Inside 69: Nice.

[Lord Magtok]

Delilah's Old Hideout

[Delilah's Old Hideout]

~Ambriel~

"Your brother is going to attempt to expel me, or slay you barring that, I suspect. Of immediate value would be a means of calming him down long enough to complete my work."
Which Ambriel also wanted information on, so elaborating further will probably help.

The figure turns its head (presumably, it's hard to tell, but that big halo thing turns slightly) to stare out at the void surrounding them.
Like the subtle encroachment of morning fog, a scene begins to grow around them. One that really isn't that interesting at all, as it just seems to be the city of Inside on a normal day.
People standing around the street, doing whatever it is they are doing, in some frozen moment of time.
It never gets any color, remaining in gray scale, and never any movement.
"The consumption of every time approaches. It has already happened once and must not do so again. This woman, Delilah, is bound to a portion of a power that could be bent against this. Unfortunately, for her and us, it is bound to her life and she has been rendered incapable of dying. A troubling combination, given what certain individuals are willing to do in order to acquire it.
Either her cooperation or the other portion of the power is required. The former is...unlikely, but the latter is not if I can work in peace."

Ambriel's soulform thing frowns, or does whatever passes for a frown when one is in this realm. Powerful people insisting that their cruelty and murder is in service to the greater good, that the only way to save the world is to enslave others and force them to do your bidding. That these terrible deeds will be vindicated when this calamity is over, and never again will such wickedness be needed. Why does that sound so obnoxiously familiar? Where has he heard this exact same story before, but about some mangy talking cat nobody's seen in nearly a decade? Oh, that's right, this is Magtok's whole shtick, isn't it? Sure, let's enslave a sizable fraction of your own siblings as a sort of second-class citizen special ops team, I'm sure that makes sense. Let's seed countless worlds across the cosmos with MagClone infiltrators and spies, and have them set up Orwellian surveillance states across the universe just to keep an eye out for talking cats. That's totally sensible. If a few innocent people get hurt or enslaved or killed along the way, well...it's better than what the omnicidal cat would've done to reality, isn't it?

Screw that. In fact, screw this too, while we're at it. If this holy light person's plan requires butchering Delilah and Zane, tearing innocents apart like this for their power, let's not mince words here, it's a bad plan. There are alternatives to such savagery; there always have been. Sometimes they're a little harder or less convenient than vivisection of children, but the right choices aren't always going to be the easiest or most obvious options.

"Remind my brother of the giant crab he and Needs took on eight years ago. He wound up getting badly injured when he should've just trusted Needs and let him magic the problem away," Ambriel lies, not sure if he can get away with such deception within the bounds of his own soul. The godling shouldn't have access to his memory files, right? It shouldn't have any way to prove whether or not he's making this up. "Tell him I said he just has to do what he should've done back then, and stand back."

[Recaiden]

[Noisy Attic]

"Mhm. I don't even know how you'd figure that out, I mean, about the gnomes."
Then Jack answers, and it's not repairing the haunted clock to its former glory, but it's a way to actually be helpful; that should be good. "Sure." Anchor heads over to the drawers and whispers a few magic words, causing the broken handles and other bits of damage to swiftly undo themselves. Almost good as new.
That done, Anchor takes the other seat on the couch , sliding all the way down to the springy seat.
A brief moment to relax.

[Eurus Hive]

It may be important to remember that despite the common name, and the preferred disguise for them, it is not a dog.

There's a scholar who has a crystal that seems to be from our world. Refuses to sell it. We-
At this point another team member arrives, swooping down on the pair, flaring their four wings, and landing in a crouch. The arrival is accompanied by a prickling sensation in Sly's mind, like your arm waking up again after having gone numb. There is a bit of a long-suffering expression in Jet's eyes, though she actually hasn't been suffering too long.
Sly is awake! Team leader Haru the Marquess is here!
She has six curved horns, largest in the front, an armored shell across her midriff, and a long tail with a spearlike stinger at the very tip. Two of the wings are in place of arms, and the other two are lower down on her back. They're not quite bat wings or quite devil wings, having an extra bone extending from the 'elbow'. And of course her skin is a hellish red-orange. But she looks a bit less arthropod, in small details, than the rest of the hive has. And there's no tentacles anywhere. She's wearing some of the aforementioned undergarments-for-people-with-four-upper-limbs (and needs the support) as well as a pair of shorts. No shoes, despite the relatively normal feet.
Now we sneak into the target area! Steal back the ancient crystal! Prove our skills to the hive!

