Inside 70: Surprisingly Pleasant

[Rebonack]

Current Events: Thanksmas is just around the corner! Get some good earmuffs because All I Want For Thanksmas is You is about to start playing 24/7.

The title is a misnomer, of course. No doubt the moniker of this place was settled on after a brief conversation that started with, 'Wouldn't it be funny if...?'. But now the name has stuck.

But what is this place, you ask?

Inside is everything within the City Walls. As opposed to Outside, which is everything without. Except Seaside. And Riverside. And Skyside. And all the other Sides that have cropped up in recent years. This strange, whimsical city is the center of a planar Nexus, a crossing point between all possible (and some impossible) worlds. One can find just about anything in this wondrous place, dreams that defy imagination and terrors that freeze the soul. People and whole places are regularly drawn into the Nexus, added to the chaotic melting pot of all realities.

The city is surrounded by defensive walls, with an artificially and accidentally created moat outside the walls, a moat that has been diverted into a river-channel for one many bodies of water flowing through Inside. A gap in the walls and a bridge allow for entrance into the city proper, the main gate opening up to welcome newcomers Inside.

Welcome, traveler, to the City of Inside. The only boundaries you find within are the bounds of your own imagination.


Rules

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Rules

1:Please Spoiler any Fanservice in this thread! It is accepted that there will of course be some, and that romance and curtains happen. However, please be courteous to others and spoiler any scene that goes on for a little while, and if it reaches the point, curtain. This is so you can stay within forum rules, as well as letting those uninterested in the scene, pass by. Thank you.

2:Godmodding is not permissible! As stated in the rules in the FFRP Central Thread,, godmodding is generally not allowed without permission. If you're shaky on what might be, and what might not be godmodding, please follow the above link.

3:Intersection. Please remember when doing any plots or large events, that even though it has it's own thread, Intersection - the Inside Police Force and Army - is located in Inside, and may respond to events, or may be asked to respond to them.

4:All Inside-Wide/Nexus-Wide plots need to be brought up in OOC first! We all want to have the entire city be cast into a frozen wasteland from time to time, but such things need to be brought up in OOC first, to allow players plenty of warning, and so people don't feel like anything is being forced upon them that they don't want to RP.

5:Inside is not Space! Anything involving massive spaceships, meteors, satellites, Lasers From Space, and the like, do not belong in this thread. Few PCs have the ability to fight off an orbital bombardment, so it is considered unfair to be able to call down such things inside Inside. The place for these sorts of things should be in Outside, or another thread all together.

Zones and Streets

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Zones:
In the Zone(s): The City of Inside is separated into three zones that represent the general threat level color coded for your convenience.

The Blue Zones are upper-class, well to do portions of Inside. You're pretty darn safe here.

The Grey Zones consists of the more traditionally urban parts of inside. Certainly no gated community, but it isn't immediately life threatening either.

The Red Zones represents the parts of the City that are degenerate, destitute, or downright dangerous. Sometimes all of the above. If you're poking around a Red Zone be ready to get jumped by Orks or ghouls or killer robots or something.

Streets:

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Hodgepodge Street? The City of Inside also has a number of Streets. The Streets aren't a street in the literal sense, but rather portions of the City with a particular theme. While one can find anything anywhere in the City there are none the less areas were certain settings predominate. The Riftline monorail public transit system allows for quick and easy access between the many Streets of Inside, as well as take your PCs to other popular locations within the Nexus. Best of all it's fast and free!

If you have an idea for a Street feel free to suggest it in the OOC thread.

Hodgepodge Street: The generically modern setting! Hodgepodge Street is perhaps the most plastic of the Streets, displaying a decent mix of all settings, though modern predominates. Generally speaking most locations without a Street name will be found here. The most commonly seen locations here are the Streets and the Slums. Occasionally The Rooftops if someone is feeling daring.

Steele Street: Need a Victorian location with all sorts of choking industrial pollution? Need an always-night urban landscape with superficial resemblance to 1800s London? Well Steel Street is by far the best place Inside to come down with Black Lung Disease! With spooky stinky fog, gross waterways, and the occasional murderer who may or may not be spring-heeled. Come for the fish and chips! Stay for the gritty atmosphere!

Arkham Street: Spanning 1920s-1930s style fantastic horror, Arkham Street is home of such spooky locations as Philip Memorial Library, the haunted Carter House, and Dunwich Park. Ah Arkham Street, where the clustering gambled roofs sway and sag above the attics where witches hid from the king's men in the dark olden days of Town. The Town is gone, but the witches are still here! And the monsters, and the cultists, and the regular folks just trying not to lose their minds.

Metropolis Square: It's Atom Age or Deco Punk or whatever you want to call it! 1930-50s era retro science fiction with ray guns and mad scientists and nuclear powered robots who just want to learn the meaning of love. This part of Inside is known for its slick hats, era cars, smooth jazz, a robotic workforce, and square-jawed heroes.

The Skyway: High up above the tops of the tallest skyscrapes one can find The Skyway! A high future urban cityscape of floating buildings of glass and chrome and steel and plastic. And a space port too, if you feel like leaving the planet for whatever reason. Think Jetsons with more foot paths. Riftline, of course, grants access to The Skyway to for those not blessed with flying cars.

[Burnt Chrome Street:] Need some cyberpunk action? You got some cyberpunk action! The gritty future of cyber-criminals clashing against government and corporate forces! With cyborgs and hackers and stuff! Grungy urban sprawl, a decaying job market, and an oppressed underclass mark this area of Inside. Burnt Chromes Street is the distopian counter-point to The Skyway's more optimistic vision of what the future holds.

Market Street: Market Street is the ye olde portion of Inside, complete with bards, fools, open market places, and the occasional damsel in distress. While products of any age can be found in the sprawling street booths everything is done ye olde style-e. If you need a chase scene to crash through a fruit-cart this is the place to do it.

Deadwood Street: The wild, wild west. Located on the edge of Inside this is the western part of the city. And that means any kind of western. From spegetti to steampunk to magical. Whether you need to hang around a saloon, have a duel a high noon, or go riding off into the sunset Deadwood Street is your best bet.

PokéStreet: By popular demand! This one should be obvious enough. PokéCenters and PokéMarts and PokéGyms and PokéParks and PokéNarwhals and everything else Poké-related! Great place to visit if you feel like watching some adorable animals beat the tar out of each other. Just watch out for the tall grass. You never know what might be lurking in there.

Carousel Court: So much pony. Carousel Court contains the majority of the City's pony population as well as a healthy helping of non-pony quadrupedal sapient races. Ranging from quaint thatched roof cottages to the towering mane offices of Roseluck Agrifirm to the opulent stables of the well-to-do Carousel Court has it all. The sweet tooth of ponies is absolutely legendary around Inside and if you're looking for a sugary treat, Carousel Court is the place to visit.

Locations

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The Red Zones

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Just because here are some nice quick descriptions of the various Red Zones that see some degree of use. Or at least the ones that I'll run NPCs in if I get prodded at or notice someone's PC poking around there. I don't control everything in these locations and other people are free to run things here, just keep the Lethality level in mind. Anyone exploring one of the Red Zones will find caches of magical or technological trinkets to make the danger worth their while. The higher the lethality rating the better the loot!

The Slums: (Lethality Level Low) Accessed from Hodgepodge Street. The Slums are a generally urban area of decay and disrepair. It's a pretty good place to run into muggers, thugs, vampires, random monsters, and other generically nasty things. People live in squalor here, but no one can really figure out WHY since the rest of the City is available for habitation and has fewer flesh eating mildew patches.

The Sewers: (Lethality Level Low) Accessed from anywhere Inside. The adventure Sewers are not to be confused with the gross functional sewers. Where the former are huge underground tunnels filled with relatively clean flowing water, ghouls, oozes, rats, and treasure, the latter are just filled with poo. Some portions of the Sewers are infested with far worse creatures, but thankfully those nasty things have been dormant for a long time. Or so they say...

The Mispelled Cemetary: (Lethality Level Variable) Accessed form Market Street. The Mispelled Cemetary is fully of the restless spirits of the unded who have been ripped from there eternal rest due to the endless propagation of spelling errors on the Internet. The unded in the cemetary proper are pretty week, but catacombs below the cemetary can be accessed through the various crypts on the surface. The deeper into the catacombs ones travels the nastier the unded get. Beware the Eternal Bone Horrers.

Midnight Park: (Lethality Level Moderate) This place enshrines a patch of forest so thick that light never reaches the ground. The smallest trees are wider than most people are tall, and the largest are truly awe-inspiring. The forest floor is a maze of twisting roots, fallen branches, and decaying leaves. There is never a breath of wind among the massive trunks, and the atmosphere is oppressive with fear and gloom.

Or...

At least it used to be oppressive with fear and gloom. Fear and gloom are still around, but they aren't nearly as bad.

Foot paths have been cleared through the forest and lanterns hung up that glow with cool silvery white light to keep the feral shadows at a distance from anyone who decides to walk in the cool of the shadows. Undead creatures that stray too close to the magical lanterns will find themselves illuminated by incandescent sunlight until they retreat back to a safe distance. Signs have been set up admonishing visitors to stay on the paths and warning of the unspeakable doom that will probably befall them if they don't.

