GLoG 92: Generosity, Love, Opportunity, Growth

[Purple Eagle]

Off to see the DORFS!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh. So it's like when we go stay in the daycare upstairs so dad can go work in the forge without having to worry about Endok touching all the hot metal. Endok seems upset with this. Nuh-uh! He just doesn't want you messing with all the other smiths. This bear issue is now sorted. Olon looks happy enough to take the high ground on this argument, instead saying: Well I'm older so I know better. Wait hang on that's not what she did at all. How come she gets a beetle instead of a beak dog. She says to Tuskfang, as Bab leans into Asher's fingers, making happy chirpy noises. Goblins are supposed to ride beak dogs.

Tuskfang ponders both questions seriously.

"I don't think you've met Iknika, Asher. She's way older than we are and older than Brinika too. We gotta invite our cousins here so you can meet them." Then he looks at Olon. "They must be some kind of other goblin because I've never seen a beak dog. Goblins ride beetles sometimes. Mom says they're used to carry stuff. And Iknika says they also break stuff really well. With pincers."

[Off to see the DORFS!]

Asher starts to nod, but then the siblings start arguing, so he just focuses for now on the happiest noise in the room, i.e. the ones from Bab, giggling when the baby bird leans in for more scritches. "W-We don't have goblins, so I asked m-momma, and she says there are different types of all races in this p-place." He declares. The fact that he has more people to meet doesn't escape him, and he lets out a happy squeal, purple eyes glowing with happiness. "W-Will I get to see her b-beetle, too?"

[billtodamax]

Daycare

Neat. Olon says, as Sasha returns to normal size. Not to normal though, there's a way to go there. So um... if you can speak, how come you, uh... WHAT? You can speak? This is news to Olon. I asked her and she nodded, s-so... Endok offers as explanation when Olon turns on him. Hm. She looks like she's going to say more but she's interrupted by the presence of cake. Oh, hey look! It's the magic cake we made! She grabs a bowl and a fork and tries to hand them to Sasha. Plus that white stuff which I guess is ice cream? Endok has grabbed the other bowl and is prodding his ice cream perplexedly.

Off to see the DORFS!

Beetles are cool. Olon says confidently. Endok nods in agreement. They have these cool shells too and on giant ones they're like super huge and strong. Olon does not know a great deal about beetles but she has never let that stop her. It'd be super cool to see them. Endok agrees. I bet that it'd love me. I'm super good with animals. He earnestly tells the person who has literally spoken to animals in his presence, and is currently getting the complete attention of not just Bab but also now Ator, who half flies half crawls up to Asher's other shoulder, chirping noisily to get his attention. Pets for him too! Give attention!

[Morty]

[Off to see the DORFS!]

"Brinika doesn't have a beetle yet," Tuskfang says. "My mom says that it takes a long time to learn how to ride a beetle safely. Maybe you can show Asher all the other animals who live here. They looked cool."

[Chaotic Bob]

"My brother's parasite doesn't speak for me," Needs reminds Delilah, scowling at Affidavit and his inability to go five minutes without irritating someone, as more and more chrome components of his body turn to ash, their absence slowly being replaced by icy-blue reptilian scales that fill the air with an unearthly chill.

"I have been impudent. I have not engendered trust and respect in my actions. You lack faith, which is entirely understandable. I promise a coherent explanation when this is over," he swears to her, as a shuttle's cloaking device disengages, and a few dozen steel, faceless humanoids in purple robes leap out, hurrying over to fall to one knee and bow before the orange-robed sorcerer.

"Prepare a window, Affidavit. The Rule of Three dictates another threshold broken," Needs commands, still trying to adjust to this whole 'Needs is in charge now' thing. Regardless of their respective power levels, Magtok was supposed to be the central protagonist in all of this. There may be other 'clones' provided by the Hegemony, and the reinforcements his sleeping brother will bring in later, but Needs still has a greater connection to this narrative than any of them, and unless one of them is a much greater showstopper than expected, he won't be able to fade back into the secondary protagonist role so easily. This is going to be dicey, to say the least.

