Outside 48: Hotter than Inside

[Chaotic Bob]

[Wrattleham]

...Steve huh. Well it never hurts to know your own name.
Xeni proceeds to not bat an eye at this little revelation, instead just giving a sheepish little smile.
"Haha, yeah, well. Things are a little wild up there and I didn't run over to ask for orders, if you follow."
It's not that unrealistic for someone to have run in terror from all the significantly more mutated people, right?

"So...just...keep on keeping on. Maybe I should go scout out upstairs a bit more, since you seem to have this under control?"
Cue crummy excuse to leave!

He's relatively satisfied with this brief scouting foray. Town doesn't seem to be in immediate danger of becoming a homicidal mob, so they'll keep until Zee presents a slightly more knowledgeable recourse to her very-much-her-fault problem.

[Halae]

[Bufopolis]

Emily kneels down and smiles as the little frog boy runs up to her. Her smiles aren't really normal, since she doesn't have lips, but enough details are there that it gets across the idea anyways, "Thank you, little one," she says and will ruffle the boy's hair with one hand as she takes the plate with the other.

After that, she'll stand back up, and start walking towards the Publican, not eating the food yet, "We should talk a moment."

[Reinholdt]

[New Inside - Castilla]

"Good luck." The guard wishes her as she heads inside.

The room she enters is nearly identical to the last one she was in. The same barred windows, the same type of bed in the same spot in the room and even the same tiny pixie chain.
However, the chain is leading underneath the human-sized pillow on the bed and she can't see the patient anywhere.

[New Inside - Castilla]

Ilpholin glances around briefly. "Thinky? You there? No need to hide, I won't hurt you." She steps over to the bed and goes to lift the pillow and set it aside. Though she is a little wary of the potential of a pixie trap.

[Zefir]

[A meeting place]

Far outside skyside, somewhere out of Vision from the fying island and maybe soem other randsom viewer, a shuttle lands. Out comes a rather tall man wearing a labcoat. Arkant has made up a meeting with the strange entity he met in the satyrs mind. He decided to carry it a bit away to avoid questions. He will steps away from the shuttle to get out of hearing range. This should at least tell Helios that he comes alone without spying. Thought the shuttle got two of his guards in it, but they seem to stay.

[Earl of Purple]

Wrattleham

No, probably not Steve. The Foreman did address Xeni at his arrival with 'Sam, right?', so really the most reliable piece of information Xeni has about his disguise is the man's name probably begins with 's'.

"No, I can't say I really follow, Stu. What's going on up there? Oh, they got a longer look didn't they, so they're more perfect." The answer comes to him as he asks the question. "So, what, you're shortsighted? How come you've not changed? Mayor ordered everyone to look. Not sure I'd trust a guard who can't see; see what the nurse can do for you." If Xeni starts to leave, the Foreman won't stop him. And he's just been called a third 'S' name, too.

Bufopolis

The boy tries to duck away from the massive hand descending upon him, and Emily can figure out why if she does ruffle his hair- it's a wig. Underneath, his head is bald and spotted with warty bumps like a toad's back.

"We do? Sure, we can do that." Samwell smiles and yells at one of the locals to take over turning the meat before walking away from the fire until they're out of hearing distance. "So, what d'we need to talk about? Where's the Mayor? His gun? His son?" He smiles, wide and friendly, but it doesn't reach his eyes.

[Shadowcaller]

[New Inside - Castilla]

"AHHH!" The pixie underneath screams as Ilpholin removes the pillow. "Don't hurt me! I'll pay you!" They do seem to match the description the other pixie gave, their wings a deep blue.

[Morty]

[Manticore Village]

Upstairs, just like below, the chairs have been stripped out. Here, they've been replaced by a collection of large mesh crates- like ones for transporting large dogs, each fitted with a padlock to keep it closed. There's also a dead slaver on the floor, lying on his back and holding a shotgun. His gasmask has been pinned to his face by three very large porcupine-like quills, one embedded harmlessly in the filter, one in the cheek and one punching straight through the lens and into the eye beneath. Two of the cages have manticore cubs in them. One, the larger of the two, is about the size of a Labrador, or other mid-sized dog. Its face, unlike that of the parent Calm Reed met, is obviously female, and looks to come from a dark-skinned girl of about eleven years old. Her mouth is wide and filled with row upon row of shark-like teeth, and her eyes are green and cat-like. Her body is covered in thick brown fur with white spots, though her face, bat-like wings and paws are bald. Her paws look like human hands, if human hands were equipped with hooked talons. Her tail is long, furred like her body, and ends in a thick bushel of spikes like those that slew the guard. The other manticore is notably smaller, with a face more like that of a lion than a human, though the bright blue eyes and large ears are undeniably human. Its fur is black, with black stripes that occasionally gleam in the light due to reflecting light differently, the wings are batlike with humanoid hands halfway down, and the tail is a long, sinuous black-scaled snake.