[Reinholdt]

[Above Temperance Teahouse]

There's always a first time for everything. You have your first kiss. You have your first time flying. You have your first time kissing while wearing fake mustaches. There's your first time...for anything you've ever done.
This is her first time kissing while hanging far above the ground.

She smiles at his smooth talking - he's so good at it. "I've got to step up my sweet talking game to keep up with you," she manages to say just before they start making out.

Although she's already holding tightly, she can pull her face closer by pulling her shoulders closer. It's actually pretty fortunate that he's holding her with that one arm, because that makes mashing their faces together so much easier.

[Above Temperance Teahouse]

It's Rein's first time as well. Unless kissing upon an airship counts. Which might via technicality. But it still feels like a first to him.

Reinholdt wraps his other arm down low, catching the top of Holly's legs. Just for safety. With a more secure grip, the kiss he planned to simply be the romantic topping to his sweet talk turns out much longer than he anticipated as he gets lost in the feeling of her lips. It takes a surprising amount of effort to pull away from making out, and when he does, he finds himself a little short of breath.

"There's still more to see. Come on." Repositioning once more, he will fly them out of the city and to a new thread.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[What's Kraken Inside?]

Marina isn't terribly capable of helping with Zee's terrible sewer crab affliction - but even if she were, she seems a little knocked out of it by the sudden collision. She takes a second to process it all before being helped up by Marina, sloppily attempting to dust the skirt of her newer attire. "E-er, yes! We demand that you must guide us there!" She insists, falling remarkably easily into the Minion role of echoey cheerleader despite the minor concussion she seems to be coping with.

[What's Kraken Inside?]

Okay.

What information has Zee got to work with here?

Two girls. Both with tentacles. One with a coral staff and a lack of empathy. The other with a servile attitude and maybe a concussion?

She did NOT run into that person anywhere near hard enough to cause a concussion.

That's pretty bare bones. Even if these folks might not actually have bones?

"Umm... which library?" Zee asks. "There are a couple different ones. Abrajin's Library is a bit more general purpose and WAY weirder. Philip Memorial Library is more about forbidden spooky knowledge and smells like fish people."

You can't really get away from the smell of fish people over in Arkham Street.

"Is there a particular book you're looking for..." she squints up at nothing. "Suzie?"

[Intersection Canteen]

"Aye. When I came 'ere, I heard AMEN are washed-up has-beens of no consequence," Michalson says. "Guess they got a little fight left in 'em. Maybe becoming a detective isn't the peaceful job I thought it'd be. Was gettin' tired of planeswalking."

[What's Kraken Inside?]

Suzie silently uses a surplus tentacle to straighten-out Marina's dress, and a brief spark from her coral staff washes off any trace amounts of dust her fishmaid misses.

Meanwhile, Suzie's beaming. This random person knows her name! Clearly her reputation is spreading already!

...but wait, maybe that's a bad thing? After all, if people know who they are, that's going to make it much harder to raid the library. Wait, libraries. Libraries? There's more than one library?

The tentacle that was passively adjusting Marina's dress curls up slightly at the end and swings down to bop her (lightly) on the head. "MINION! There's more than one library?! Why did you not inform me of this? HOW ARE WE MEANT TO KNOW WHICH ONE TO GO TO?"

It is, of course, entirely possible that Marina did mention this beforehand. Suzie was not doing the best job of paying attention.

"Uh, you! Street person who knows my name!" That'd be you, Zee. "Take us to whichever library removes curses!"