Shadows prowl the darkness, their red eyes glinting in the gloom and the air filled with their hungry whispers, though they're loath to approach the paths. There's the occasional bodak or feral vampire spawn lurking around in the park as well, but they tend to keep well away from the paths since those areas are mostly commonly patrolled by the park's custodians.

The custodians, of course, being Team Nightmære. It isn't at all uncommon to find patrols of nightmære shadelings poking about, chatting with visitors, maintaining the trails, or installing new equipment around the park to make visits by the living more pleasant.

The Dungeons of Doom: (Lethality Level Moderate) Accessed from the Sewers. The Dungeons of Doom consists of a seemingly endless descent of themed dungeon floors filled with generally silly monsters and puzzles. But don't let the silliness fool you, the place is plenty deadly if you get too careless. Remember to pay proper respects to giant marble busts of science fiction and fantasy authors that might block your path.

The Radiation Pit: (Lethality Level Moderate) Accessed from Metropolis Square. The Radiation Pit is exactly what it sounds like. A blasted crater full of radiation and the sorts of things you would expect to arise in 50's era films about radiation. So mostly giant irradiated arthropods. The danger here, aside from the radiation mutants, is mostly from environmental hazards. Make sure to pack plenty of Rad-Away.

Bombed Out Zone: (Lethality Level Moderate) Accessed from Hodgepodge Street. A ruined urban landscape of burned out cars, shattered skyscrapers, and crumbling overpasses. It is the site of an ongoing three way battle between zombies, killer robots, and aliens. Getting caught between the factions is pretty dangerous, but scavenging the remains after a battle can yield some great loot.

Black Goat Woods: (Lethality Level High) Accessed from Arkham Street. Black Goat Woods is a park full of awful eldritch abominations. If you go in un-warded you will almost certainly die a horrible death if you're fortunate. With proper warding by the Elder Sign this Red Zone is just dangerous and maddening rather than a complete death trap. If you need to collect some tomes of forbidden lore or repulsive idols try snooping around here. Just remember that Cthulhu eats 2d6 investigators per round.

Everfree Park: (Lethality Level High) Accessed from Carousel Court. This is a wilderness within the heart of the City that hates you and wants you to die. The laws of physics and magic shift here chaotically and without warning. Powerful monsters roam the trees hunting for anyone foolish enough to stumble in. Everything that exists in this park, even the very air you're breathing, is a malevolent force that seeks your destruction. Enter at your own risk.

Azik's Enchantments(Player: Halae, Grey Zone)

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Those in the area will hear a rumbling as the Nexus begins pulling in something larger than just a single person. Reality bends, and the shape of portal opens above a certain street corner. For a sickening moment, nothing happens, but then things start coming out of the portal - all of them are bricks, building up finally to a door and a roof, with tiny windows built in. There's even a large chimney sticking out of the center of this strange, conical building that begins puffing rainbow smoke almost immediately.

A creature steps out the front door, though many wouldn't consider it a creature - He is a warforged, a living golem. Covered in what appears to be adamantine plates, he looks up and down the street, his longcoat catching in the breeze. as it flutters, one can see a multitude of wands, schema, and scrolls all attached to several belts around his waist and upper legs. On his eyes he wears a pair of blue tinted shades, despite his lack of ears, and the metal orbs that serve as his eyes glow green behind these spectacles. He looks up and down the street. He doesn't seem to be particularly disturbed by the change in location, but he does take the time to call out, in a metallic voice:

"Azik's Enchantments is open for business! Come find a potion, a wand, a scroll to fit any need! We have spellbooks for beginners and experts! Weapons of all shapes and sizes, and armor unlike anything you've ever seen! Come find what you're looking for here!"

And then he heads back inside. So much work, so little time. Inside is as strange as outside, with magic trinkets lining the walls on shelves, but all behind the counter, to keep any stupid kid with the idea to steal something from doing so. You can find just about anything magical here, and that which you can't find, Azik the Warforged can make within a more than reasonable timeframe.

Emergency Bunkers

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Eight bunker-like structures in a ring-like arrangement at about the midpoint between the walls (or the docks) and the center of the city have been completed.

The interior of each is rather dull, rather befitting a bunker, but there are underground areas beneath the visible bunkers. These are similarly dull and military-styled, but they also act as hospitals.

These are mostly designed with emergencies such as shelling in mind, and are usually closed.

Emergency Clinics

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Like the bunkers the clinics are spread through-out the City and are equipped with technology akin to a modern emergency room. Since there's no magical healing available the speed of recovery is going to be noticeably lower than what is available at one of Inside's many temples. However their availability makes them absolutely vital in the application of life-saving care.

Erin's Emporium (Player: The Bushranger, Grey Zone)

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Construction Gnomes have been hard at work renovating a small store along one of the various merchantile roads. Well, it was small. Now it's bigger on the inside.

And filled with every sort of weaponry imaginable, from across the multiverse. From blaster carbines to P-90s, surface-to-air missiles to ballistas, zats to nunchucks, they're all here.

Is that a siege crossbow sitting in the corner?

Evolution Industries Headquarters + Factories (Player: Darkcomet, Blue Zone)

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The headquarters of the company known as Evolution Electronics and Power is a fairly standard-looking modern-day tower in appearance, not quite reaching the level of skyscraper.

The company owns a large factory nearby, used in production of its MACE units, and potentially other products, should it be desired.

The company also possesses a number of other factories around the city, used for production of weaponry and other military materiel.

Retail outlets for Evolution's products are scattered around the city.

Hastings and Sons Mortuary (player: Ashen Lilies, Grey Zone)

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Near one of the older parts of the city sits a large and somewhat dour building of brick and mortar, built in the traditional sense, with a metal plaque by the door that reads (predictably enough):

Hastings and Sons
MORTUARY
For the preparation of the dearly departed.

And indeed, should one go in one should find all the trappings of a conventional mortuary, including several large visitation rooms, run by this guy:

Though of course, usually without the zombie there.
In recent times however, the true business of the resident Mortician has branched into a more heretical bent, offering certain services to the living impaired (more commonly known as the foul Undead). These start at simple healings and flesh grafts (the flesh occasionally obtained 'legitimately', when a body comes in for cremation and the Mortician gives them an urn full of wood-ash, but usually corpses are obtained through donations from customers or good old fashioned grave-robbing). But services can also range into body part replacement and augmentation for the undead who wishes his creator had seen fight to give him a giant lobster claw or retractable venomous spines, or even full body/flesh reconstruction for the self-conscious lich (or lich in disguise, though making your new flesh look like someone else usually costs extra) or the zombie in his golden years. These customers usually come in through the back door, where there is a plaque listing the full list of services. Though of course some are brazen enough to come through the front door anyway.

((PM if you wish to interact with the Mortician, as Ashen Lilies may not always check the thread.))

MagMart (Player: Lord Magtok, Blue Zone)

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An absurd mash-up of K-Mart, Wall-Mart, Target, and every other vile retail chain, MagMart is staffed by an unswervingly loyal Magbots, lobotomized talking cats that are too brain-dead to know any better, several voodoo spirits, and a pickle jar that everyone insists is a sentient being that only communes with those who truly believe in it.

Here you can find everything from curtains to carpets, macaroni to monkeys on motorcycles, groceries to zombies. The staff is always happy to help (or else), and if you aren't entirely satisfied with your shopping experience, you can pay a small fee to watch the MagMart employee of your choosing get fired out the MagMart complimentary employee morale cannon.

Magnificus Theater (Player: ThePhantom, Red Zone)

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This large theater is an attempt to bring culture to the city of the Inside. Plays are regularly show here, and if desired other events can be held here.

The walls of the theater are colored with three shades of blue in a wave pattern. Inside the theater are a pair of grand staircases, with the railing colored gold, while the stone of the stairs is white. The stage itself is one of the largest in the Nexus, carefully designed for the greatest enjoyment.

Rules: Please, no violence. If you must have some violent action in a theater, pm me first.

MERC Office (Player: Morty, Grey Zone)

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The building that serves as MERC's de facto embassy in Inside is now open for business (though there is a separate MERC thread that serves as a meta location to post in). It's a large, newly constructed office building with a very no-nonsense look to it. Its purpose is to do business, not more and not less.

Once inside, the prospective licensed mercenaries will be confronted with a large hall lined with tables, behind which NPCs work at filing and cataloguing the people who arrive to receive their certificates. At least one actual MERC member is also usually on a shift in the building.

Sable Spire (Player: Darkcomet, Blue Zone)

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A great, black-colored tower now stands at the highest point of the Skyway. Appearing mostly similar to a modern-day skyscraper, albeit more futuristic, reinforced, and armored. Upon close examination, some parts of the tower appear to conceal compartments of some sort, likely something along the lines of concealed defensive turrets. the top portion of the tower is rather different in appearance.

