Skyside 6: Return of the Cheddar

[bc56]

Shivernight Manor

Ophelia slams into the door again. She might not be able to speak, but that just makes her actions more unnervingly inhuman, as she silently strikes the door again and again. They'd better hurry up with the supplies.
"We don't have a way to directly contact her. Do you?" The answer is yes. As an actual warlock of Sapphira, Bluefoot could send her a message.

[Earl of Purple]

Shivernight Manor

"Yes. And I'll need a tear or something from her. I've been asked for a tear from a serpent, that looks like a serpent to me. Wait a moment." Bluefoot closes her eyes and breathes deeply, calling out for her mistress. Sapphira, some of your cultists have arrived. They have a naked snake-lady inquisitor. She's locked in a cell, and trying to get out and it's holding for now. After the message is sent, she jumps as there's another loud bang from the snake-lady trying to break the cell door down, dropping Ophelia's tunic.

Bunnygiggle arrives first, holding an empty glass milk bottle and a ball of Bluefoot's specially prepared wax in one hand and an ornate hunting-sword in the other. Bluefoot takes the bottle first, leaving her handmaid with her sword. She'll look at the cultist she's been speaking to. "The bottles don't work if I can't see my target. Could you pick me up so I can look through the window in the door?" She really should replace the doors with ones that would be easier for her work through, but it's been a low priority.

Silkyfinger is upstairs, in the kitchen, filling a saucepan with water from the sink. It'll be ready for her to return next post.

[bc56]

Shivernight Manor

A... Ooh, that's interesting. I'll be there soon. Sapphira's mental voice sounds pleased with Bluefoot. Meanwhile the cultist grabs Bluefoot and holds her up to the window. Ophelia takes the opportunity to grab and rattle the bars threateningly.

[Earl of Purple]

Shivernight Manor

Bluefoot stares at Ophelia and smirks as she puts the stopper in the bottle. She's reaching out with her own magic and a bit of the power granted by Sapphira to trap Ophelia's feeling of breathing in the bottle. It shouldn't affect her sense of smell (or taste, if Ophelia has a Jacobson's organ) or her ability to breathe, though the snake-inquisitor might get the odd whiff of Bluefoot's hand. Once done, Bluefoot asks to be put down.

When Silkyfinger comes back, she's hauling a large saucepan. It's heavy, and three-quarters full of water. When she arrives, Bluefoot puts the bottle in the saucepan, and it should feel as though Ophelia is now breathing water. She won't drown, but it'll feel like she is.

[bc56]

Shivernight Manor

Ophelia just glares defiantly at Bluefoot... Until her breathing is placed in the water. Suddenly she's gasping for breath and clawing at her lungs and throat, trying to get any air she can, to no avail. She sinks to the ground, weakened by her struggle, her lungs burning.

[Earl of Purple]

Shivernight Manor

Bluefoot pulls the bottle out of the water and addresses Ophelia. "You're wanted alive. I will drown you, though. I'll just wait until you're unconscious then pull the bottle out of the bucket." She'll prove the words by putting the bottle back in the water. Whilst Ophelia's distracted and not listening, hopefully anyway, Bluefoot turns to the cultist who lifted her. "The mistress is alerted, and on her way. I'll wait for the prisoner to stop moving, then show you the escape route. Also, there is something else which worries me. How did you know where to find me? I don't believe I could find you. If another inquisitor turns up, and takes a prisoner, I won't know about it until they're kicking in my door." If Bluefoot at least knows where this cult is based she can keep an eye on their headquarters so if they are taken out, she has warning.

[bc56]

Shivernight Manor

"Supposed to send people to help with a ritual in a few days. If you need us, you can find a contact at this address." The cultist replies.

Meanwhile, two other things happen. First, Ophelia gives a final gasp and passes out.
Second, a portal appears and Sapphira strides out, clad in regal raiment. "Bluefoot, what do you have for me?" The other cultists drop to the floor and grovel at her feet.