*****

[Intersection Canteen]

"It hasn't been quite as quiet as I was hoping it'd be either, honestly. Never gonna be the safest line of work, sure, but no having to go out and save the world or something. Just littler city things." Ithuriel sighs. "It's fine. I've got us set up on some easier shifts for a while. Figured we both needed a bit of a break. But, hey, what was planeswalking like?"

[Arkhosia]

What's Kraken Inside?

Zee may not have run into Marina terribly quickly - but it didn't stop the woman from bumping her head on the pavement in the fall, leaving a bit of an uncomfortable bruise near enough that the maid winces as Suzie chastises her. Which might be unusual enough for her mistress to notice; normally that sort of playful response amuses her and lifts her spirits.

"I intended to! But you decided to depart as soon as I mentioned the name of the first one, and knew of no difference that would warrant mentioning the other if we had already settled upon our destination." The pilot fish has certainly grown a tad bit more assertive in her words since their dinner date at Bloodsong's. Perhaps she thinks that showing she has a spine will help keep Suzie's interest, or perhaps she's just working on the courage to someday actually pull off something impressive for her.

[Rebonack]

[What's Kraken Inside?]

Eh hehe.

Squid people showing a spine.

Zee does her best not to giggle like an idiot at that and only mostly succeeds.

Wait they're asking her another question.

"Umm... Which one removes curses? Well, libraries don't remove curses. Libraries are just places for keeping books."

Do they have books under the sea? They probably could, just not codexes. Maybe carved slates or something? Living under water probably has all sorts of physical limitations. Things like no fires unless you're burning stuff that has its own internal source of oxidizer.

"What you need is a book about removing curses. Or just someone who knows how to remove curses. What sort of curse are you dealing with?" she casts a sour glance at the crab burrows nearby. "Cursed to be unable to complete simple errands without getting waylaid by absurd shinanagins?"

[Hattish Thing]

Prison

No reply comes. The room is silent. Then a clattering racket erupts from the stacked canisters, and Marco will feel a pressure settle on his mind. Depending on his willpower, he may find it hard to move, as the unknown force tries to freeze him in place. No running. The voice isn't so much one voice as many, all speaking in a haunting chorus, but without so much as a whisper of sound. It can only be heard in the mind.

Arkham Street

Eao follows cheerily along, humming some simple tune to herself. The bleakness of their surroundings doesn't really seem to occur to her. "Let's go!" The seraph's cheerful tone is at odds with the imposing edifice at their destination. Of course, it doesn't look imposing to her. It's just a building like any other, and even better, it's a library. She likes libraries.

Marco grimaces as something disturbs the canisters, the clattering noise echoing throughout the small chamber. He flinches in place before his eyes widen beneath his helmet. The suggestion settling upon his mind worms its way deeper into his consciousness.

He shakes his head, fighting it back, before pausing. He's faking it. Waiting... for something, anything.

---

Arkham Street:

As the pair continues forward down winding cobblestone streets it begins to rain. Black skies above grow steadily darker, the bitter cold rain threatening to soak one's clothes and leave them shivering. After about half an hour of travel through the downpour, a beaten dirt path is discovered, accessible only behind a large, rusted iron gate.

A tall, spiked fence lines the property, and just past the gate, the path vanishes into an eerie wooded area.

Sterling stammers as they approach.

"It's... refreshing that you're optimistic, I suppose."

"This weather is dreadful, and that padlock looks... difficult. Any ideas?"

[bc56]

Prison

For a minute, there is an awful, total silence. Then Marco will feel as if a weighty presence has retreated from the room, and get the sickening sensation that it knew he was unaffected and bluffing all along. The normal sounds of the room seem clear again, but the dripping has stopped.

Arkham Street

"What is there to be pessimistic about?" Eao examines the fence and gate. "This isn't so hard. Up we go!" She reaches out with hooflike hands, trying to grab Sterling, spread her wings, and fly the unlikely pair over the fence. Sure, she could just cut through the padlock, but that would make it so anyone could break in. That wouldn't be nice.

[Earl of Purple]

Noisy Attic

The chest of drawers looks much better! The handles have reappeared, the scratches in the sides are shallower, and the old coffee stains on the top have vanished. Anchor could open it, now. Jack doesn't know what's inside; she couldn't get inside before. Well, she's got her shovel that could probably force it, but then she won't be able to use it. And it'd be noisier than she'd like, since she doesn't want the people below to chase her out. She doesn't like being chased out of attics.