It appears as a truly massive hatch, similar to what one might see over a missile silo under normal circumstances.

This hatch opens into the landing area of the aerial aircraft carrier Sanctuary, the main asset of the Altaran Irregulars. Said landing area is set to act as an elevator, capable of moving up to the top of the tower or moving back down to conceal whatever is landed (usually the aforementioned carrier) under the heavily armored hatch.

The Spire, constructed by Remnant in an alliance with the Altaran Irregulars, is now a major base for the the latter, who currently act alongside Remnant in protecting the city. Their troops largely use the same equipment as Remnant's, but use the old Imperial black-and-navy color scheme to distinguish themselves.

The The Temperance Teahouse (Grey Zone) Owned by Artemis

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In an old section of the city stands a wooden building of ancient construction. From inside comes the sound of good conversation and, occasionally, music being played. The scents of exotic teas, spices, and good foods drift out onto the street. along with the scents and sounds come an aura of peace and comfort. It's a nice place here, you could definitely stick around for a while, to escape the general madness of the city.

Two wings extend out from the main building. To the north (the right side as you face the tea house) is an extension of the main structure, still made of wood, the architecture is slightly different and more brightly colored, and also noticeably newer. The west side of the building is surrounded by a stone wall, enclosing a garden. The garden ends at a low stone building running the length of the west wall.

[Restaurant]

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Inside the restaurant is filled with tables and chairs, spread out across the dark hardwood floors. Thick wooden pillars support the second floor and the roof, their tops carved with geometric designs. At the north side of the restaurant is a long counter, surrounding an open kitchen. Steam and smoke drift up from the fires and the woks used for cooking. A shelf along the back wall is filled with dozens of tins, each containing a particular tea or herbal blend. Interspersed among them are tea kettles, each one used to brew a particular type of tea.

The center of the restaurant is open to the second floor. Stairs lead up to more seating on the second level, which looks down on the restaurant below over carved wooden balconies. The ceiling above the open space is painted with a mural of a golden dragon floating through the clouds and circling the sun.

Seats on the west side of the building go fast, as they offer the best view of the gardens. The south and east sides offer views of the bustling streets below. The north side of the second floor has no windows and sits above the kitchen, so it is often darker and smokier than the rest of the restaurant.

Menu

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Drinks

Herbal Tea
Green Tea
Black Tea
White Tea
Yellow Tea
Red Tea
Blue Tea - Mentally stimulating.
Purple Tea - Very relaxing and slightly hallucinogenic.
Iced Tea - Served sweet or unsweet, with or without lemon.
Sake - Available chilled, heated, or at room temperature.
Lychee Wine - A rich sweet drink with a deep golden color. Pairs well with seafood. Served cold.

Food

Dim Sum
Sushi
Stir Fry - Served over rice or noodles
Noodles
Soup
Rice Cakes

Sweets

Ice Cream - Vanilla, Green Tea, Red Bean, and Mango flavoured.
Dragon's Beard Candy - A spun sugar similar to cotton candy.
Moon Cake - A dense sweet cake around a salted egg yolk "moon".
Sun Cake - A crunchy pastry filled with a sugary cream.
Tempura Fried Bananas - Served over ice cream.

[North Wing]

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The north wing of the restaurant is of newer construction. It is more brightly painted and more heavily decorated than the main restaurant. Two doorways on each floor lead to a U shaped hallway that runs through the north wing. Sliding paper screens from the inner walls, so that they can be slid aside and make the spaces much larger. The lower floor holds private rooms that can be reserved for larger parties or special meetings. These rooms typically have a long low table surrounded by cushions. The second floor rooms have more flexible floor plans. Most have tables and chairs, often used to host card or board games. A few can be rented out for sleeping quarters, but patrons are reminded that the walls are, literally, paper thin. Disruptive behaviour will have you evicted without a refund.

[Garden]

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The west wing of the tea house is a large garden surrounded by stone wall. A circular gate leads directly from the garden to the streets, as well as doors leading into the restaurant. The garden itself is carefully kept, trees and bushes trained and cut into pleasing shapes. Stone lanterns and statues decorate the garden. Two pools filled with koi fish sit diagonally from one another, connected together by a stream filled with river rocks. The sound of trickling water fills the garden. A winding path leads through the garden and over a low stone bridge. On the far side of the bridge, the path passes through another circular gate guarded by two stone dragons on plinths. the pair stare down at any visitors, questioning their intentions in passing through their gate.

Beyond the Dragon Gate the path becomes perfectly straight. On either side are large black stones surrounded by carefully raked white sand. The path passes under a red Torii gate before encountering the low stone building at the far side of the garden. The building runs the full length of the west wall and is open to the garden. Large prayer wheels line the opening and are turned by the breeze or visiting people. The walls within the building are heavily decorated and covered in hanging scrolls. At the centre of the building is a shrine, covered in candles. Behind it is a mural depicting scenes of a warrior, a golden dragon, and the sun. Sitting on the shrine a wooden statue of a warrior, sitting in meditation, his sword set aside. The wood is lacquered and carefully inlaid with delicate patterns in gold. From the statue emanates a strong aura of peace, which spreads throughout the entire property.

NPCs

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Hideki - A large man with a red face and a long nose, he is most often found in the kitchen, cooking up tasty things.
Hanako - An older woman, her black hair streaked with grey. She is Hideki's wife and most often found behind the counter serving tea.
Sakura - A lovely young woman and the daughter of Hideki and Hanako. She acts as a waitress and sometimes plays music.

OOC: Please Read. Important information.

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The Teahouse and garden are protected by an aura of non-violence. Violent acts cannot be committed here. You cannot attack another patron or do anything that would cause them bodily harm. Anyone who attempts it will find it extremely hard to convince themselves to do it. If a particularly willful person overcomes this compulsion, something in the environment will intervene, as if by seemingly random chance, to protect their victim as if by divine intervention. Because that's exactly what it is.

Needle and Thread (Blue Zone, Player: Artemis97)

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On one side of a wide cobblestoned street is a small shop. The sign hanging over the door depicts a simple spool of thread, pierced by a needle. No words were included, as a courtesy to those who could not read, nor were they needed. It was clear from the merchandise displayed in the two large windows on either side of the door that this was a clothing boutique. The right side displayed the latest in women's fashions, dresses and skirts in unique designs, all detailed by hand with beading and embroidery. The left window showed men's clothing, from a beautifully tailored three piece suit, cut from expensive fabrics, to the very best in adventuring style, rugged and sturdy, clearly built to last.

Inside, racks and mannequins display more clothing, split down the middle between men's and women's fashions. The back wall held rolls of fabric, some plain, others with obviously magical properties. A large, three-sided mirror sits in the back corner, next to a small changing stall. On the other side is a small counter holding a cash register, behind that the door that led to a small workroom.

The Needle and Thread is a clothing shop specializing in custom tailoring and speciality designs. It is owned and operated by Lillith Rock, and the kindly fiendish woman can usually be found behind the counter, or working on orders in the back workroom.

Pontius' Custom Constructs (Player: Earl of Purple, Grey Zone)

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The caravan of 6 wagons (I never said 3! Well, I did, but still.) arrives at a warehouse, previously for sale. The gnomes lead the golems and other constructs inside, and get to work. The warehouse has an open yard at the main entrance, and several golems, like crude figures of worked stone or wood, stand in the yard. A gnome wearing an apron over smart-yet-practical artisan's clothes and puts a sign up.


Pontius's Custom Constructs
Golems of Any Material* at Unbelievably Low Prices!!!**
You Won't Find a Golem, Gargoyle, Guardian or Homonculus Cheaper!!***
Come Now and Buy 1 Get 1 Full Price!!!****



*Flesh has an additional charge. **Define 'low'. ***Except at our competitors. ****Terms and conditions apply.

Sanctuary Fortress of Zoemaytare (Player: Rebonack, Blue Zone)

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Like so many other prominent buildings in Town, or not so prominent buildings for that matter, this place seemed to pop up out of nowhere over night.

Buildings are like mushrooms in Town. Probably spread via spores, too.

Regardless, here it is. A rather sizeable campus marble hewn from the mountains some distance away. Carved and hauled here near the edge of the slums where they were no doubt assembled. Though... no one can quite place a finger on when this happened.

Though the buildings aren't of only cold hard stone, no. There are timbers as well. Not what one might expect, however. They seem almost organic. As though they had grown into place rather than being hewn.

Oddness aside, the temple is arranged in a rather interesting fashion. Several concentric wall and courtyards ending in a central temple.

The outer wall is lower than the rest, each tier of the temple built onto higher ground like a wedding cake. Each wall is topped with a roof supported on the inside by pillars, creating a sheltered walkway. The exact use of these porches depends on the section of the temple one happens to be in.

Anyone is allowed entry through the first wall and into the first court, the Court of Meeting. Beyond the second wall only worshippers of Zoemaytare are allowed admittance to the second court, the Court of the Blessed. Beyond the third wall only the priests are allowed, where they carry out holy rituals within the temple itself.