[5a Violista]

Smuggling Route Campground

The kitchen area's quite easy to find, and near a relatively stable wall. There's a cupboard filled with tins, mostly tomato soup but there's also baked beans, coconut milk, anchovies and corned beef in there too. There's a basket of fresh vegetables, mostly parsnips, but one of the dead people has bled on them. Ziyad finds the first aid kit, in what was the bathroom. It's not very large, and quite old- better than nothing, and the bandages are still sealed, but the bottle of pain medication is out of date by a year.

With that, if there's nothing else Seraphina wants to look at, it's off to Skyside.

[Smuggle Dropoff?]

Seraphina, a woman who is wearing a hooded cloak with the hood up, sits in the passenger seat of a pickup.

She has never seen such a large flying city.
"Wow."


"How does it stay up there? Is it, like, antigravity? Or gravity magic or something? Or do the rocks it's made from just float? Or..." She goes on, largely talking to herself because talking aloud helps her think.

[Earl of Purple]

Shivernight Manor

When Sapphira arrives, rather than kneel like the cultists, Bluefoot drops into a deep curtsy. Her halflings take their cue from their mistress and copy her. "In the cell, there. A snake brought to me by these fellows. I've put her voice in a bottle, and her sense of breathing too. She feels like she's drowning so long as the bottle remains in the water. I... didn't know I could do that. I don't have any restraints big enough for her tail. I took her tunic; I thought the vulnerability would help. It doesn't, I don't think. She killed... five of them, I think? I wasn't there when she found or attacked them. I can't hear her move, open the cell again so the mistress can have a look." The last sentence is directed at the halflings and cultists; the three halflings jump to it and start moving the furniture out of the way. They are small, however, so some of the larger furniture moved by the cultists will be tricky for them alone.

Smuggling Route Dropoff

"I don't know. Engines, I think. The science is beyond me. To get up there, though, we need to go there." Ziyad, the driver, is a young man, with black skin and dark brown eyes, his black hair formed into dreadlocks and tied back behind him. He wears a pair of jeans and a purple hoody, and his daemon, the hedgehog Svipul, is currently in the pouch of his hoody. He points to Groundtown, particularly the shuttle pads resting just in the shade of Skyside proper. A near-constant stream of vehicles, ranging from baskets suspended under hot air balloons and tethered to Skyside to helicopters, small planes, anti-grav equipped hovercars and wooden boats built around weird rocks. "Do you want to split now, or wait until we're in the city itself? I'm pretty sure that's where the buyer for this stuff is." He jabs a finger over his shoulder at the crates and boxes filling the pickup's flatbed.

[bc56]

Shivernight Manor

Rather than wait for the halflings to struggle the door open, Sapphira just waves her hand and the furniture floats away from the door, which unlocks and opens itself. She looks in, and then starts laughing coldly. "Oh, that's perfect. So perfect. Let her breathe. I want to speak with her."

The cultists nervously get to their feet. It seems like Sapphira is in a good mood right now.

[5a Violista]

[Smuggling Route Dropoff]

Seraphina looks to Groundtown. Wow, with so many flying vehicles, that in itself is pretty impressive, just seeing them all.

She debates what would be the better choice.

"If I wait until we're in the city proper," Seraphina reasons, "then that would probably be better. Would get more time and context for what the city's like, so that I don't look like a lost tourist or whatever."

Having thought it out, she decides, "So. When we get in there. Thanks for the ride, by the way."

[Earl of Purple]

Shivernight Manor

"This isn't affecting her breathing. Just her perception of breathing." Regardless, the bottle is removed from the water and Bluefoot dries it using Silkyfinger's pyjamas.

She's a little nervous of what's going to occur, so moves somewhere that she can see Sapphira and the snake in the cell, but won't follow- unless the mistress commands her to, anyway.

Smuggling Route Dropoff

"I don't think Skyside gets many tourists." But Ziyad could be wrong. What's a smuggler if not a tourist making profit? "Don't worry about the ride- least I could do. You probably saved my life." Sure, the robo-dinosaur may have wandered off eventually, but... no telling when that could have been.