[Memory Woods]

"Of course." The MagPuppet snaps off an obedient response to Needs, mock-saluting. "I don't believe in such rubbish, but perhaps now of all times you deserve a "Good Luck!" hmm? Sounds a little better with his voice, at least. Almost sincere even?"

Well, enough of that for now.

"Worry not, Delilah. Whatever else may be at stake, it is not the fate of everything. Perhaps someday you'll understand. Perhaps if our little plan succeeds I'll show you just how wrong you are about everything. Wouldn't that be nice?" The MagPuppet turns and starts walking. "Enough prattle. The boy needs his rest." And then he's gone.

Perhaps you're rubbing off on him, Needs. Aside from it being rather more understated than your entrances and exits, it wasn't far off from how abruptly you come and go.

Do not express irrational hatred towards the parasite.
Do not express irrational hatred towards the parasite.
Do not express irrational hatred towards the parasite.

Delilah successfully gives a tight smile to Affitok and a curt "goodbye" to his retreating back.

Which puts her in a practiced sort of situation to not react too much to the horde of other Magtoks that are now onsite.
She can't really complain too much about Needs' incomprehensibility, not after everything she's had to do these past many days. That would be quite the height of hypocrisy.
"Do what you must. She trusts you, so what choice do I have?"
This probably sounds more hostile than it was actually intended, so she quickly amends it.
"If nothing else, you should have similar goals at least."
"Protect everything", "protect Magtok", "save Libby" have a lot of comfortable overlap here.

Venmaunt appears to be watching from the cabin window, wiping off the blade of his sword with a towel.

[bc56]

Lake, evening

"I, uh good!" Sekhmet replies, somewhat surprised. She'd read somewhere that fish like bright, shiny things, but wasn't sure if it was true.

[Reinholdt]

[Cafeteria]

Sasha nods again to Olon before watching Khannie pop in and then pop back out. With cake and ice cream? Is that what cake and ice cream are? She stares intensely at Olon for a few seconds, then even more intensely at the offering Olon was making.

Of course, she couldn't just grab the bowl and fork like a normal kid. Though to be fair no one's actually seen any arms yet, that cloak of hers hiding even her limbs. Instead, a pair of black tendrils of solid shadow rise up from the floor, existing in ways that defy reality. Those two tendrils wrap around the bowl and the fork Olon offers her, apparently quite dextrous for non-entities.

And... that's it. Umm, what's she supposed to do now? Seeing Endok's actions and presuming he knows the point to all this, Sasha imitates him, prodding the ice cream with the fork in the exact same way as the dwarf.

[Rebonack]

[Cafeteria]

And lo, Khannie shortly returns with two more bowls, only to find Endok and Sasha poking at the cake instead of eating it.

Maybe...

They're just waiting for everyone else?

That would be polite, right?

She hands Olon her bowl.

"There! Now everyone's got some and we can eat it!" Khannie declares. "It works best if you take a little bit of cake and ice cream at the same time."

At least that's what she thinks. Some kids don't like eating more than one type of food at the same time (or even letting different types of food touch!) but they're weird. She takes a little scoop of both and pops it in her mouth! Hmm... thoughtful chewing. "The cake tastes a little dry, but I think it's okay?"

That's a success, right?

[Lord Magtok]

Memory Woods

Needs sighs. Diplomacy was always more his brother's game. Even if he knew what words to say, how to engender trust in the plan without revealing any of it, his serpentine turncoat of a tongue would surely betray him as it always does whenever he tries to talk to people.

"Be well, Delilah," Needs offers, before vanishing just as Affidavit did, taking the shuttle and robed figures with him. The Blue City awaits.

[billtodamax]

Lake, evening

After a brief battle (Rath doesn't look like she struggled) the bass is brought up to land, set in a bucket, and lifted up. It's a reasonable sized fish! Plenty big enough for dinner, at least. Well I think you earned some of that, at least. She says to Sekhmet, holding the bucket up by way of explanation. You sure I can't get you dinner?

