VIgil: Return of the Geneva

[Shadowcaller]

[It's Time to Duel!]

As Ithuriel is considering her move, Anika suddenly recalls something her mother always said during training.

In a fight, never stop moving unless you start thinking.

Right, right. You don't have to remind me voice of mom. Geez.

She starts to circle, or is at least about to, around Ithuriel when the angel suddenly bursts forward. Anika quickly realizes that she isn't going to be able to dodge that so instead she leans forward and in a instant Ithuriel will be flying into the belly of the bear. Now Anika will simply attempt to use her weight advantage to pin Ithuriel to the ground.

Let's see how well that goes.

[AMEN Debrief]

"Yeah, Shanti. My sister. Unless there's someone else called that I don't know." Anika remarks, clearly snapping up his question amidst all this discussion. "Why're you asking? Since while she's kind of an bitch sometimes she would help us against the demons if we asked. Her magic is pretty twisted, but at least it doesn't involve demons."
She smiles sheepishly at the clearly awkward Wenomir. She hadn't realized it would be such a big deal for Adir and company. Her impression had been that Wenomir had done this plenty of times. It certainly had felt that way back at the well...
"Eh, should I go with her?" She gestures at the fake Ilpholin as she's being taken away. She was one of their main healers after all.

[Spooky Encounters]

Cessie hugs all her children, really wishing she had been here in person now. But there would be plenty of time for that soon.

"She stole your face?" Cessie inquires softly after a few moments. Since Cora still clearly had her face she assumed whatever had been done now was undone. Though then she didn't really understood why Wenomir was still under some kind of enchatment but such a discussion could be done in private.
"Then what happened? I would like to know why you were in the Frescots house in the first place." Her voice is still gentle and she softly ruffles the twins hair. But it sounded like they had been sneaking off.

[Lord Magtok]

Initiation

Spoiler

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Initiation

Yes, the last thing Fidelia mentioned were certainly not like the others. Something you usually want to mention first in your resumeé.
"Erm, could you demonstrate this ability and perhaps I can see if I can tell you more about it?" Cessie offers. "We could always go somewhere else if you think my office isn't appropriate." It was now far more flame-proof than before however.

Initiation

The woman looks surprised that Cessie might have some insight to offer - I mean, isn't she a magmamancer? That's like, basalt and pumice and igneous rocks, searing heat and flowing lava. Surely there can't be that much in common between conjuring those elements and summoning steel?

Even so, Fidelia nods, albeit tentatively.

"I, uh, can't do much with it, but...." She holds out a hand in front of her and concentrates, closing her eyes. Slowly but surely, a glint might catch the other's eyes as filings of steel begin to drift from somewhere below the desk, slowly coalescing into a formless blob above her palm. The flow increases a little from a shiver of anxiety - before the squire calms herself once more, and the metal melts away.

"That's without any sort of formal training, research, or even us knowing what world's magic hers comes from!" Saint Lazarus points out, to hype up the blob of steel a little. Sure, it doesn't look like much now, but imagine what Fi could do with that blob in a few months if she had the right mentor and guidance! Maybe it could be a spiky blob, or a room-sized blob, or even a room-sized blob that also has spikes!


The Interview

Spoiler

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The Interview

"Mm, true. I guess my time estimate was pretty off there." Faith remarks with a nod.
"And I'm familiar enough with the procedures to know it's a tough job. It's not like you can ever decline getting called in when you know people's lives might be on the line. Though, if you don't sleep what do you choose to spend all that time on? Resting is not sleeping after all. When you can do nothing else but think for a while your thoughts can go to pretty weird places. I even know those that choose to put themselves in a stupor for a few hours rather than just laying there."

"I've been looking into a few cures and workarounds online. Going to a temple and getting killed and then resurrected is my last resort, but a few people have suggested alternative ways of getting bodies to eat, becoming a paladin for a god that might agree to fix me in exchange, getting transformed into something other than who I used to be and then trying to find a way back to being human from there. Did you know most vampires only need to feed a couple times a week, and most don't even need to completely drain a person dead each feeding? All of this would be so much easier if I only needed to take one bite, but I guess I'd still be draining people who deserve it, so..." A steel gauntlet cups her chin, as she considers what it'd be like to be Countess Lazarus von Biteyface instead. Probably a whole lot easier, all things considered. I mean, coping with a sunlight allergy would be rough, but if she stuffed her armor with UV-resistant padding, she could make it work, maybe...