Ziyad drives to the shuttle landing area, and looks for somebody who has a vehicle large enough to lift the pickup and its cargo. Eventually, one is found- a cargo helicopter. Ziyad leaves the pickup to haggle, passing over a handful of gold chains from his handbag. He's not told Seraphina about that, tried to let her believe all he had of value was the cargo of the pickup and the two handbags he'd taken from the van. He hadn't mentioned one was filled with jewellery. When he comes back, he gets in the car and drives in. "You know how to pop your ears? We're going quite far up, so it might be necessary. The pilot told me of a gang he knows that might be interested in my cargo, they've got a paper recycling plant already." Two other vehicles get into the helicopter behind them, both quite a bit smaller. First is a small, three-wheeled lorry; the cargo area has been replaced by a large cage, containing several people. The last vehicle is a mechanical horse, chugging out clouds of steam, and ridden by a woman in stained breeches and a white shirt, under a leather apron. A number of wheellock pistols hang about her waist and across the horse; she frowns at the slavers in front of her distastefully.

[bc56]

Shivernight Manor

Sapphira bends down and picks Ophelia up by the chin so that the serpent is looking her in the eyes. She speaks in a smooth, dangerous tone. "I know what you are. And you were an inquisitor. We both know how little time you have left. But. I could save you. You could keep your control forever. All you have to do is swear your loyalty to me." Ophelia squirms, but her eyes are filled with hate and terror. Her tail lashes out, trying to wrap around Sapphira, but the archfiend just waves her hand, and Ophelia is suddenly human, tail and mask gone entirely. She seems quite shocked and freezes in place, watching Sapphira warily. "Oh, that is but a small sample of what I could do for you," Sapphira says as she changes Ophelia back into a masked serpent. She drops the inquisitor. "What do you say? Will you join me?" Ophelia resumes her defiance, a little less certainly, and glares at Sapphira. "Very well." Sapphira steps out of the cell and the door closes and locks itself again. She turns to Bluefoot, a cruel grin on her face. "You will break her for me. The next time I speak to her, she will beg for a chance to join my service."

[Earl of Purple]

Shivernight Manor

Bluefoot smiles as she listens and watches Sapphira play with Ophelia, and curtseys again when given her instruction. "Yes, Mistress. I do not have restraints in her size, but... I'm not sure physical torment would be most effective. I shall prep some more bottles. Hopefully she will cry in the next two days. I have not been able to source a serpent's tear." She's not necessarily angling for Sapphira to create some restraints in Ophelia's size for her, but it would probably be easier. Bluefoot will put the bottle with Ophelia's perception of breathing back in the saucepan, however. If Sapphira doesn't create restraints, Bluefoot needs those measurements.

[bc56]

Shivernight Manor

"Ah, excellent." Sapphira opens a portal. "I will see you soon, after the ritual is complete, and you have my prizes. Both of them." She vanishes through the portal. The lesser cultists look notably shaken by her visit.

[5a Violista]

[Smuggling Route Dropoff]

"See? If I act like a lost tourist, then I'd really stand out," Seraphina says.
Sure, she may have saved Ziyad's life, but, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure anybody would have done it if they were in the same situation." Well, maybe not anybody, because there are some pretty awful people out there, but most people would have done it.

While he's out haggling, Seraphina stays inside the vehicle, looking out at all the things that are going on. Definitely don't want to appear lost in a place like this, especially if there's kidnapping or whatever going on, so she figures she needs to get used to everything that's going on.

"Yeah. I can pop my ears."
She waits.
"What kind of gang has their own paper recyclying plant, anyway?" she says, since that's been nagging at her. "Do they, like, also run a newspaper or something?"