"You'd need to figure out how it was done, first. And hope the broken ones can be repaired without harm." Nobody's sure how it was done. And the people who did it won't be able to answer.

Eurus Hive

Sylvette's never actually seen a dog that was friendly to her; mostly they were guard dogs she had to evade or escape. "Do I have time to grab some proper clothes? I'm quite shiny, now." Which is pretty and she likes it, but makes sneaking difficult. She'll also help the others pick suitable clothing, as she's unaware of the illusory abilities the Marquess has. Hopefully it's being displayed, rather than locked in a hidden safe somewhere.

[Morty]

[Intersection Canteen]

Michalson shrugs.

"It's adventurin', only on different planes. Sigil's a lot like this anthill and you can get to just about any plane from there if you know how. Doesn't mean it's easy or safe. I've had my share of beatings. It was better than bein' a Hive gutter-rat, but eventually I got a bit tired of bein' one bout of back luck away from the dead-book."

[Recaiden]

[Noisy Attic]

Okay, she is a little curious. Even if the chest of drawers is probably empty.
Anchor goes over and tries the newly repaired handles and looks inside each drawer in turn, starting at the bottom.
"Okay, what's in here, after all this time?"

[Eurus Hive]

And she still hasn't.
Yes! We will be well prepared!
Slyvette is now the team fashion expert. Haru has no idea about clothes, and Jet would usually wear an ominous four-sleeved robe. (Jet is the one with illusionary abilities, as it happens).
Off to get dressed they go!
The crystal is in a temporary storage container while the scholar is travelling. We should just need to get past a weak lock, a fence, and maybe two guards.

[Earl of Purple]

Noisy Attic

In the bottom drawer, there's a lot of old-fashioned clothes; older than the chest they're stored in. There's a large leather duster, several pairs of jeans and dungarees and a moth-eaten brown stetson. Underneath all the clothes is a scroll, bound with a blue silk ribbon. If Anchor finds it, it's a scroll of paper cuts; reading it causes the scroll to explode with some force into shards of paper rigid and thin enough to injure. In the middle drawer, there's a box of RTB01 plastic Space Marines, unopened and still sealed, a folding black umbrella with a cobweb pattern, and a rough granite cone or pyramid, with a smooth bottom labelled 'Dehydrated Mountain'. In the top drawer, there's a tin of smoked almonds, miraculously still in date, an iron flask sealed with a thick glass stopper, a pair of snow boots and a crude map drawn on a fancy napkin.

Jack goes over to have a look, though there's not much there of immediate interest to her.

Eurus Hive

Sylvette's going to pick dark clothes, though not black; black stands out more in the dark than dark greys or browns. "Do you guys know how to pick locks? And can you teach me how to talk in your heads, like you're doing to mine?" The thief hasn't figured that out yet, but she does know how to pick a lock.

Sylvette will pick clothing that reminds her of the stuff she wore before her conversion, though she'll have hidden slits for her lower arms rather than sleeves. She'll also grab- unless it's been destroyed with her prior clothing- her glass vials. They're mostly empty, but they're what she uses to help her swallow tin. And there's tin in some of them still.

[Recaiden]

[Noisy Attic]

"Clothes - is this the sort of stuff you wear? This coat's pretty. I mean, maybe it all could be." Anchor holds up the duster, considering it. Oh, and what's this underneath? A wrapped scroll, which she sets on top of the chest.

"Toy soldiers, umbrella, a 'Dehydrated Mountain'?. Nuts, boots, one of those bottles you keep spirits in, and a, it's a map! Do you recognize where it's showing?"
Half of these are things you expect to find in a chest of drawers, and half are more peculiar.
Anchor speaks another incomprehensible phrase and spends quite several seconds looking over the various trinkets for any magic.

[Eurus Hive]

There's not a huge variety of clothing here. But she can find something dark brown and close enough to her old style.
When we can't have the hound break them open, picking locks falls to you! Although with your experience, we could do it for sure!