The Court of Meeting is dedicated to service of those the worshippers of Zoemaytare dwell among. Food is prepared for the hungry here and given out without expectation of recompense. Those without a place to lay their head are allowed to sleep within the porch. The grounds beyond the porch are devoted to a wondrous garden boasting vibrancy and spectacular color. This are is always comfortably warm and brimming with life. Wounds heal faster as the body is refreshed. Undead creatures will find that remaining here is decidedly uncomfortable.

The sky above the temple seems to be perpetually clear, filled with pleasant sunlight in the day and cloaked with gossamer stars at night. Benches are set up here and there, under trees with hanging branches and above fragrant shrubbery. A lively stream flows endlessly in a circuit about the Court, spilling into several larger pools and meandering up a small outcrop of stone before cascading back down the other side.

This section of the temple is tended by members of the faith. Not priests, though devote. They can be found tending the garden and serving warm food. When in service to the temple these devotees wear a white linen ephod bearing the symbol of a willow tree, ornately rendered in blue thread. They'll be more than happen to answer any questions. Priests tend to have stricter ceremonial garb, including a blue tunic and white robe in addition to the ephod.

Welcome, traveller. May you be more blessed when you leave than when you came.

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New information that isn't readily noticeable at first glance at the temple will be added here.

The temple grounds are protected by a dampening field that blocks unauthorized teleporation and dimensional shifting. The place is something of a fortress after all. Being able to pop in and out at will would defeat the purpose.

Zoemaytare isn't a god of (fill in the black) but rather the patron and protector of her people. As such, her domain, if she even has one, is over all that her people do. The people in question are collectively known as the Zoeos, and this particular temple is their first major venture into Town. At present their stated goal is to set up trade relations and aid the city. This is ministered through the temple on account of the Zoeos government being a theocracy.

It just so happens that there's a dungeon under the temple, though the entrance to it is well hidden.

NPCs thus far:

Potentate of the temple: the head priest and administrator. He has yet to be seen 'on screen' though he has been referred to.

Regent Zachius: And elderly human with a coppery complexion and deep-set wrinkles, the sort of face one expects of a person who has spent a great deal of time in the sun smiling. He's a kind old fellow who is in charge of the Court of Meeting.

Regent Stephen: A younger human who smells rather distinctly of wolf. He's in charge of the dungeons of the temple and seems to be a rather caring and compassionate fellow. It's his job to bring the cases of prisoners before the Potentate.

Regent Thadeus: One of the priests who aids in minor upkeep in the temple proper. He usually isn't seen outside the temple and since his position doesn't put him in much contact with the common folk he tends to be somewhat aloof and judgmental. Also happens to be an elf. Those snooty elves!

Bognus Thundershield: a lay dwarf that operates the temple's teleporter, primarily from Trog's. Though people can be 'ported in from elsewhere as well. While it isn't commonly known, this device can send people over rather long distances, though it's somewhat inaccurate when doing so. Bognus is a bit gruff, though generally good natured. He speaks with a thick Scottish Dwarven accent.

The Statue of Vyrn (Blue Zone)

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On a hill near Evergreen Gardens at an previously empty lot surrounded by spot lights now stands an over 300 feet tall (100 meters tall to be exact) mitharal statue of Emperor Vyrn. Whoever made it seems to have tried to come as close to his likeness as possible on a white mithral surface.
The emperor is dressed in his most most archetypical attire, one fist raised to the skies and another clutching a sword held against the ground. His face perfectly stoic as he overlooks Inside's harbor.
The statue is actually hollow and small groups of people are allowed to take the elevator up to be able to see the city from atop the statues head. Otherwise security is tight around the statue with a tall fence, guards and security cameras there to prevent people from defacing it.
At night the statue is still clearly visible thanks to the many spotlights illuminating it, still making it visible for anyone approaching the city, by day or night.

The Swordfish (Player: Gulaghar, Grey Zone)

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A new shop has opened up in Market Street. The building is a simple affair. A brick building with a massive chimney that constantly billows smoke. On the inside a massive forge dominates the far wall from the entrance. All manner of smithing equipment is carefully placed around the large room that dominates most of the building. Lining the two side walls are many tools for his craft, while lining the far wall are the products of that craft.

Swords, swords of all shapes and sizes. Some brutally efficient, simple weapons and others pieces of art that are no less functional. Each and every sword is obviously the work of a master.

And the master is always present. A great robot moves around the room, always working and experimenting with its remarkable talent. The machine is a hulking, bronze coloured humanoid. The robot has a number of slides and doors, implying there's more to it than is immediately apparent. Finally, at its head is a glass dome, filled with water. Dominating the container is a great carp, as big as a man. It gazes at it's work with eyes that know little more than hate. Hate and its new inspiration.

Word travels quickly of this bizarre master swordsmith. Though it is quite fearsome, the quality of its blades are unmatched.

St. Guinevere's Sanatorium for Lunatics and Object Seekers (Player: Anyone, Gray Zone)

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This insane asylum exists for people questing after Objects from the Holders Mythos. Anyone can run an Object quest, but please look at the community agreed guidelines first as it helps keep things consistent.

If you want to use the Sanatorium for other uses, feel free, but expect it to be a house of unspeakable horrors.

The Temple of Dalachrech (Player: Earl of Purple, Grey Zone)

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The first room entered is a foyer. On the walls are red drapes with silver, two-tailed scorpions embroidered on to them, and next to the door is an ornate font. The granite font stands about waist height, and is a plinth with a bowl of unholy water. Winding around the font are carved centipedes. A door away from this chamber leads to the main prayer hall. This room also has drapes with the two-tailed scorpion device on the walls, and a red velvet carpet flanked by wooden pews leads to an altar at the far end. The altar is covered with red velvet, with a gold statue and red candles placed upon it. The statue depicts a demon with a centipede's body, a scorpion's tail with spinnerets next to the sting, a stag beetle's head and the claws of a praying mantis.

Please PM Earl of Purple before entering this location.

Trollfinger, Ironpick & Greencheek, Mining & Engineering (Player: Morty, Blue Zone)

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A run-down building near Trog's Tavern was bought by three goblin entrepreneurs with a large crew and now houses their mining and engineering company. Everyone who needs something dug, built, repaired or blown up is welcome.

Warwick Works (player: happyturtle, Grey Zone)

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In the industrial area, a building is rented and has a new sign put out front.

W
Warwick Works

The building itself consists of a small office area in front and warehouses in back. There is no indication of what sort of business this is, but a certain cyborg with a satellite might recognize the logo and name.

Witch Which's Wish Shop (Grey, Player: Haruki-kun)

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Welcome. If you have stepped into this store, it is because you have a wish.

The store is big, ancient and beautiful. It has a large garden with colourful flowers, a pond with fish and running water, and chirping birds. This is the outside of the store. The inside, however, is, to put it simply, gloomy. There’s burning candles and incense everywhere. From the hall where you enter you are led off into a side room with a low table and cushions around it. A tall, masked and unnamed stranger brings tea and snacks to the guests. The Witch sits opposite and rarely ever moves.

RULES (OOC):

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This is a Wish shop. Your character will only enter this shop if he has a wish. Whether the wish is granted or not is a different issue.
Witch Which is in charge of the shop and will grant wishes to everyone who asks, regardless of intent or alignment, as long as the appropriate price is paid. Under certain conditions:

Condition one: Witch Which will not haggle. She couldn’t lower a price or overcharge even if she wanted to. A balance must be kept in order for the wish to be granted.

Condition two: When a Wish directly affects another player’s character in a way that would be considered godmodding, the other player must agree first.

Condition three: The Witch may not reject any wish unless the price is too high to be paid. Wishes to take a life or to destroy the world, for example, carry a price higher than anyone can pay. ANYONE.

Condition Four: The Witch will never engage in battle. Be glad. The Witch is the very definition of True Neutral.

Condition Five: The store is not hard to access; in fact, there’s a big sign outside and everything. However, the store’s grounds exist in a special separate dimension, protecting it from anything that could destroy it, up to and including plot.

Condition Six: Haruki-kun reserves the right to alter the conditions if he feels they’re causing problems such as godmodding or similar issues.

(Haruki-Kun wishes for a PM to be sent to him upon someone entering the shop so he knows about it.)

Intersection HQ- LordDeathkeeper

Recently re-branded, this large but basic structure serves as the new HQ for Intersection, separate from previous Remnant associations. It's well-guarded but given a nice blue-grey paint job and is meant to look more personable and comforting than the stark look of the Empire. It is reasonably, but not heavily guarded. This building is where deputized Intersection groups may seek out the chief of police, Nick Richards.

Inside's Defenses and RemnantIntersection

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Defenses

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As stated above, the city of Inside is defended by the Walls, moat, and a force field that can be called upon in times of need, as well as a number of more conventional defensive capabilities, nearly all of which are manned and controlled by Intersection. These include things from Emergency Bunkers, Relief Stations, Anti-Aircraft Cannon, and the like.