[Earl of Purple]

Shivernight Manor

Bluefoot bobs into another curtsy as Sapphira leaves, and smiles slightly as she goes. "So, follow me to the tunnel. One end is in the bathroom, the other is in the local water station. It follows the pipes that brings me my water." There's at least one other escape route, and Bluefoot wouldn't trust the cultists with this one if there weren't.

The bathroom she leads the cultists to is large, though on a pretty human scale. The main adjustments to the current halfling occupants are the installation of a step into the vast bath, a lowered sink and a raised floor in the toilet cubicle. Nearly every wall has been covered in large mirrors. Bluefoot still holds her hunting-sword. Bluefoot steps into the bath- which is currently empty- and puts her fingers under the bottom of the mirror behind, pushing it up into the ceiling and revealing a small chamber with a ladder down. Bluefoot heads down first, summoning flames onto her hand to light the way.

Smuggling Route Dropoff

"I'm not sure I would have, not against a mechanical skeleton monster like that one." In fact, he rather much didn't, preferring to stay hidden than burst out and try to take it down. "This is Skyside. The gangs run near everything. If it can make money, they're interested. But nah, this bunch don't have a newspaper. They print adverts, wanted posters, and make forgeries of licences and identifications from Inside and Riverside. They'll be printing money too, soon. That's what we've got on the back- a printing press for money." It won't make good forgeries, but with the Nexus' habit of accepting nearly anything as currency they probably won't need to be.

[bc56]

Shivernight Manor

The cultists follow out the secret passage, and barring anything unexpected, should leave. That will leave Bluefoot alone with her new mission from Sapphira. Fortunately, it should be something she can do while getting that serpent's tear.

[5a Violista]

Smuggling Route Dropoff

"You just weren't in the situation that would have let you deal with it," Seraphina says, before confidently adding, "But if you were, I guarantee you would have found yourself doing it, too."

"Having your own newspaper could be pretty handy," Seraphina says. "With enough work, could be even more useful than a money printer."

[Earl of Purple]

Shivernight Manor

Now the cultists have left, Bluefoot goes back to the cells, grabbing Bunnytickle and getting changed into thick leather trousers and a white canvas shirt. She'll then wake her other maids, and head back to the dungeon. Ophelia's perception of breath was kept in the saucepan of water, so hopefully she's uncomfortable. If so, the cell is opened and Bluefoot goes in with a tapemeasure, recording how long her snake-tail is, how wide it is at her hips, how wide it is half a metre from the end, and how wide it is in the middle. She'll also measure Ophelia's bust, the length of her human torso, and how long she is from fingertip to fingertip. She'll return Ophelia's voice at the same time; keeping it won't help, not in breaking her will. After the measurements are taken, she'll write them all down. It's quite late, but the Slaver's Guild never sleeps, so she'll head down there to get some restraints in the sizes needed to fit Ophelia.

Smuggling Route Dropoff

"If y'say so." Ziyad's a little unsure about that. "Nah, not enough profit in it. Besides, most of the people 'round here don't care enough about all that to buy a newspaper. More interested in making sure they're safe and the local gang's happy with them, and they've got food and water for their families and such." Money's more immediately valuable than information, at least in the short term. And too many people in Skyside aren't able to think of the long term.

[5a Violista]

Smuggling Route Dropoff

"People don't go into propaganda for the direct profit," Seraphina says, contesting that idea. "Controlling how people think is much more valuable when you already have the basics, especially when everyone else is busy working on the basics."

She leans back, and shrugs.
"But it's their group. They can run it however they want, I suppose."

Actually, leaning back was a bad idea.
Seraphina leans forward so that she can actually look out at all the things. She doesn't want to miss the whole ride up.

[bc56]

Shivernight Manor

Ophelia is too weakened by constantly feeling like she's drowning to do much resisting. When she finally gets her voice back, she keeps cursing Bluefoot under her breath in between struggling gasps for air. When it's all said and done, Bluefoot shou have her measurements, but also have endured a lot of cursing and wrathful stares. If the serpent ever got used enough to feeling like she's breathing water, she might be very dangerous.

[Recaiden]

New Thread