I understand you want to concentrate on the words you want to say, almost to the point of saying them, and picture who's supposed to hear them. It should be easy. Can't do it with just anyone, though. Just within the hive, maybe just within our little team.
Jet starts getting their normal grey robe, unless Sly has a better idea. It's not painful for her antennae to be covered by a hood (though it does muffle things a bit) and it makes them look a lot less distinctive.
The tineye's bottles should still be there. She explained how her power worked before all that happened, so they weren't recycled.

[Earl of Purple]

Noisy Attic

"The jeans are. That is a nice coat, but my wings make it tricky. And I change shape, so my clothes are enchanted so they shift with me. Hm. Is an interesting map, isn't it? I don't think I recognise it. Although... I think I've flown over that, there. It's in Outside, about three miles from a town called Stopmarket." As a natural shapeshifter, her ability only affects her physical body. Not her clothing or anything she might be carrying. On the map, Jack points to a shape a bit like a flying eagle.

The dehydrated mountain is a pretty impressive piece of mass displacement magic. It's linked to a large chunk of roughly conical rock, about thirteen hundred metres tall. If the mountain gets wet, all the mass stored extradimensionally reappears instantly. Might be a good idea not to hold it over your head in the rain. The scroll I've already explained. The flask is binding magic; there's something trapped within; a spectre or wraith, most likely. The boots stay in their perfect condition, don't get dirty and won't leave footprints.

There are other magical trinkets in the room; Jack's knickknacks, and everything she's wearing.

Eurus Hive

Grey's good, if it's quite dark. There's several shades that work, and pale greys aren't really one of them.

Sylvette nods when informed if they can't brute force them the locks are her responsibility. Like this, Jet? Can you hear me? For want of better words? It's a possibility that Jet won't. Whilst Sly's thinking towards them, they aren't sure if it's working properly. Sly can also wear a hood, if she's careful; her antennae are very sensitive, to pick up air currents, sounds and scents.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[What's Kraken Inside?]

Suzie pauses when Marina winces. That was an unusual response. Had she bopped her harder than intended? Truly, she is a great and terrible kraken and perhaps she doesn't know her own strength!

...

She peers at the fishmaid. No, she didn't do that. "Minion, you're injured." She points a tentacle accusingly at Zee. "YOU! Completely normal person! This is you're doing! You must make amends by taking us to a library with healing books and curse-breaking books!" That's a fair punishment, right? That also helps Marina, while still getting them towards their goal! Everybody wins!

"Also I demand you explain to me what a book is!" That's probably pretty important to knows. Minion M definitely knows, but she's injured! We can't push her for details right now!

*****

[Intersection Canteen]

"...did you adventure solo, previously?" Ith asks, leaning a little closer. "At least the crap we've had to deal with, we've had each other to watch our backs, and sometimes more backup than that." She shrugs and leans back. "I used to do everything on my own, all the time. Had people look up to me. Not good. You learn really quickly that one person can't be everywhere at once to look after everyone who started counting on you. And that one person can be dealt with really quickly if they keep trying to do everything on their own."

[Recaiden]

[Noisy Attic]

"Maybe worth visiting sometime. I mean, if there's anything on the map in particular. Not if it's just 'how to get to Stopmarket' or something."
Anchor suggests. Then she points out a couple items.
"That's a real mountain, there, folded up tiny. Don't unroll that scroll, it's sharp. The boots won't leave prints. And there's something in this bottle, probably a ghost; think we should open it and find out?" She grins.

[Eurus Hive]

It's a fairly dark grey.
Haru is a little annoyed that nothing is made for tails in mind.
Maybe just a hole in these cloak things? Disguises are dumb. Dumb creatures up there, getting in their way. Lucky Jet, able to just be invisible.

Was that you, Sylvette?

I hear you, Sly, clear as anything!

[Ionbound]

Quaint Victorian House That Doesn't Really Murder People And Bury Them In The Lawn, Honest

Jack starts to dig her way out.. If hacking away at fungal flesh with a magical shovel counts as 'digging', anyway. She really should invest in a better cutting implement.