The larger manticore speaks first, her voice musical and almost hypnotic, and totally lacking her parent's lisp. "We saw you, out there. With our father. You move so smoothly, for such an ungainly looking thing. That guard was going to hold us hostage to get you to go away. I foiled him. He has the key for this locks. Will you let us out?" The hypnotic quality increases as she asks the question, and there's magic behind the words, but she's not trained it and is unaware of the effect it could have on humans. The other manticore sits patiently, staring at Calm Reed with four eyes as it nonchalantly licks its paw.

"That is what we came here to do," Calm Reed says, steeling her mind against the hypnotism. "Your dispatching of the guard does make things easier." She goes over to the corpse to retrieve the key.

[Recaiden]

[Manticore's Village]

Calm Reed does head upstairs, leaving Alice to negotiate with the slaves.

Upstairs...

Outside, the manticore lands a short distance away, and some of the freed villagers rush over to hug and stroke its fur and give it their thanks. Meanwhile, the woman turns to Alice, still holding the shotgun. "How will you punish him? Will he get what he deserves for killing my parents? How about my brother? You can't give me my family back, but can you punish like with like?" She doesn't want to kill him, it seems. She just wants to be sure he'll die.

"That is what we came here to do," Calm Reed says, steeling her mind against the hypnotism. "Your dispatching of the guard does make things easier." She goes over to the corpse to retrieve the key.

Alice shakes her head. She isn't really sure; how to punish someone, now the fighting is over, is a matter for a temple or a judge.
"He must deserve to die many times over; only the gods can punish him thus." she starts to say, not liking anywhere these trains of thought are going. "Like for like is a...a waste. When they could be forced to make what amends are possible, or made examples."

[Earl of Purple]

Manticore's Village

The guard has several keys in his pocket, as well as a glass orb filled with ruby-coloured powder, a loose collection of silver and bronze coins, a pair of aviator's sunglasses, a box of ammunition for his shotgun and a plastic bottle half filled with water. The keys are a standard key for the padlocks on the cages on both buses, a key for this particular bus's ignition, and several personal keys he probably doesn't need any more.

If/when released, the human-headed manticore will start to purr and headbutt Calm Reed's legs as she walks out of the vehicle, whilst her sibling rolls its eyes and follows, though the snake-tail of said sibling will keep watching Calm Reed until it's left the bus.

"An example? My brother would like that." She lowers the shotgun, though she doesn't let it go.

[Ashen Lilies]

[City Out of Time]

Electra takes Cass's hand gently, and smiles as the sorceress pulls her in close. She does her best to keep her composure, but she can't help her smile from getting wider when they begin to float upwards. She's never been able to truly fly, but always wanted to, secretly. She has to mightily resist the urge to kiss Cass, and focuses on their surroundings once they've cleared the wall, trying to get her bearings so she has a better idea of where they need to head. Perhaps Cass can fly them to the areas they need to get to?

[City Out of Time]

The first thing Cass and Electra will see as they ascend above the city gate is a wide, straight street leading straight ahead. It's no doubt the city's main artery. It's lined with tall buildings with small windows and narrow doors, each slightly different and almost artisanal in structure. There are smaller streets heading off from the large one and the buildings there are far more subdued. All of them are built out of some kind of dark rock, with slate roofs. The street seems to be split into one central thoroughfare and two side-lanes. However, the centre doesn't look like it was made for cards... it almost looks like a pavement made for pedestrians, but is very wide.

In the distance, the two will see that the main road eventually reaches some kind of city centre, with tapering towers of some more important buildings pointing into the sky. If what they seek is indeed in some kind of library or university, there's a good chance they can find them there. There's another building a ways behind the centre, a truly enormous one. It reaches at least half again as high as the other towers.

Another thing that they will notice is that the entire city seems empty. There's no people, not even traces of any. No carts, vehicles or any other items on the streets. No litter or garbage, even. And yet they might get a feeling they're not quite alone in here. Cassandra will likely feel the sorcery that permeated the city once.