Cafeteria

Olon thinks Sasha's shadow tendrils are both completely rad as well as slightly unsettling. After handing off the bowl and fork she tries to look closer at them. So are these like... your arms? She asks, reaching out as if to touch them, but stopping just before. You have to ask someone if you wanna touch them that's the rule, except if you're fighting then it's ok. That last bit might be some creative adlibbing on behalf of Olon.

Endok, having worked up enough courage through his investigations of the ice cream to try some, scoops some up and tastes it. MM! He says, eyes going wide. It's really good! Olon tries some of hers as well seeing her brother's reaction. This is really nice. She adds, although she gives the cake a disappointed look. But I think you might be right Khannie I don't think this cake is magic at all.

[Purple Eagle]

Off to see the DORFS!

Beetles are cool. Olon says confidently. Endok nods in agreement. They have these cool shells too and on giant ones they're like super huge and strong. Olon does not know a great deal about beetles but she has never let that stop her. It'd be super cool to see them. Endok agrees. I bet that it'd love me. I'm super good with animals. He earnestly tells the person who has literally spoken to animals in his presence, and is currently getting the complete attention of not just Bab but also now Ator, who half flies half crawls up to Asher's other shoulder, chirping noisily to get his attention. Pets for him too! Give attention!

"Brinika doesn't have a beetle yet," Tuskfang says. "My mom says that it takes a long time to learn how to ride a beetle safely. Maybe you can show Asher all the other animals who live here. They looked cool."

[Off to see the DORFS!]

Asher eagerly turns his attention to Ator, giving the little big bat some scritches of his own, and he alternates between them both so that they get equal attention. "W-What if I got a wolf cub?" Asher asks suddenly, speaking of animals. "W-Would Bab and Ator run too? B-Because w-woblin sounds like wolf, so h-he could get along with Tusky!" A sudden suggestion, but the talk of animals brought it to his head. "H-Have you met Karasu? S-She's nice!" Asher suggests, also speaking of new people to meet. He has people to introduce, too, and this fact makes him smile widely!

[bc56]

Lake, evening

Sekhmet is conflicted. On the one hand, she'd feel awkward, and she doesn't want to be a burden on the dwarf's hospitality. On the other hand, she's never been in a dwarven fortress before, and it would be rude to turn down an invitation like this, especially when she helped catch the fish. "I guess I could eat something."

[Reinholdt]

[Cafeteria]

You're meant to... eat this? But it's not warm or squirming at all! What would be the point? Of course it's dry! It doesn't have any blood pumping through it. Sasha's starting to suspect they don't know what is or isn't food.

She shakes her head at Olon though. Those aren't arms silly! Those are shadow tendrils. She doesn't react as the dwarf reaches out. Maybe touching them is acceptable. They do have kind of a cold aura to them, so licking it wouldn't be advisable. You could get your tongue stuck.

But everyone's tongue is busy. Well, if they're all eating it, she guesses she will too. Holding her prizes close, her head darts forward, mouth opening wide to reveal ebony teeth with sharpened points not unlike a shark's. She chomps down hard upon the cake, the ice cream... and the fork. To be fair, it looked like they were eating the fork. Sasha is many things, but able to eat forks is not on the list. There's brief otherworldly noise, like the howl of death approaching, and the little shadow girl recoils in pain.

[Gullara]

[Daycare]

One day a new kid is at the daycare. Looks like word is getting out about the service! In this case, the new kid is a little girl of about five years old. She's seated at a table, stooped over a piece of paper that she's carefully drawing on. Over the backside of her seat her fox-like tail twitches back and forth once in a while. For the moment she's quite focused on her task.

((Closed scene.))

[Purple Eagle]

[Daycare]

There's another kid at the daycare! A cute winged little boy, looking about 5 years old, with green hair, purple eyes, Mediterranean olive skin and a pair of strong (for his age, anyway) wings at his back, its feathers tinted a light purple. He's wearing turqoise trousers and a grey tank top, with holes for his wings. His momma cut those for him!

The boy is walking around the daycare, looking for any other kids present, when he happens upon his goal in the form of a drawing girl, with cute fox-like tail.