She's changing, as well. Her wings have gotten broader and the feathers aren't as oily. There's spots on her feathers, like eyes black-on-black so they show up only in the right light. Grey eyes open and close in the air around her, not physically attached but she's able to see through them anyway. When she crawls out, she's... more human, more perfectly human. She's not the ideal beauty, but she might seem more attractive. She's not changed, but it's still present, somehow.

Melissa also digs her way out, sword in one hand, snarling as she does so. As she emerges it comes clear as to why she's snarling; Despite her best efforts, she's been much more heavily mutated by her exposure to the belly of the beast. Once she's out a clear view can be seen of her; A horrible bipedal wolf monster, covered in black fur and with goatlike horns crowning her head. Her legs change at the waist, becoming more goat-like until they finally end in hooves, and her muzzle is grotesquely skeletal, having pushed out from her face with very little flesh following it. Despite that, her eyes are still socketed and are clearly human. A fine coating of what appears to be dust coats her fur, which on closer inspection is revealed to be fungal spores that, if Jack has a smartphone, are each individually WiFi hotspots.

Melissa glances over at Jack and asks, in a low, growly voice, "Well...It seems you got off scot-free. How bad am I?"

[Earl of Purple]

Noisy Attic

"I think it's using the eagle as a landmark. Stopmarket isn't on the map at all. And there's that X, there. I think it's a map to treasure, or something. A dungeon, maybe?" Jack's followed a map before, it got her wings.

"Another ghost? Let's take it over to the clock, see if she can help us with it." Jack turns and heads towards the aforementioned grandmother clock.

Eurus Hive

Then it's perfect. Especially with the invisibility Sylvette still doesn't know about.

Ah, it worked! I wasn't expecting it to. It wasn't intended to be everyone, though. Just Jet. She needs more practice, it seems. Still, silent communication like this will surely be a boon for a thief gang. What's the range on this mind-speaking? And does it require sight to work? That's going to be really useful to know, especially if they get in trouble. Anything that lets them remain undetected even whilst having a furious discussion will be very useful indeed. And the lookout could stay looking out without either hollering at the others or leaving their post.

[Recaiden]

[Noisy Attic]

"Well, we should definitely follow it at some point, in case it's treasure."
Anchor picks up the bottle and heads along the attic with Jack.
Once they reach the far-off grandmother clock, she'll tilt it away from her and unstopper it.

[Eurus Hive]

It depends. The Queen can reach anyone anywhere! For you, uh, longer than you can talk with your voice, at least!

Ah, I got it that time. We don't need to see each other - some of us can see through each other's eyes, even, but different kinds of us have different ranges.
It's not like they're broadcasting thoughts. As long as one of the participants has long enough range, they can talk to each other. But it's reached a very long way. As long as they're on a job together, there should be no problem staying in contact. But if it's ever just Sly and the Hound, for some reason? That could be bad.

Are we ready?

[5a Violista]

[-]

Leaving Trog's and headed to the nearest bus stop is...a paladin!

Yeah.
Zophiel's a paladin.

She's wearing all white.
She's carrying men's clothes in her arms.
Her shadow doesn't match her - it's that of a man quite a bit taller and larger than her - but it doesn't seem to mind, because it still follows her around.

She's headed to the bus so that she can stop at a small store, buy a couple more clothes that she'll need over the next couple days and a bag, and then continue off to the train station so she can get to VIGIL.

[Earl of Purple]

Noisy Attic

"Oh, hold on." Jack grabs a shovel from her bag before following Anchor to the haunted clock.

The stopper is pretty firmly stuck in there. It takes quite a tug to pull it free, but Anchor should be able to pull it out. A thick black mist flows out of the bottle. Screaming faces form in the mist, rising to the surface only to burst like bubbles, as it coalesces into a humanoid figure, over two metres tall and floating half a metre off the ground. Rope about the figure's neck trails into the ceiling, and its face changes every few seconds, male, female, young and old; pampered noble faces, pock-marked thieves' faces, and everything in between. It raises a bony arm at Anchor and opens its mouth, gasping and kicking. Anchor might feel as though there's a rope tightening about her neck, and have difficulty breathing.