[City Out of Time]

Unfortunately, the feather trick isn't really true flight, mostly just up and down levitation. Cass will have enough control to get them over the wall, and then slowly descend down the other side, touching lightly down in the middle of the main boulevard, and looking around.

"Hmm, creepy." Cass comments. "There's definitely some magical funkiness going on here... but I'm not quite sure what, yet." She muses.

In her distraction, she hasn't let of of Electra's waist yet, anyway.

[Reinholdt]

[New Inside - Castilla]

"AHHH!" The pixie underneath screams as Ilpholin removes the pillow. "Don't hurt me! I'll pay you!" They do seem to match the description the other pixie gave, their wings a deep blue.

[New Inside - Castilla]

Ilpholin sighs and puts the pillow down just near enough to the pixie that it can somewhat hide if it wants, though it clearly won't help should Ilpholin decide to do anything. "Alright, deal. I won't hurt you. I want my payment in information though. Is that all right?"

[Murkus]

[Hillside Rambling]

It's a good thing Viviana's being rather understanding about this. Lucy does seem particularly agitated.

Still, it is a mercifully short walk onwards to their destination. The path clears and opens up to reveal a cliff-face with a large open cave in its side.

"Up there. The view is wonderful."

[Hillside Rambling]

Viviana gives it a look of serious consideration. "Well, no doubt, but that's quite a climb with the basket and all!" Vivi spits in her one hand and rubs them together. "I bet I've got a dusty piece of glamour or two rolling around in this old head that could take us up lickety-split though. How about that?"

[Morty]

[Manticore's Village]

Calm Reed steps aside to let the manticores pass and makes no comments otherwise. She'll follow them outside to rejoin the other liberated slaves.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Hillside Rambling]

"N-no, it's fine. I have a solution." Deep breaths, Lucy. Deep breaths.

And then she transforms.

In the space of moments, the young-looking maybe-elf with tanned skin vanishes, her form shifting and growing, coppery scales blooming, wings stretching out, arms shifting to forelegs, a tail springing forth and curling round...

All in all it takes seconds.

And then the big copper dragon with unusually distinct green patterns along the outside of his wings rather hesitantly curls his neck round to look down at Vivi. One claw reaches into the ever-present satchel, now hanging from his neck, and pulls out a harness that he expertly flicks into position on his back, the tail catching on end while the other is fastened round his neck.

Aside from the rather striking physical changes, Vivi might pick up on some rather significant changes in his demeanour. Almost like the dragon is a different person entirely. His awkward silence in stark contrast to how chatty Lucy usually is around Vivi. He settles down low and stretches a wing out as a ramp for her to climb up on his back.

[Recaiden]

"Good. Your brother can rest knowing they have not gotten away with this."
Alice twists to get something from her saddlebag (if this was all just waiting for her to drop her guard to shoot the slaver anyway, now's the chance!), some lengths of rope.

She bends and leans down by the surrendered slavers.
"I'm going to tie your hands now, while we sort this all out. Don't try anything."
If they tried to escape or fight back, she might have to kill them too. And...that would be bad. A waste, like she said.

Now, if that goes off smoothly, she'll stand back up and trot over to the manticore.
"There. Your cubs are safe."
Can't say the same for what's left of the village, but this, at least, is a happy moment.

[Earl of Purple]

Manticore's Village

"Half my cubss are ssafe. Not all." The manticore turns to look at the other bus, as two of his children run up to him and start to purr, whilst rubbing their heads against him like kittens.

Some of the girls are already heading over to the second bus, but others will help tie up the surviving slavers. They're very cautious about the half-elf, but as she's a wizard whose magic is focused on pain, that's probably not surprising.

[Halae]

Bufopolis

The boy tries to duck away from the massive hand descending upon him, and Emily can figure out why if she does ruffle his hair- it's a wig. Underneath, his head is bald and spotted with warty bumps like a toad's back.

"We do? Sure, we can do that." Samwell smiles and yells at one of the locals to take over turning the meat before walking away from the fire until they're out of hearing distance. "So, what d'we need to talk about? Where's the Mayor? His gun? His son?" He smiles, wide and friendly, but it doesn't reach his eyes.