"Hi, I'm A-Asher!" The angel boy says, grinning as he takes a seat beside the girl. "W-What are you drawing?"

[Recaiden]

It seems to take a moment for Leap to register the question, but she looked quite tired even after the sip of coffee. She'll take another sip when it finally clicks and sets the mug back aside. "There had been a check-up on ship, but I wouldn't trust it. If you want to give me one though, be my guest." She'll settle down wherever Anchor needs her to. "I don't mind having the mental change of maternal instinct if I'm going through on this. As for the mothers...well, it varies. Ecological pressures can change us a fair bit. Most simply stabilize, become a bit larger and stronger, and more motherly. Some become Matriarchs, becoming much larger, almost like an ogre in size. There's some other variants, but as for myself I dunno." She admits with a shrug. "It's not something we can really plan out."

"Alright then." Anchor says. She's long ago come to the conclusion that fixing peoples' minds without permission is trouble.

She directs Leap to have a seat in a convenient place. "Well, we want you in good condition. Here, hold out your hand-" She grabs a little machine and Leap will end up going various basic checks. Blood pressure? "Okay, now take a deep breath." Good lung function? Good book lung function? Steady heartbeat(s)?

"You know, that's pretty unusual, having a variety of different forms after reproducing. I'd love to see them. I mean, well- Anyway, it's not really very spiderlike, I mean it's all new to your subspecies, right?"
"Here, look straight ahead, this light will be a little annoying..." Gotta check that her eyes are good. Luckily there's only one pair to go over.
"And we'll want to draw some of your blood to test, if that's not a problem? Have you had anything to eat or drink recently besides the coffee?"

[Rebonack]

[Cafeteria]

"See? I told you milk is good for stuff that isn't cheese!" Khannie declares triumphantly. "Ice cream goes really good with pies, too. And for making milkshakes! And... prolly other things? I think maybe-"

And then Sasha takes a bite out of her fork.

"Oh no! You aren't supposed to eat the fork!" Khannie chides. "You use the fork to eat with. It's made of metal and it'll hurt your mouth."

Though...

It looks like maybe Sasha has figured that part out on her own already?

Why wouldn't a kid know that you're not supposed to eat a fork? Hasn't anyone taught this weird shadow kid stuff?

Or does she just sit all alone in her room all day?

[billtodamax]

Off to see the DORFS!

I think if we introduced them better it wouldn't be a problem. Olon says, confident that Bab and Ator love her and Endok the most despite them currently ecstatic on Asher's shoulders, leaning into his scritches and sniffling around his ears and hair. But that's a good idea Tuskfang! Do you wanna go see the animals? Olon asks Asher, but before she can respond a voice comes from the other room. Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiids. It's dinner time, say goodbye to your friends. Looks like it might be time to leave.

Lake, evening

It's ok lass you don't have to stay long if you don't want to. My kids can be a bit overwhelming sometimes. Rath tells Sekhmet, leading her to a nearby hole in the ground. It's a well carved stairway that leads down into the earth - looks like the dwarves have been installing a few more entrances to make it easier to move around. It figures - noone's attacked their fortress in all the time they've been here. Sekhmet will be lead through a short system of tunnels, past various rooms full of dwarves hard at work, drinking heavily, or both. The walls are carved with various scenes of the dwarves outsmarting, subjugating, or being nagged by humans, goblins, and elves respectively. There's also the occasional demon (some not looking so different from sekhmet) being slain by familiar looking armoured figures. Those might explain the strange looks she's getting from the dwarves who notice her. They seem mollified by Rath's presence with her, at least.

Cafeteria

Endok and Olon, for their part, freak out when Sasha makes the hell noise. Olon recoils from the shadow tendrils, and Endok stumbles back, almost dropping his cake. WOW! Olon says, after a moment to catch her breath. You can yell really loud! And scary. Endok chips in, having sat down at a bench a little further away from Sasha.

[bc56]

Lake? evening

Sekhmet follows Rath nervously. She shies away from the dwarves they pass, and the carvings do little to lessen her unease, making it worse. She begins to wonder if she's being led down here to be slaughtered, like the people in the images, and starts thinking about ways to escape.