Intersection

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As stated before, Intersection is Inside's police force, army, and main defensive body. It is made up of the remains of what was once the Acronymian Empire, and now has again become Insides's police force containing members from Remnant, the Altaran Irregulars and other Revived Empire units, and consists of hundreds of men, women, elves, ponies, bugs, indescribable organisms, and machines, both soldier and civilian, sacrificing their daily lives and time to make sure the city of Inside is relatively safe for it's citizens. There are Intersection Outposts all throughout the city, with the main HQ in Blue Zone, and less Outposts in Red Zone. These can be reached fairly easily, and allow people to report crimes, turn in criminals, collect bounties, and even ask to be recruited. Intersection controls most of Inside's defenses, but also controls Rapid Response Units capable of stopping fires, providing emergency medical aide, and even disaster relief to clean up debris and fix buildings and roads damaged by the day to day events of Inside.

Squads of Intersection patrol the streets "every so often" and should anyone need one, can interact with them (Please check in OOC upon doing so, however).

As a note, Low-Level Intersection officers can be Godmodded! They can be assumed to fight the fires that pop up, but can also be asked to provide basic information. This also means that they can be bribed for less well-known information such as someone's name and rank, or to look the other way for a small crime, such as theft. Anything more, please post in OOC in case there is something that needs clarified. The Intersection grunts can be godmodded to be killed on occasion, but if it happens too fast, too often, one of the Intersection players may step in and RP it out. Once again, please post in OOC if you plan on killing a Intersection NPC.

What is NOT Godmoddable:

-Getting Security Codes
-Accessing Secure Areas
-Killing off more than one or two NPCs at a time, or killing a Named Intersection NPC/PC
-Stealing Identities
-Destroying Intersection facilities

It is not impossible for these to happen, but with proper warning provided to a Intersection player, it can be RP'd out and attempted. However, it should be noted that only Low-Ranking Intersection officers can be Godmodded in this way.

[Deathkeeper]

Slums- Park

Hector sleepily slides back into being his Other’s shadow. The Hector still standing rolls his eyes but keeps going.
”Okay. So. Don’t touch any old thing. Got it.” He still wants to investigate the lone building, though. It seems more likely to find them there than just squatting in the grass.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Underground Tunnels]

You'll get there. This corridor goes straight to that side of town, and from there it's kind of an All Roads Lead to Rome situation. Also, there are no signs for it on purpose, so if you see any, it's a trap and you should go in the other direction. It might take some coaching, but if you can picture yourself with a talent for speed, your legs will move as fast as your soul can carry them.

As June breaks into a run down the tunnel, she has occasion to notice several different kinds of underground architecture, all in fairly quick succession depending on how much she hurries. One section gives a view of Gothic spires stretching from floor to ceiling in a cavernous Drow district. Another has numbered service access doors, like a modern utility access except each door also has a mailbox and address. Painted signs call out access tunnels for a water treatment facility and a geothermal power plant.

Still, aside from the occasional vehicle or subterranean convenience store, there is no light at all through most of this cross-city tunnel. You can still see, right? It's easy to say that you have darkvision now, but what that actually looks like varies from person to person. Whatever June sees, she can't see Wanessa at this point. Either she fell behind or she 'vanished into the night' again. June's sixth sense tells her she's nearby, but she hasn't gone far this whole time so there's really no basis for comparison. The same will go for your other powers, really. I can help define the ones you inherit from me, but the beauty is in seeing the way you express them!

Meanwhile, a mixed group of children peeks back at June from around a noisy, cube-shaped pumping station up ahead. A human boy in a stained T-shirt and night-vision goggles who can't be older than 11, a goblin with blond pigtails, and a grey-skinned young troll with candy corn horns. They're all wearing earmuffs; June can tell that the goblin is shouting something at her friends, but the rhythmic whirring and pumping of their hiding spot drowns out whatever they're saying.

- - - Updated - - -

[Slums - Park]

Beth nods and unzips her bag partway to reveal the handles of a baseball bat and a croquet mallet. She adjusts her bag to hang across her back so she can draw them over her shoulder like heroes do in videogames. "Stay behind me, and let me know if your shadow gets excited again."

She proceeds to skate towards one set of the blue lights, pushing her way through the tall rain-soaked grass.

[Rebonack]

[Plaza Park]

Into the tall grass our heroes go. It's damp. It has, after all, been raining. Skating through the grass is tough since the earth is soft and boggy. Our heroes are likely soaked by now. But at least it's a warm summer storm instead of a freezing winter one, right? Not likely to die of exposure out here.

There are only a few dozen feet of tall grass to wade through. One would THINK this would be a pretty simple task.

But it isn't.

Of course.

Because our heroes just got ambushed by a small swarm of aggressive cotton puffs.

About a foot across, the little floating balls of floof leer at our heroes with glittering orange eyes, flapping their leafy wings (ears?) to stay aloft. There are four of the capering, giggling little pokefae but judging from how the grass is moving another, larger creature is lurking nearby. The whimsical little miscreants are obviously looking for trouble and it would appear as though they've found some.

Our heroes could try to reason with the creatures. They might be able to stave off a battle. Or they could strike quickly and decisively. Or they could try running away... but the grass is so thick and soggy that moving through it with any haste is difficult.

What do they do?

[Deathkeeper]

[Plaza Park]

Luckily, with Hector back into one-ish body, he can use his shadow even if it's still half-napping. He feels the chafing collar as it manifests around his neck as the canine form curls over him like it did in the Forest. Ignoring the fact that its eyes aren't open, he hopes it's intimidating. Boogies are generally good at that, right.
"We heard you've been messing around with the people 'round here." he growls at the fae.

[5a Violista]

[Underground Tunnels]

June could run pretty fast before this all, so of course she can run fast now.
...
How fast 'fast' is is still up for debate.

Running down the tunnel, she goes as fast as she can. Running like this feels pretty nice, she thinks. It's been a long time since she's just gone out on a run.


Noticing that she can't see Wanessa (even though she can still hear her), June slows down a bit. Where is she? Did she get left behind? Did they take a different path? she wonders. June can still hear her, but would Wanessa even be able to hear June if she speaks? Although she still wants to win and be the first one there, she is a little concerned that she (June) took a wrong path. Not concerned enough to stop or turn around, but slowing down is enough.

Well.
She can't see Wanessa, but she can see some kids looking at her. So, she does the perfectly normal thing, and smiles back at them and gives a wave.
But, she just keeps on running.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Plaza Park]

Beth groans as her skates get tangled in the mud and grass. While Hector is distracting the adorable flying monsters, she quickly reaches down, rips apart the laces with her bare hands, and leaves the skates stuck in the mud as she lunges forward.

Now comfortably barefoot, she dives into the shivering patch of grass, scoops whatever's hiding in there up into her arms, and whisks it away from its fluffy tormentors. Assuming it's not a trap, she's probably ten feet away before she even registers what she just picked up, even if it's cartoonishly heavy or something.

--

[Underground Tunnels]

Oblivious to her politeness, the kids jump out of their hiding spot to block June's path. Now that she's closer, she can make out their shouting.

"Ey there! Wheredaya think YOU'RE goin' in those cute threads?" the goblin kid brandishes a small toy ball in one hand and grins with unbridled avarice at June's recolored workout clothes. Up close, the light from the troll's nearby phone is enough to tell that the goblin shares June's interest in bright colors, with mismatched stockings and a turquoise streak in her hair. "Get'm Ariados!"

Her ball seems to explode open, unfolding into a five-foot-tall turquoise spider with tiger stripes. The other two kids summon their own pocket monsters: "Scraggy!" "P@r@sprit!"

The human's monster turns into an adorable orange lizard-child that looks like it got halfway through shedding its skin but then decided to keep it after all. The troll's monster is a horrible floating mushroom with three mouths that you don't recognize.

The spider doesn't waste any time seizing the initiative, and quickly sprays a bunch of sticky webbing at June to tangle her legs before she can run past. The webs are strong, but not that strong; June can burst them at any time with her newfound strength.

"Much better! Now, ya can start taking that stuff off now, or we can knock ya out and take it the hard way! Your choice!"

[Rebonack]

[Plaza Park]

The thing in the grass was a completely absurd looking creature that's like a cross between a cotton ball, a ram, and some terrible little impish goblin.

It responds to Beth's attempt at rescue by trying to headbutt her right in the face.

Rude!

The four floating fluffballs, meanwhile, seem not too terribly intimidated by Hector's spookiness.

They are, after all, fairy type. And everyone knows that fairy resists dark.

They reply with a chorus of giggles as they begin fanning glittery fairy dust at him!

It looks pretty similar to what exploded out of the fake hobbo, though not nearly so potent. But if Hector breaths in too much he might faint!

And there's a good chance that he'll have much worse to deal with upon awakening than pen drawings on his face.

[Deathkeeper]

Plaza Park

Hector takes a deep breath before the dust can properly hit him. Which is good, but it means he only has about ten seconds to do something before Bad Stuff commences. He isn't very good at holding his breath. In that time, Hector lashes out with his umbrella, the dull metal tip thrusting at the faeries. He's not really sure it counts as iron, but it does look like it would hurt if someone shoved it right in your face regardless.
He probably should have brought an iron knife or something.