[Bufopolis]

"It's about the dead," Emily says, finally taking the piece of meat to put into her mouth. It's a moment before she talks again after she swallows, "the werewolves leveled allegations that you drowned a few of their pack; that's not a small undertaking given the strength and ferocity of the average werewolf."

"Before you answer; no, your answer won't affect how I deal with the situation as it stands unless it's truly egregious. What I'm doing is organizing a ceasefire that'll last long enough for the werewolves to relocate, so that you both stop being a threat to one another. But I can't do that unless I have all the relevant information, and that includes what happened on your side."

[Earl of Purple]

Bufopolis

Wikipedia says frog legs taste a bit like chicken. I've never had frog legs (but I'd like to try them, if I go to a French restaurant again) so I can't say for sure. This is a giant frog, so maybe it tastes like ostrich.

"That... May have happened. In fact, yes. Three were drowned. The hunters caught them in frog-nets, wrapped them up with stones and threw them into the pool before the statue. The first two were caught by surprise, in human shape. They didn't have the space to transform, the nets are made of wire. Third... That was in werewolf shape, and fought a lot. It knew what was happening. We were hit by illness, and the Mayor said we should catch a wanderer to feed the Gulper of the Moon, so the town did. It seems to have helped, since they started to recover. But then one of the pack came in town to ask after her mate, and gave a description of the wanderer. So the Mayor panicked and ordered the men to do it again. One of the werewolves must have been watching, because Zanze had his house broken into under the full moon. His furniture was shredded, the door had been pulled off the hinges, their bedroom was covered with blood and all we found of him or his wife were thee fingers. That... That really started it. The Mayor had the hunters track down one of the caves and put their wire net over the entrance and wait for a werewolf to come out. That was the third. Two more died, one was shot by the Mayor and the other fell into a spiked pit. About fifteen of us have died, all told. Some have moved away." Like the werewolves, moving to avoid the conflict. "Oh, yeah. Zanze was our head hunter. He was one of the holders of the net."

[Halae]

[Bufopolis]

"No more," Emily says in a tone that brooks no argument, "If this deal is going to work, no more attempts at abducting and killing anyone, whether they're a wanderer, a local, or a neighbor. Otherwise, we'll be having words."

After letting out a growling, rumbling hiss, Emily says, "Tell me about your god, this 'Gulper of the Moon'."

[Shadowcaller]

[New Inside - Castilla]

Ilpholin sighs and puts the pillow down just near enough to the pixie that it can somewhat hide if it wants, though it clearly won't help should Ilpholin decide to do anything. "Alright, deal. I won't hurt you. I want my payment in information though. Is that all right?"

[New Inside - Castilla]

The pixie crawls underneath the pillow as Ilpholin puts it down, disappearing out of sight once more. "You've talked to the other one then, eh? What kind of information are you after? Asking a pixie for information is usually not a good idea. We intentionally remove our memories every time we 'die' so... that's a thing. Bet you didn't know that, huh?" She can hear their voice coming from underneath the pillow.

[Earl of Purple]

Bufopolis

Samwell nods his assent vigorously, though he's probably not in a position to decide stuff like that. "Well, you see the statue? That's it. That's the Gulper of the Moon. It swallows the moon every month, and when it does the people go out and bathe in the pool. Not everyone, there's not enough space in it. But a lot of them do, especially the women and any who want to formally join the community. When I did it, I saw a lot of things. Upward rain, worlds with cities built all over them, a man in a tight blue onesie and a red cape flying around and blasting things with his eyes. Lizards the size of... Of I don't know what, walking through cities filled with skyscrapers. In all of the visions, there were toad, and... it was just incredible. Some of the women come out pregnant, sometimes months along when they weren't when they went in. Sometimes, it gulps the sun, too. Toads are its holy animal, the bigger the better. Frogs are evil, falsities in the Gulper's image made by jealous rivals. That's why they're good to eat, toads will poison you. Um. Probably a better idea to ask one of the others? They were raised here, they know more about it than I do." So it really is a fertility deity of some kind, as well as one that apparently eats the moon during the new moon.

[Chaotic Bob]

Wrattleham

No, probably not Steve. The Foreman did address Xeni at his arrival with 'Sam, right?', so really the most reliable piece of information Xeni has about his disguise is the man's name probably begins with 's'.