Eurus Hive

I reckon we're as ready as we can get. Let's go. Sylvette doesn't know how long she's been asleep for, so isn't aware what time it is on the surface. Hopefully it's quite late; although Inside doesn't have the mist like her homeworld does, night is still better for hiding and sneaking than the day is.

Creepy Victorian Fungus Trap

Jack turns and looks at Melissa, five eyes opening in the air around her and between Jack and Melissa, looking at the furry woman from several different angles. "Very fluffy. I feel like... Like there's a chick inside me that's almost ready to hatch. Do you feel the same?" The eye closest to Melissa closes and re-opens several centimetres away, not far from her face. She's still getting used to the eyes; there's so many, and looking in every direction.

[Morty]

[Intersection Canteen]

Michalson shakes his head. It seems this conversation is distracting him from his headache, at least.

"No, I ran with all sorts of bloods and crews. Learned at a young age not to go at it alone. The last one I ran with were bashers tough as old leather, but more than a few still got written in the dead-book on the trip that got me my gun." He rubs his forehead. "I wasn't in charge, though. Then or ever. I got as much inspirational or leadership quality as a softhead lemure."

[Ionbound]

[Creepy Victorian Fungus Trap]

Melissa shakes her head and replies, "Not at all...I feel more like I'm about to break in two. Also vaguely-HURK." She cuts off, interrupted by a wave of black, oily vomit spouting forth from her maw, which she does her best to direct away from Jack. After she finishes throwing up, she sheepishly wipes her mouth and replies, "Nauseous..."

On the ground, the pile of sick begins to organize itself into a pile of slime awakens to...Limited sentience...As a small black pudding. It starts starts to crawl away, driven purely by instinct.

[Earl of Purple]

Creepy Victorian Fungus Trap

As Melissa starts to hurl, Jack makes sure there's none of her disembodied eyes in the way. She's still not entirely sure where they are when they're closed, or how they're attached to her body.

She steps back a little from the slime. "So I can see in all directions at once and you can vomit slime things. I think I'd have preferred not being eaten, quite frankly." She wipes her shovel on the corpse and heads away. "I think we've still got another floor upstairs. Plus the basement, where this thing came from." And there could be more! So Jack's not willing to check that out yet.

[Recaiden]

[Noisy Attic]

Good thinking, having a shovel.

As the thing takes shape, Anchor asks "What can your eyes see of it?"
Then it becomes pretty clear, the ghost of a hanged man, or several, or perhaps the spirit of the gallows itself?

When it lifts its choking hand, Anchor's fingers fly up to her throat to stop the rope, but there isn't a rope. It just-
"", she manages to croak, waving her other hand flat from one side of her to the other.
The spell tries to attack the creature's undead animating force, manifesting as a sudden flash that tries to slice through the rope that the monster is suspended from. This may have other implications for the hanged-spectre.

[Eurus Hive]

The sun has just set, and the last lights of the day are fading from the sky as the team heads up from Eurus to the surface. You were sleeping for quite some time, Sylvette. Days, probably.
There's a shortcut from the hive to the surface, but you need wings to use it, and Haru sure can't carry the whole team. So they take the long way out.
Sly should find that she just knows the route they're taking, lost in the sewers no more, as Haru projects its into everyone's head.

The hound goes first, in case of any surprises. But I think they should make it out of the sewers without much trouble.
When we get there, we're going to look around a bit and be sure nothing important has changed.

[Ionbound]

[Creepy Victorian Fungus Trap]

Melissa sighs and nods, replying, "Right. Upstairs, I think? I suspect there is a whole lot of nothing good in the basement. But I definitely want to find a way to turn back, so let's go." She turns and heads out of the library, unsteady on new hooves.

[Earl of Purple]

Noisy Attic

"Ghosts. Lots of them, incomplete but meshed together." Which is what a spectre is, really. Incomplete because it's not a whole life that became the ghost; just the bit leading up to the walk to the gallows and the the hatch opening.