[Morty]

[Slums - Patton Publications]

The man at the door simply grunts in acknowledgement before stepping to the side, allowing Michalson to push the door open.

The interior is in a far worse condition than the outside of the building. The floor is slick with filth and the walls are layered in graffiti. Colorful string lights have been haphazardly strewn about, providing some illumination - just enough to notice the packed bodies which fill the space.

This was a drug den, one which advertised to the lowest common denominators.

--

At the end of the room, a man matching the description reclines within a stained chair.

By all the Powers and their mothers, this just gets worse by the minute. Let's just the dark out of that berk and give this place the laugh... Michalson approaches the man slowly.

"There's a few questions I must ask you, sir, regarding an investigation."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Plaza Park]

Beth's neck snaps backwards from the blow, releasing her grip on the goat-gremlin and letting it drop to the ground. She almost falls on her butt in the mud, but twists to her side and kips up at the last instant. "Ugh. You're welcome, you little dork."

Whatever, she's not here to demand praise from small animals; she'll let it scamper away. The fey are the priority right now. She turns around, draws her metal bat to prey on their weakness, and charges back in hoping for some quick KOs.

[5a Violista]

[Underground Tunnels]

Running that quickly and getting entangled makes her fall down.

Normally, June would gladly share her clothes with another connoisseur of brightly-colored clothes. (Well...she's telling herself that she would. Never even considered this possibility before, so no idea if it's actually true or not.) But, unfortunately, with the possible exception of that maid outfit (which she's not even sure actually exists yet; still need to confirm that), she literally has no other clothes. And, unfortunately, you need clothes to be in public.

She doesn't respond for a moment; she instead looks around at the situation, trying to decide what kind of situation this is. She was told by Raril that there might be situations where she has no choice but to fight (but unfortunately she doesn't have that knife she was given). But...
...they're just children.
Sure, children with monsters, but the monsters are ugly enough to almost look cute. And children. Surely, hurting children can't be the only way out of this situation with her modesty intact, right?

She sits up and moves her legs a bit, to feel for the stretchiness of the webbing. Pretty tough, it feels like, but she doesn't try to break it yet. After all, maybe she can try to talk her way out of this? Better than possibly-hurting children or getting attacked by uglycute pets. "Um...but I don't have anything to change in to?" she helpfully informs them. "Besides, I'm not even wearing a bra, and...y'know." She glances at the boy with the nightvision goggles, to highlight the problem.

[Rebonack]

[Plaza Park]

Hector jabs the wild COTTONEE!

Wild COTTONEE fainted!

Wow these little jerks are really weak. There are just a whole bunch of them. The remaining three don't seem terribly concerned about their friend getting knocked out, though. Two of them begin hopping up and down and encouraging the third while the third winds up for a MASSIVE blast of pixie dust!

Wuh oh!

Better watch our Hector this looks serious.

Oh hey the one that was about to super attack just got creamed with a metal bat. KO!

The whimsicott, meanwhile, comes running up from behind Beth again and tries to ram her in the butt. Geeze this thing is persistent.

[Deathkeeper]

[Plaza Park

Better think fast! And really, that means run up and smack it with something. Hector doesn't really have an expert monster-hunter toolbox here.
Without much else, Hector propels himself forward, using a little glamour to get over the tall grass and mud as thorny branches burst up from under his feet, propelling him as he goes to stab the big one of the remaining trio with his umbrella before it can blast him.

[Hattish Thing]

[SciTech Laboratories]

Cleodora glances wistfully towards the scientist as he flees the scene. "Good luck, doctor. Um, stay safe." In truth, she'd rather follow him - head home, perhaps order takeout and try to forget about the incomprehensible being trapped within her mind. "Feeling down, are we? Pah, you've got the better end of this deal, girl. Don't forget that!"

She doesn't respond, but instead glides on towards the elevator shaft. They'd be expecting her to come up the stairs.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Plaza Park]

Beth backflips over the charging cotton critter, just in time for it to just barely graze her butt as it passes under her. It proceeds to ram through the tall grass, sending leaves flying everywhere. When Beth lands, her eyes flick from it to the hovering cotton baby and back again.

"She's their mother," she sighs. "Probably not even the culprits. They don't really look like bugs."

That, and they just seem to be acting on instinct so far - nothing to indicate the capacity for mirth theft. Too bad I don't have Geneva's psychic talking-to-monsters thing. We'll just have to finish the fight. She adjusts her stance and prepares to hit a line drive with the big fairy if it charges again.

It's roughly at this point that she notices what Hector is doing. "Hector, are you okay? Your shadow is kind of all over you."

--

[Underground Tunnels]

Barring temporal shenanigans, there's no particular reason June couldn't still have the knife that she got from the same place where she remembers arranging to work and sleep. Yet, it's not on her. She must have taken it out of her pocket before going to bed, like a sensible person who was not expecting to be whisked away on a meteor and then sent on a vampire frog adventure.

"Huh?" The boy stares back at June uncomprehendingly.

"Pssh, not my problem," says the goblin. "But fine, if you're that worried about it, I'll have Ariados make a nice silk top for ya whilst ya scurry back home!"

"Or m@ybe @ str@itj@cket," the troll offers.

"Um, wait," goggles interrupts, "why does he need a bra?"

"Because he's a she, ya doofus!"

"Huh? Oh!" June can't see his eyes, but the human's expression of shock and wonder is clear nonetheless. "You're a girl??"

"*F@cep@lm.* Come on, m@n." Yes, troll kid says facepalm out loud. Nobody questions it.

On a positive note, it would seem that the monsters are inclined to mind their own business while their charges are bickering. Oh, hey, Wanessa's psychic voice is back. This might be a good opportunity to start learning magic, if you don't mind me reprising my role as your fairy partner.

She's still invisible and inaudible, but June just knows that that vampire is close by. Wanessa is having way too much fun with this.

As I conceive it, there are three magic aspects we can work on right away, but you'll only have energy for one before you rest. There's The Face, which is what I was originally planning since it will help you scare people off or attract them at work like you wanted; The Dancer, which will let you escape this situation easily, run home quickly, and wash dishes at 2x speed; or The Seer, which... might help you come up with a more creative solution here? It would let you see ghosts and talk back to me telepathically, anyway.

When you make your decision, the power will awaken immediately, and the spell will make you into an exaggerated version of yourself - June the talker, June the athlete, June the detective. You just need to take that chosen part of yourself and direct her toward your ends. I can't wait to see what she's like!

In truth, Wanessa is making a lot of this up as she goes along, but everything she says in the tutorial comes true anyway.

[bc56]

The digging reveals a sturdy oaken trunk. Of course, just digging it up won't reveal what's inside, but it's not locked. Once opened, the mystery deepens. The inside of the trunk is coated with lead sheeting and resting inside is a strange, arcane device. It resembles a complex bracer, constructed from encircling, interlocking bands of rune-scribed bronze studded with ghostly blue crystals and inlaid with angular fragments of bone. When you glance away from it, it seems to be in a slightly different configuration when you look back, but none of its parts are moving or even seem to be able to. It is, in short, very strange.

[Rebonack]

[Cormorant House]

"Yeah sure follow you I've done that before. I can totally work with other people. Team player, that's me. There was that sick pactbound bungirl with swords I met as soon as I dropped in here, she was pretty cool. We've done team ups like, twice now? Yeah, great team player. Only stabbed a dude in the back, like, once but he totally had it coming the pervy (flower)," the young woman says in a way that is almost, but not completely, wholly unreassuring. "But if we find any sick loot in there I've got first dibs. You're a normy so you probably wouldn't be able to identify anything anyways."

It only makes sense that the person who knows what things do gets the first pick. Why even pick at all if you've got no idea what you're doing?

Dumb.

Then?

The box opens!

"Haha, sweet!"

How the hell is she so quick?

She was standing at least five feet away and now she's scooping up whatever that weird device is.

"I was totally expecting a mess of zombies or at least a corpse but this is WAY better! C'mon baby, what do you do?" Mags says as she gives the odd device a little shake. Her eyes suddenly glow a rather disturbing ruby-red color as she peers at the whatever it is, attempting to magically ascertain its function and use.

Identify is a very important spell if you plan on collecting all sorts of sweet loot from random barrels in the bottoms of dungeons.


[Plaza Park]

Two left, actually. Beth had just wholloped one of them.

And Hector just skewered another.

With the snort the larger creature charges Beth again, completely unimpeded by the soaking grass. Apparently it really isn't that smart, because it just got beaned in the head so hard it did a backflip. Kapow! It's outta da park!

Or.

Well.

Still in the park. Since this is the park and all. Just unconscious while being in the park. Exceedingly THONK'd. The remaining cotton poof, seeing that the rest of its allies have fainted, flees from battle!

Our heroes win! Good job guys, you beat up some dumb wildlife.


[SciTech Laboratories]

Up the elevator shaft Cascade goes!

And you know what?

That turned out to be a pretty good call.

Or...

Maybe a good call.

