]

The two will find Calm Reed as she exits the library with a book in her hands. Rain will see a tall - though shorter than Wenomir - muscular and broad-shouldered woman wearing a simple, plain robe held together by a coiled belt. Her head is entirely bald and there's an odd bluish hue to her otherwise pale skin around her eyes, ears and mouth. Her eyes are so deep blue that they seem almost solid black.

"Oh? And who is it?"

[Arkhosia]

Moon Well Grove

Blanche thinks for a second, surveying the structure as they approach it. "We can stand at the top of the stairwell, it will give us a good vantage point on anything emerging from the pool or attempting to get up the stairs," she suggests. "It's a little out in the open, but we don't have to worry about anyone firing back, so we should be fine, especially as long as we watch each other's backs."

[Ashen Lilies]

[Library - Elves and a Monk]

Rain gives a curtsy with a bit of a flourish, before introducing herself. "My name is Rain, Bard... uhm... Extraordinaire!" She says, blissfully unaware of her unintentional plagiarism. "Anika has been showing me around."

[Wenomir's House]

Cass' memories aren't as clear as they could be, so Cass still gives off a very slight squeak of surprise as she's suddenly scooped up.
"I'm okay with that." She says, looking up at him with a sort of tentative wonder as she shyly wraps an arm behind his neck to pull herself up for an exploratory kiss.

[Lord Magtok]

[Training Grounds - Enter the Dragon]

"Yes, I suppose that's true," Calm Reed admits, observing St. Laz's technique. "When the Empress granted the control of the merchant fleet to another Great House, it dealt the Peleps a crushing blow. Then she vanished and everything went even more poorly." She circles the dummy. "I think it might be easier for you to borrow the tetsubo at first. You have the right instinct to use your arms and legs up close, though."

Wow, that sounds serious. Like, 'nations of demigod kung fu warriors about to go to war' serious. Was winding up in the Nexus the safest thing for Calm Reed, then? Another opportunity to avoid all the politics and senseless conflict and mayhem people like her brother wrought on the world? No, no, that's much too poetic of a way of thinking about things. Life is life, and things just happen sometimes. Trying to find a plan behind it all, a secret pattern or rhythm to the way of things, that's just foolishness. Saint Lazarus wasn't destined to get bitten by that ghoul and have her entire life ruined, she was just stupid and careless the one time it'd have tragic and irrevocable consequences.

"The tetsubo, okay," she answers, putting down her sword and gripping the club. As loathe as she is to admit it, this weapon is much more her style than her own zweihander. Brute force, grotesque applications of raw strength, and not even an iota of subtlety. Jenette wasn't even the first or second best fighter in her dumb foam weapon club back in Inside High. She was fifth, too focused on high school nonsense to learn anything that would've actually been useful to her present-day self. You know, the usual, who was dating who, which taverns didn't check schoolkids for ID, and whether you could really, honestly see an apocalyptic demon by chanting Kaela's name in a mirror at night.

"So is the Empire at war with anyone? Maybe it was some kind of Exalt assassin?" she guesses, more to make conversation than anything. She's sure a hundred or so people have already looked into that possibility; there's no way this is covering new ground.

[Morty]

[Training Grounds - Enter the Dragon]

"We are always at war with the Lunar Anathema and their barbarians. They've tried to assassinate the Empress before. Maybe they finally succeeded." Calm Reed talks as she steps around St. Laz and observes her form with the tetsubo. "Or maybe it was one of the Solar Anathema. Hard to say. Theories abound, with some saying she's transubstantiated and left the throne for her children, others that she and the Dynasty have lost the Dragons' favor. We had to banish one of the monks from our monastery for insisting on the second one." She pauses. "Your strength certainly serves you well with this weapon. The trick is to learn proper application of force. Anyone can batter an enemy down, but a true Earth Dragon stylist strikes at the right place and time to leave them reeling. That's hard to teach with dummies, of course."

[Wenomir's House]

Wenomir kisses back, also hesitantly and tenderly at first. There's a much greater passion behind it, but held in check by uncertainty and awkwardness. He carries Cass briskly away in the direction of the downstairs bedroom, where the curtain falls.

[Shadowcaller]

Moon Well Grove

"Right, so we just... shot all the snakes until they're dead then, right? Then, once they're dead, I do the ritual." A beat. "Maybe I could gather some new branches after we killed the snakes." The druid looks thoughtful for a moment, but then shrugs.
"Whatever, let's see how much time its left after we exterminate those bastards." Taking the lead, Anika is already ascending the spiral path carved out of the petrified tree which leads up to the moon well.
If Blanche comes along, she will eventually see the source of the problem. The well is filled with water, as one might expect a well to be, but that water is filled with snakes of various species and sizes. There must be hundreds of them either swimming around in the water or laying on the stones of the well and lazing about.

"Elune's tits, just look at them, freaking freeloaders." Anika places the branches she's been carrying in a pile and punches her fist into her palm. "Let's show em' what we got."

[Library - Elves and a Monk]

Anika nods in confirmation. "Yep, Rain can make music about pretty much anything." She points at Calm Reed. "I bet she could make some awesome work-out music for you if you asked." Yes, lyres are known for their use in work-out music.

She then turns to the bard. "But yeah, this is Calm Reed. She got magical punches. Like, magic from actual dragons. A dragon monk pretty much."

[Recaiden]

[Lower Village - Alice's House]

"Can i?" Mia asks as she lifts one of the drohnes on a nearby free table. Assuming the answer is a yes Mia will start to open the drone and futher examine the inner organs of the machine. Her skills are extremly good and taken into account this is made by someone else Mia seems to know exactly what to do. She checks on every detal like cable and what tools the drone contains. She migth even do smaller improvements like noting that a cable is to long which results in a small loss of energy or something alike. While doing that she will answer the question,

"We know. The cores appear to transmute any kind of energy into electrical energy. Light, Wind, movement, magic and even life. That is the reason why they are so rare. Working with a finished one is easy since you can controll what they transmute, but creating them is the problem. The cores feed on energy so every force or magic used to create them got sucked in during the process. That means you need 100 times the power to do the same thing. On top they also feed on your life energy so you will die if you work for to long on them."

As she works she looks up. "A normal power cell from my world should keep them running for an hour depending on what they use. A shield drone might run out faster if they got attacked often or so. An advanced power cell could do more, but they are heavy which would need some improvements in the material, designe and engine."

"Alright." Alice says with a nod, although she does watch Mia carefully. She knows it's unreasonable to worry, since Mia is an expert with machines of all sorts, but she's still nervous.
The drone's main internals are the cameras and sensors (which do have too much cabling), the computer chip that serves as it's 'brain', a relatively big shield generator, the heavy slab of its existing battery, and a tiny workshop for making microscopic little machines (which isn't hooked up correctly yet). Not to mention the propellers that (are supposed to) move it around.

She shivers at the description of the power cores. "No wonder. Something so dangerous..."

"What makes a power cell 'advanced', hmm, and not just bigger?"

[Training Grounds]

The cactus man lumbers forward, beating his fists against his chest when Alice mentions fighting. "Hurrah, bum-be! Lend me a spear, a sword, or a hammer, I show you my fight, I show you my answer! Ba-dum, harum!" Looking around the training room, the figure stomps about, looking for a suitable weapon with a stern look upon his face.

"You do not mean, harum, harum, to test my mettle on this man?"

It's more of an outdoor athletic area that a room, I think.
Alice tilts her head, confused for a moment.
"That's not a man. It's a doll, made for 'testing your mettle' with."
"Or is that too easy for you?"

She trots over and wheels around to be facing the cacti.