[Reinholdt]

[Cafeteria]

Khannie's not far off from the truth. Sasha stares at Khannie for a while, probably just letting her mouth recover from the sudden pain. This... was a fork? She thought it was the ice cream! If the first thing's cake, then where's the ice cream? This was all very confusing.

Sasha almost looks sheepish at the dwarf's reactions, but it is difficult to tell with that emotionless stare. After a few of these awkward moments, Sasha relents to trying this again. Though this time, she just warily keeps the fork to one side. She never needed a fork to eat before. No, she's going to devour this cake with her face.

Well, a small bite at first. The shadow monster still isn't sure what to make of the consistency of this strange material. And it's cold. She doesn't like that at all. But... Wow is it utterly delicious! What is this?! Sasha decides to find out by devouring the rest of her cake (and ice cream) in rapid, ravenous bites until it is all gone and only a mess on her face is leftover.

[billtodamax]

Lake, evening, just a bit further away from the lake than we were previously ok I'm just gonna keep using the same location tag

Sekhmet will be lead to a door set into the wall which Rath opens and heads into. Inside is a well carved table and chairs set up to one side, with an opening leading into a kitchen. A pair of dwarven children sit on the ground playing with a sparrow. They look up at Sekhmet in confusion, then the larger one turns to call back into the kitchen. DAAAAAAAAD. MUM BROUGHT A DEMON HOME. They seem wary but not overly concerned. And she helped me catch this so she's invited to dinner. Rath says with a glare to her children, who ignore it.

[Morty]

[Off to see the DORFS!]

Tuskfang pouts and his tail comes to a stop.

"Awww. We'll have to see your animals some other time. But it was cool to see you again. Let's go do something else, Asher."

[bc56]

"Lake," evening

Sekhmet responds to the child with some surprise. "I, uh, I'm not a demon!." It's not an uncommon comparison though. One of the other people she encountered thought she was a devil. "My name's Sekhmet."

[Gullara]

[Daycare]

There's another kid at the daycare! A cute winged little boy, looking about 5 years old, with green hair, purple eyes, Mediterranean olive skin and a pair of strong (for his age, anyway) wings at his back, its feathers tinted a light purple. He's wearing turqoise trousers and a grey tank top, with holes for his wings. His momma cut those for him!

The boy is walking around the daycare, looking for any other kids present, when he happens upon his goal in the form of a drawing girl, with cute fox-like tail.

"Hi, I'm A-Asher!" The angel boy says, grinning as he takes a seat beside the girl. "W-What are you drawing?"

[Daycare]

The little girl looks at him out of the corner of her eye for a moment, but then goes back to her drawing. If Asher looks, he can see the outline of a house with four people inside. There are two presumably adult women. One with brown hair and antlers, the other with orange hair and, well, more than one tail presumably. Then there's a little girl, with a tail and orange hair, presumably a self portrait. Then there's an infant with brown hair lying between the two adults. Asher might start feeling like he's being ignored before the girl abruptly answer. "That's Obi, that's mommy, that's me, and that's Umeko." She says, pointing to each figure in the order described above.

[billtodamax]

"Lake", evening

You're not a demon? Rath says quietly to Sekhmet, a little confused. She thought she was being very open minded. You sure look like a demon! Olon says loudly, ignoring whatever her mum said. She's the older of the two children, with a respectable beard starting to show. My mum had to beat up a whole bunch of demons when dad got the materials for her armour so I bet she could beat up you too. Endok (the younger, with just the hint of a beard growing in) says. He's trying to be more confident than he is. Demons are scary! Rath looks a little embarrassed, for her part.

[bc56]

"Lake," evening

"No, I'm, uh, not," Sekhmet responds. The children aren't helping her calm down, with their talk about beating her up. "I'm what's called, uh, a Tiefling." She looks fairly nervous. She's not sure whether Rath is embarrassed for mistaking her for a demon, inviting her to dinner when she's not a demon, or at the behavior of the two children.

[Purple Eagle]

Off to see the DORFS!