The rope isn't part of the spectre's animating force; the similarities between the ghosts' experiences and the shared method of death is the primary force animating the spectre. Attacking that force tightens the constriction about Anchor's neck, as more of it is divested from the spectre. She might, in addition to the panic of being suffocated, feel other emotions- fear, guilt, regret, embarrassment and righteous injustice.

Jack swings her shovel against the spectre, but it passes through and does nothing. Jack drops it and instead dives for the bottle.

The granddaughter clock starts to chime, though it's not yet near the hour.

Eurus Hive

Sounds good to me. Observation's very important before you make a move. Know what you're dealing with. She approves of that, although she'd probably have had the traveller they're off to rob from watched, just to be on the safe side.

Creepy Victorian Fungus House

"Yeah, I don't like this feeling either. Like I'm fragile." It won't take much to 'break' her, except it won't be 'breaking'- it'd be 'hatching'. And she's seen baby chicks. They're so fragile and helpless, and she doesn't like the idea of that at all.

[Rebonack]

[Creepy Victorian Third Floor]

Up the stairs out heroes go.

Jack will be able to see... quite a bit more than she could before. Most notably the things squirming through the walls of the house. They're misbegotten. Still born. Unrealness still writhes within them, souls trapped in warped bodies.

What happens to a soul, to a mind, that can't sleep?

Absolute madness, of course.

And the horror seeping through the walls of the house wants nothing more than to add more minds to its waking, eternal nightmare.

Probably wouldn't be a terrible idea to burn this whole place to the ground.

As for Melissa, her state is even more tenuous. That feeling of tension is only growing over time. She needs to find some way to purge this corruption from her body and quickly. If she doesn't then something deeply unpleasant is likely to happen in the near future.

Regardless of the dooms that await our heroes, they finally reach the third floor. They're greeted by extravagant oak paneled walls, beautiful bronze sconces full of dancing flame, and an artful suit of black plate armor that is disturbingly similar in its design and decoration to Melissa's current appearance. Above the suit of armor is a pleasant pastoral painting of rolling green hills and yellow flowers. You can make out three oak doors, a smaller door to the south and west, while a larger pair of doubles doors can be found to the north. The smaller doors are paneled by not carved, while the double doors show a man and woman artfully naked embracing in the midst of a forest.

You don't have long to contemplate this, however. Because a writhing mass of fur, teeth, and lashing black tendrils just came crawling out from behind the painting and slithered into the helm of the suit of armor.

The armor shudders to life, twitching in an unsettling approximation of human movement, and then lurches toward Jack with the halberd it's holding to stab her clean through the chest.

[Arkhosia]

[What's Kraken Inside?]

"Y-you need not fret about me, milady, I'm fine," Marina assures, albeit perhaps a tad unconvincingly. It doesn't stop the light bluish touch of a heartfelt blush from warming her face a little though; it was strangely flattering to see her mistress show such concern and actively seek a way to rectify the situation.

The maid does, however, blink in surprise as Suzie admits her own ignorance. Worry crosses her mind as she thinks about the possible ramifications of this revelation, particularly how honed her lady's ability to read might happen to be.

[Recaiden]

[Noisy Attic]

Well, the ghosts are interacting, if not the way Jack hoped.

This ghost-conglomeration could really be trouble. This was such a bad idea. She should never have suggested it. But who does this ghost think it is? Using emotional manipulation against her? That used to be her thing! How dare it!?

Anchor manages, in a whisper, to speak a warding spell, a bubble that pushes away the foreign experience of death and lets her breathe. For the moment - in time the ward will crumble away, and the strength of the spectre may make it go faster and faster.

[Eurus Hive]

The place where the crystal is stored is two C-shaped buildings, interlocked, with many many locked doors on the inside walls, and a light over each door. The place is surrounded by an iron fence, with one gate, besides which a bored security guard lounges in a small office, allegedly watching camera displays.

Next to this place is a halfling restaurant, closed down for the night, and on the other side, a clock-tower.

The crystal is still there! Haru announces when they're still two blocks away.