See, upon reaching her destination Cascade will discover that there's an elevator in the way. However she's in luck! There's an access hatch on the bottom. Climbing through doesn't prove to be very difficult and she'll find two more henchmen watching the door to the stairwell like hawks.

Sneak attack time?

Or maybe just silently float away toward the magnetics lab down the hall? After all, they aren't looking at her...

[Deathkeeper]

Plaza Park

Hector‘s barghest shadow dissipates. They’re awfully glad the metal tip worked. They really hadn’t thought of it when they bought the thing.
”Yeah, we do that sometimes. Don’t worry about it. Let’s just see what’s going on with this place.” Hector is going to continue to the little building in the park. He’s not interested in chasing pokefae.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Plaza Park]

Beth very badly wants to say, If you're not worried about it, why are we here? She holds it back, but Hector might be able to read it on her face.

"Okay, whatever," she says instead. She finds and picks up her laceless skates, gives them two shakes in a halfhearted attempt to get off some of the mud, and ties them back onto her bag before joining Hector at the building entrance.

The chapel is stone with ionic columns, or at least faced to look like it. While not very well-maintained, it only bears one half-finished graffito on the door and is otherwise seemingly untouched, which places it in solidly better shape than the statue but is still probably not a good sign.

Beth reaches for the handle - one those old ones that's just a hanging metal ring - and gives it a tug.

[5a Violista]

[Underground Tunnels]

Oh, wow, info dump.
June's attention is split between the voice in her mind and the kids speaking. There's too much going on for her to really spend any time thinking about what's going on.

But, ultimately, her ability to multitask comes in handy as she thinks about what she prioritizes. First, there's her ring. It's really the only article of clothing she has that she really cares about because of what it means to her. If she fights and gets stunned or loses, they might notice it and try to take it. Second, there's her trousers: the spider silk sticking her legs together would damage the material if she tries to remove it too quickly or pulls hard. The only way she could really take it off safely is by being slow and careful, so even if she wants to fight or run her way out of here, those will eventually have to come off sooner or later.

Maybe having more...creativity? would help her keep them from noticing and/or caring about her ring?
Plus, she really doesn't want to beat up some kids. Not to mention, that's the second person who saw her as a guy while wearing these clothes which would be incredibly counterproductive for her intended goals of practicing acting and being treated as a woman for the sake of getting more tips. And, while June says she's not really sure if yesterday happened at all, that would be ridiculous, wouldn't it? That dress has got to still be there. And, by the sound of it, she can just go for The Face another day: maybe it'd be helpful to get some practice without supernatural attractiveness first, to better compare what she's doing right and what is just because of supernatural attractiveness. Same with The Dancer, she'd prefer to get a handle on her current limits first before adding another layer of complexity to it.

...
And. Being able to speak to Wanessa without speaking aloud seems pretty useful. She could've asked for clarification about all these options and all this discussion. Since it looks like she's going to lose her trousers anyway, being able to talk with Wanessa seems the most useful.

"Yeah. I am," she tells the human, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "So...if you mind..."
She slides her shoes off and starts sliding down the webbed-up bottoms, leaving (for now) only the socks, shirt, and something that's a cross between boyshorts and boxer briefs which she isn't going to remove.

Being on the ground, taking those off might take a little bit so she uses this period of time to concentrate on what Wanessa told her to: trying to pull The Seer to her, to become the June the Detective.

[Hattish Thing]

[SciTech Laboratories]

For Asterope (a name she's always had), there's some solace to be found in quietly flying upwards through the elevator shaft. Her eyes narrow in irritation as she glances towards the elevator suspended above. "An obstacle. Drink of the waters, girl! Let us crush it into dust, as all things shall be." Asterope frowns, blinking her eyes once or twice in an attempt to dispel the voice within. "No - look, a way in."

The voice does not respond, though she feels its frustration. With a gesture of her hand, the shaft will be opened.

--

Two guards. They weren't looking, she had the drop on them. "Do not spare these men. They will overwhelm us, all at once - later on." She frowns. It had a point, now. No doubt her confrontation with the magnet guy would raise alarms. With a sigh, she raises a hand up, pummeling each guard into a nearby wall with gravitic force. "Please, don't make this harder." She's almost remorseful. Her heart was not in the violence.

Hopefully, the guards are out for the count, in which case she'll proceed.

---

[Cormorant House]

Detective Bansford crouches down beside the oaken trunk, poring over every detail as she inspects the container for clues, or worse - booby traps. "Doesn't look dangerous, but we need to be careful." Billie frowns as she rather solemnly opens the trunk, half-convinced that its contents would be something vile; gruesome proof of unknown atrocities committed on the grounds of Cormorant House. "Alright. Let's have a look." She's visibly relieved once its contents are revealed, muttering to herself as she takes it in. "Nrh, thank the gods." The detective does not finish her sentence but rather focuses upon the leaden plating which lines the oaken trunk.

Billie raises a brow as she inspects it further, gently rubbing a thumb up against one of the sheets. "What in the world are we looking at, here?" She'd heard of something like this before, situations where lead plating had been used as a method by which one would prevent attempts at supernatural surveillance. "Someone went to a lot of trouble to protect this thing." But then, why was such a poor job done in burying the trunk? The shovel had even been left out. "Or perhaps our groundskeeper here simply found the trunk at some point, unaware of what he'd discovered." That made a little more sense, but still - something felt off. What was this all about?

Then, Magdalene rushes forth to snatch the bracer out from within the trunk. Immediately, an irritated expression flashes upon Billie's face. "Dammit girl! Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?" Rather than reach for the bracer or swat it out of Magdalene's hands, she'll simply glare in her general direction. When she's up close, Billie is quite the intimidating individual. She's tall, courtesy of her orchish heritage, and clearly quite fit beneath that unflattering uniform of hers. "That thing is not a toy, its evidence. Ask next time." The only reason she was tolerating any of this was that Magdalene was at least partially right - she wasn't much of a magician.

Billie shakes her head before reaching into her coat and retrieving a pair of leather gloves. "If you're going to be touching things, you'll need to wear these." She seems quite insistent on this. "Otherwise, you'll be contaminating everything."

"Do you understand?" Her tone is softer there, gentler.

---

[Slums - Patton Publications]

As Michalson draws closer, the first thing he'll notice is the smell. This place reeks of sweat and urine, the stench worsened by the sheer number of unwashed bodies packed into this room. Shards of broken glass are all over the floor, and there are several stains upon the walls which look suspiciously like blood.

The man in the chair appears as a corpse, at first. He's frail, almost skeletal - with dried skin pulled tight over bone.

--

He moans sadly as Michalson starts speaking to him. His bloodshot eyes are out of focus, his tongue lolls out of his mouth.

This man was high out of his mind, likely on something dangerously hard.

[bc56]

The bracer doesn't do anything. Not in any active sense, anyway. It is an arcane power source, allowing whoever holds it to draw on some unknown entity to fuel their magic. But it may also allow that entity to draw on the wearer...
It's not dangerous to touch, at least. It's a bit warmer than it has any right to be, like it's been sitting in the sun, not like it's been buried underground.

[Rebonack]

[Cormorant House]

Magdalene turns the device over in her hands a few times, looking at it from multiple angles just in case she's missing something.

She just barely manages to avoid tossing it back into the trunk in disgust when she realizes what it does. And that's only because she's pretty sure the cop would gripe about it considering how she's been acting. Like... patronizing? It's kind of cute she guesses but really starting to grate on her.

"Identifying it. Duh," she clarifies regarding her completely sensible actions. "You always identify whatever junk you dig up since you never know when something might be cursed to turn you inside out. Doesn't matter though this thing is a piece of junk. Just lets you tap some devil god or whatever for magic instead of using your own juice. Garbage like this is usually two way so that's a hard no from me."

Mags holds it out for Billie to take. "Don't put it on. Seriously. Stick it in an evidence bag or whatever the hell you do. I sure don't want it."

And then gloves are brandishes at her!

The young woman (or maybe big girl?) wrinkles her nose in disgust at the non-magical equipment being brandished at her.

"I'm already wearing gloves," Mags replies crossly. Sure enough, she is! Leather gloves that go up to her elbows with metal plates riveted onto them. They're absolutely scrapped together, muddy and filthy with unidentified stains.
"Unless those things are enchanted to set people I smash in the face on fire I'm not interested."


[SciTech Laboratories]

One henchmen faceplants HARD into the wall and is knocked silly. The other twists at the last moment, mashing their shoulder into the wall as they raise their magnet pistol and fire a few shots!

Pew pew!

The shots are pretty lousy, really. Your aim would probably be bad too if you got clobbered like that! With his free hand he's reaching for a walkie-talkie on his hip, no doubt to warn his boss that a hero has arrived.

Which could be trouble!

Cascade isn't going to let him do that, is she?


[Plaza Park]

It sure does LOOK like a church, doesn't it? But all the stained glass windows are smashed out, the bell is missing, and ivy has grown all over the thing. Opening the door, our heroes will find that it is exactly as much of a mess on the inside as it was on the outside. Garbage on the floors, pews destroyed, something gross smelling on the altar. Lots of fun.