I think if we introduced them better it wouldn't be a problem. Olon says, confident that Bab and Ator love her and Endok the most despite them currently ecstatic on Asher's shoulders, leaning into his scritches and sniffling around his ears and hair. But that's a good idea Tuskfang! Do you wanna go see the animals? Olon asks Asher, but before she can respond a voice comes from the other room. Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiids. It's dinner time, say goodbye to your friends. Looks like it might be time to leave.

Tuskfang pouts and his tail comes to a stop.

"Awww. We'll have to see your animals some other time. But it was cool to see you again. Let's go do something else, Asher."

[Off to see the DORFS!]

Asher's glad to see more animals! He's sad, though, immediately stopping his attentions when it's revealed that it's time for them to leave. "Awww... I h-have to go now, Bab and Alon, but I'll bring fruit next time!" He says to the animals. "N-Not too much, so you'll be able t-to fly!" He quickly adds, before the dwarven kids can say so. "N-Nice to meet you two, Endok and Olon!" He says, getting up and bowing (well, as long as he can get the pets off him). "M-Momma's out working, so l-let's go to your house."

[Daycare]

The little girl looks at him out of the corner of her eye for a moment, but then goes back to her drawing. If Asher looks, he can see the outline of a house with four people inside. There are two presumably adult women. One with brown hair and antlers, the other with orange hair and, well, more than one tail presumably. Then there's a little girl, with a tail and orange hair, presumably a self portrait. Then there's an infant with brown hair lying between the two adults. Asher might start feeling like he's being ignored before the girl abruptly answer. "That's Obi, that's mommy, that's me, and that's Umeko." She says, pointing to each figure in the order described above.

[Daycare]

Asher peeks in to look at the drawing, but she doesn't say anything, and his lips start to quiver. Before he can say anything, however, she answers him all of a sudden! He looks at the drawing again and smiles. "I l-like your drawing. W-What's your name?" He asks, hoping he doesn't get ignored for so long again. He'll try and be strong, but a few more of that and tears will abound.

[billtodamax]

"Lake", evening

Is that like how Tuskfang calls himself a woblin cause he's part wolf and part goblin? Not... entirely correct Endok, but close enough. So you're like... part uh... Olon was very confident going into this sentence. Part... troll... and part... cave floater? She doesn't have any eyestalks. Tuskfang has wolf ears how come she doesn't have cave floater eyes? Well maybe she... the kids set to arguing with each other.

Sorry, they can be a bit much. Rath says, heading toward the kitchen. We've got company dear! She's Sekhmet, a Tiefling apparently. If sekhmet follows she'll see Rath hug another dwarf from behind, kissing him on the cheek and setting the bucket on the counter. She helped catch the fish so be nice. Hello there! I'm Utost! Utost will call out.

Off to see the DORFS!

Bab and Ator quickly abandon Asher as he stands up, fluttering awkwardly down as the dwarves reach out to catch them. Bye Tuskfang! Bye Asher! The kids say at the same time. It's a little difficult to understand. We'll show you the dralthas when you get back. Endok promises, waving off Asher and Tuskfang before heading to get their dinner.

Successful play date!

[bc56]

"Lake," evening

Sekhmet gives a small wave. "Uh, hi. I'm Sekhmet." The children are certainly a bit much. Was she ever like that when she was young? She must've caused Auntie and Uncle a headache.

[billtodamax]

"Lake", evening

Well it's good to uh... good to meet you. He says, turning around. He's a little put off by her appearance but tries to be good about it. Someone who looked quite like her tried to tear his organs out! She did a bit of magic on my hook, helped me catch that. Rath assures him. Well, I hope you like fish. He says, smiling at her. Go ahead and sit down, this'll take me a bit. He waves them back to the main room, where Rath heads. When they get back there the kids have stopped arguing, and Olon approaches. Do you have eyes under your hair? She asks, very seriously.

[bc56]

"Lake," evening

Sekhmet returns to the main room, only to be surprised by two kids asking awkward questions. "I... No! I don't have eyes back there." She doesn't, although she could conceivably be hiding them behind that ponytail.