"No, I can't say I really follow, Stu. What's going on up there? Oh, they got a longer look didn't they, so they're more perfect." The answer comes to him as he asks the question. "So, what, you're shortsighted? How come you've not changed? Mayor ordered everyone to look. Not sure I'd trust a guard who can't see; see what the nurse can do for you." If Xeni starts to leave, the Foreman won't stop him. And he's just been called a third 'S' name, too.

Looks like perfection doesn't come with a talent for names.
Xeni does a very good job of suppressing the urge to sigh, but goes with a simple enough excuse:
"I was, uh, taking a leak. By the time I got to see what the fuss was everyone was already...doing the thing."
Is this plausible here? Everyone has to go to the bathroom, right?

"But....sure! I'll go...check with the nurse."
Hopefully the Foreman doesn't decide to dig into this story too much. This is the perfect time to leave and Xeni is going to do just that.
Find the first place where no one can see him, then just sort of...phase out the side of the town.

[Reinholdt]

[New Inside - Castilla]

The pixie crawls underneath the pillow as Ilpholin puts it down, disappearing out of sight once more. "You've talked to the other one then, eh? What kind of information are you after? Asking a pixie for information is usually not a good idea. We intentionally remove our memories every time we 'die' so... that's a thing. Bet you didn't know that, huh?" She can hear their voice coming from underneath the pillow.

[New Inside - Castilla]

"It's a good thing I want recent information then." Ilpholin frowns. "I can't say I knew that though, no. That sounds like a bad idea. Do you do that too or have you been cheating?" If this pixie's been avoiding the rule, it would explain why it's smarter.

Or it's just been avoiding death, which would be an equivalent result.

[Earl of Purple]

Wrattleham

Xeni's given a funny look, but allowed to walk off. Helps that one of the other workers has just run up with another job- the reversing they did earlier has loosened one of the brake pads, and it needs tightening and checking if they're ever to come to a safe stop.

Xeni can find somewhere to phase through the town amongst the town's water systems. There's several big tanks, pipes, filters and a small algae tank.

[Murkus]

[Hillside Rambling]

There is a heart-freezing moment as Viviana takes a step back, a hand rising to her mouth, a flash of panic in her eyes. The freckled, matronly lady can't seem to find her breath. "Lucy..." She looks the dragon over. "Oh, my, Lucy... you can turn into a dragon?"

A few beats. Thankfully, blessedly, the fear and bewilderment melt off of Vivi's face, replaced by simple confusion. This too passes, and realization dawns in its place. "No... it's the other way around, isn't it?"

She doesn't step on to his wing or make to climb on his back... Not yet at least. The dragon can take that how he will.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Hillside Rambling]

With considerable reluctance and hesitancy, the dragon speaks. His voice appropriately loud and deep for his size - not excessively so, but certainly a notch or two above the average person's voice. He's softly-spoken, relatively speaking, with a much more pronounced stutter. "I-I-I'll go away again once we're, um, o-once we're up there. She just- she just...w-wanted you to see this way. I-it's perfectly safe, I-I-I promise."

It would seem, in an ideal world, the dragon did not intend to talk at all.

[Murkus]

[Hillside Rambling]

With considerable reluctance and hesitancy, the dragon speaks. His voice appropriately loud and deep for his size - not excessively so, but certainly a notch or two above the average person's voice. He's softly-spoken, relatively speaking, with a much more pronounced stutter. "I-I-I'll go away again once we're, um, o-once we're up there. She just- she just...w-wanted you to see this way. I-it's perfectly safe, I-I-I promise."

It would seem, in an ideal world, the dragon did not intend to talk at all.

[Hillside Rambling]

"See what? Dear, I don't understand," she says. She approaches, albeit with caution... but Vivi doesn't think it will hurt her. "...Will this be easier for you if I go up?" She will, eventually, if so. Climb aboard slow and hold on tight. She has to admit, it is a bit exciting.

[Morty]

[Manticore's Village]

Calm Reed heads towards the other bus purposefully. She can help remind the magician to stay put if need be, and far easier than any of the liberated slaves.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[City Out of Time]

Electra doesn't seem to mind having Cass's arm around her. She looks towards the city center, and gestures.

"It looks like that might be where we're looking for. Or at least, a good place to start."

[Morty]

[City Out of Time]

Nothing and no one appears when Cass and Electra land within the city. The feeling of not being alone might intensify for them, though. While the streets are still empty, there's a faint suggestion of movement through them. A rustle of clothes, a shadow of a dwarf's silhouette, the movement of air. In the utter stillness, even such a trace may be startling.