There's a single candle in a little alcove at the back. That's weird. And a heavy wooden hatch on the floor with an iron ring set into it. That probably leads somewhere. And a rickety looking ladder leading up to the bell tower. That seems treacherous.

What next?

[Deathkeeper]

[Plaza Park]

Hector looks around, grimacing at the mess on the altar. He skirts around the middle of the place, stopping by the candle at the alcove. Not lit, but untouched? How weird.
"Faeries don't like iron. They're probably not under that hatch. But maybe if that's the reason it's there, maybe someone left stuff we can use? You should open it." Hector clearly can't open it himself, tainted as he is.

[Hattish Thing]

[Cormorant House]

Detective Bansford will snatch the bracer once its held out for her, scowling as she proceeds to look over the thing. Were there any new stains? Anything that Magda may have left behind? "Okay, great - identification, that's good." She sighs before placing the bracer back in the box. "But you need to ask, first. Okay? Work with me here." She felt she was being more than reasonable. This was an active investigation, after all. "You don't want your prints on this stuff, you'd do poorly to incriminate yourself. People are missing, and someone is to blame." Then, Billie glances at Magdalene's gloves. Gods, they were foul - she practically winces on sight.

That needs to be amended. "Come on girl, they're filthy. Defeats the point." Billie will step back now, retrieving a handheld camera from within her coat. She snaps a few shots of the box, as well as the bracer. "So, you seem like you're good with this sort of thing - what do you mean by 'two-way'?" Once she's done snapping shots, she carefully picks the box up, holding it within her arms. She's quite muscular under that uniform. And was that a tattoo of some sort on her forearm? "Okay, we need to take this back to the car - stick it in the trunk."

"You're coming with, won't be long - not leaving you here."

---

[SciTech Laboratories]

Fortunately for Asterope, the shots are poorly aimed. She's able to lean to one side, drifting slightly through the air. Her eyes widen as she notices the guard reach for a walkie talkie. "Let us crush his skull - he is a coward worm, the worst of his kind." Asterope attempts to ignore the voice in her head, but the intent was there - and her powers were not wholly her own. She reaches out to crush the walkie talkie by generating an orb of gravitic force. Her aim is slightly off, however - influenced by the Other, and so, the orb is generated around the guard's hand. It will be gruesome, for certain.

Bones crushed, tissue ripped. The stuff of nightmares. The walkie talkie is likely destroyed - mixed into the slurry. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Asterope glides through the air towards the guard, unsure of what to do. No doubt his howling would alarm the others.

[Rebonack]

[Cormorant House]

"Fine fine, I'll wear the gloves," Magdalene gripes, slinging her actually pretty good shape leather backpack off onto the ground. Whatever the leather came from isn't immediately identifiable and its brass fittings are in good repair. It seems like one of the few things she's got that ISN'T garbage. She pullers her gloves off and stuffs them in the bag, then puts the new ones on. Her hands are briefly in view, the veins in her left arm glowing that deep ruby shade. Then the pack is slung onto her back again. "Alright, there, done since it's so important to you. If we get eaten by zombies because I'm under-geared I'm blaming you."

As bright a ray of sunshine as ever.

Also visible for the first time is the other possession of Mags' that isn't garbage. A targe strapped to her pack. Polish hard wood with a layer of oxidized bronze over the outside to yield greater protection. The round shield is about as wide as her forearm and ringed with wooden teeth that look like oversized rose-thorns. An embossed crest of polished bronze on the front of the shield displays a skull that looks simultaneously like a wolf and a stag.

Then?

She'll follow the detective back toward the car. Magdalene seems almost hyper vigilant of her surroundings, looking this way and that in a fashion that's a weird mix between neurotic and casual. How does she manage to make something like keeping an eye out for flesh eating monsters seem smooth?

"Two ways. You can tap the thing on the other side but it takes something from you, too," Mags explains. "Things that make pacts, they always want something. Power never comes for free."


[SciTech Laboratories]

"AAAAAAAH!"

Yep.

He's yelling alright.

"AAAAAAAAH!"

Really loudly.

"YOU CRUSHED MY ******* HAND!" he screams, cursing at the 'hero'.

If the others were nearby he probably could have just yelled for them to begin with instead of using the walkie talkie, but if he keeps up the hollering then that'll probably still cause problems before too long.

What is Cascade going to do about it?

[Hattish Thing]

[Cormorant House]

Billie sighs in relief once the teenager concedes. The damn case was already out of hand, and they hadn't even breached Cormorant House. Not a good sign, detective. "Thank you. I really appreciate that, okay?" She's gentle there, once again. Perhaps a little softness was necessary, as on edge as she was. Teenagers were the worst. "Hey, it's going to be fine, alright? No one's getting eaten by anything, not on my watch." Detective Bansford, ever vigilant, takes careful note of Magdalene's possessions, slowly forming a more thorough mental picture of the person she'd, for better or worse, be stuck with for the duration of the case.

Unlike Magdalene, Billie seems fairly calm as she strides back to her patrol car. It seems she's somewhat familiar with the neighborhood, or at least similar areas. She responds to Magdalene's statement with a raised brow and a concerned expression. "That so? How common are these things, you'd say?" This only deepened the mystery. Why lock the thing up? Perhaps someone made a deal they couldn't keep, and thought hiding the bracer would somehow spare them? Once they reach the car, Billie sets the chest upon the ground before lifting the trunk and carefully setting it inside.

She glances towards Magdalene as she finishes up her work. "Hey, you hungry? Breakfast in the front seat, help yourself." Sure enough, there's a large box of various breakfast pastries. They're decent, but its clear that Billie most definitely favored quantity over quality when it came to her food. As Magdalene perhaps sifts through the box, Billie retrieves her recorder once again. "Trunk has been secured. Encountered a civilian."

---

[SciTech Laboratories]

Oh, gods. What had she done? Asterope pales as she's faced with the carnage. "It squirms, girl. We've hurt it. Put it out of its misery, yes?"
This was not an idea she was willing to even consider. Still, something had to be done!

Asterope presses her fingers together, side by side, before generating a void around the security guards head.
Without oxygen, he should pass out soon. "Please, don't fight it."

"You're just... please." She's grimacing something fierce.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

[Underground Tunnels]

You wake up.

You immediately notice Wanessa sitting on top of the cubic shed, having entered a less-corporeal state to evade normal perception. She's staring down at you, grinning as you meet her eyes. You think you understand now what she was doing when she was staring through you before and why she kept referring to you in the third person. She was talking to the June that lived behind your eyes, not the June one conventionally sees when they focus on your face. It's still really weird, but on some level it's her way of processing the insight from this power. She doesn't need to do that with you anymore, though. Your soul has suffused your eyes; she doesn't need to look any farther.

You also realize that the sixth sense about her does work both ways. You can pick up each others' intentions because you have some blood on the same frequency, using your circulatory systems as antennae. Or something like that. The point is, you can talk back to her the way she's been talking to you.

A lot of things that you hadn't noticed about the kids before seem obvious now. The fashion goblin is the ringleader, as you suspected; she's a little insecure and is partly doing this assert her territory. The young human seems determined to prove his courage to her and to himself; he's either doing this on a dare, because it's what his hero would do, or both. The troll is the oldest and tallest, but is also the newest member of the group and is just kind of following their lead for now.

As the ghost world comes more into focus, you notice that the troll kid has a lot going on in that department. Her monster's mouths are actually nooks for three tiny, cuddly-looking ghostly monsters - animal souls that the fungus had previously devoured with its spectral hyphae. Having become the basis for the monster's limited consciousness, they don't seem terribly peeved about the situation; they just eye you with friendly curiosity.

The troll herself is surrounded by three smaller, skeletal trolls, and they are clearly not fans. They're silently hounding her and standing on a ghostly shackle of some sort to weigh her down. While you know that a new world gives you a chance to reinvent yourself, she recognizes these darkened slums as the only place for her; the ghosts tell her she doesn't deserve any better. She's also carrying an unhealthy number of knives in her pockets, ready to kill again if her small world calls for it.

You can see perfectly in this darkness now; certainly better than any of these kids. You half-see, half-intuit what they left around the corner - backpacks, bicycles, phones, and a binder of Shiki's lofty plans for some kind of fearsome fashion cartel. Shiki's the goblin's name, it seems. Given that the human almost certainly lives on the surface and judging by the stains and smells on all of them, they must have biked from a sewer access further ahead.

"Um..." The human blushes as he takes your pants off your hands. Right, that's still a thing that's happening. You should probably do something about that. "I... I wanna keep watching!"

No, he doesn't. He's actually relieved when his friend shuts that down.

"No way! Turn around and go through her pockets!"

--

[Plaza Park]

Beth nods to Hector and kneels down to grab the mystery hatch. "Ready? One, two, HUP!"

Depending on how rusty it is, she might accidentally rip it off its hinges.

[bc56]

The light again, this time leaking between the curtains of a bay window on the ground floor. It's only there for a couple seconds, then the house is dark again.