[Morty]

[Spooky Encounters]

Wenomir growls. It doesn't sound any less menacing, coming from a rather differently-shaped throat.

"I do hope it doesn't become a regular occurrence. This, and Lapis' sheep-shape, are parting gifts from the... creature responsible for this mess. At least it reverted the changes done to your children before it escaped. I still don't know how they ended up here, if they were at your house."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[It's Time to Duel!]

For someone who casually transforms into a rhino, you'd think Ithuriel would be better prepared for other people doing the same sort of thing.

You'd be wrong. She is not.

And she did only put enough force behind that to injure an uppity elf. Not, you know, a bear.

She looks up, tilts her head in confusion, and then finds herself on the floor with a bear on top of her.

She doesn't seem overly concerned, more surprised and a little annoyed. "...you can turn into a bear?!"

[5a Violista]

[Skyship => Base]

Zophiel fortunately made it all the way through Inside and everywhere else to VIGIL without any further incident.

Although Zophiel's shadow has retained the same form, the paladin himself has been turned into a woman and...she's much smaller than before. Still tall for a human woman, mind you, and still strong, but nowhere near as much as before.

Faint black lines also trace along her skin above her arteries.

On the way back, she also picked up a bag to carry her old clothes in - she's currently wearing an all-white tunic-and-skirt combo right now - and also bought the first change of clothes that looked like it would fit so that she has something to wear while washing clothes.

Her only thoughts are to get to the [upper village] as quickly as possible and go to her bunk and try to get everything under control.

...
Wait.

Zophiel stops outside the upper village, realizing something that hadn't even been considered yet.

As someone who didn't really care about privacy all that much, Zophiel opted into having a bunk in one of the larger public bunkrooms that's shared with a bunch of other people. Instead of a private room.
Will that make things awkward or strange?
Especially tonight, where Zophiel has to stay up all night trying to fix the mental part of the seal.
For that matter, the paladin can't even remember whether the changing rooms and bathhouses were gender segregated or not. If she wants to go to the gym or the bathroom or whatever. Zophiel hasn't even looked for the private rooms for each of these. But...this might make things awkward for others.

Trying to grapple with the biggest recent dilemma, Zophiel stands outside.

[UncleWolf]

Blanche raises an eyebrow as Mia introduces herself; she knew enough Latin to understand what “Deus Mechanicus” probably meant. The concept of a religion based around machinery was very new to her, and thus perhaps a little strange.

”Er, in what capacity?” Blanche inquires. Superiors don’t often personally request for you to join their organization as just another lowly member, after all. There must be something special about this lady, at least something beyond her mastery of somewhat impractical weaponry.

Morning Training

"Don't worry about it." Mia says. "Dmside is really save. even the demons couldn't deal with our defence back then so we are safe. Sadly for some reason we got near no visitors." She shrugs and then turns back to the other matter.
"Invited? Well that is rare. Might have been for a good reason right?"

Morning Training

"From my understanding, I'm to be your superior." Jezebel explains, reaching under the table she's set everything on to haul out a large chest. "Not entirely sure in what capacity, but training is almost certainly going to be part of it. I haven't received the list of names of those I'll be fully in charge of yet, but I believe yours was mentioned, Ms. Blanche. Though for now, I believe I'm still to be on a probationary period." With a grunt, she opens the chest and reveals a large plasma cannon and its backpack. "Mind helping me get this on the bench? I need to make sure it's up to working condition before even attempting to fire a few rounds." She asks.

[Arkhosia]

Early Morning Training

The woman's demeanor shifts just a tad as Jezebel's announcement rings in her ears. Her eyes widen slightly, posture stiffening, and the faintest glimmer of worry surfaces in those cerise eyes, if only for a fleeting moment. Probationary or not, the status of superiority certainly held a weight to Blanche. Perhaps her past experiences had instilled a healthy degree of fear in them - or more likely, she's concerned about the repercussions of the rather unprofessional outburst that started this whole interaction.

"E-er, yes ma'am, of course." Blanche will attempt to assist - though Jezebel will probably be doing more work than her there. Despite her athleticism, the catgirl is not much of a lifter.

[Morty]

[Upper village]

Zophiel's deliberations draw the attention of Calm Reed. The monk finds this woman somewhat familiar. But the person she reminds her of was a man, and not one she met more than briefly. This is odd. She will approach Zophiel, wearing a simple cloth robe with a belt, rather than her armor.

"Do you need help with something?" she asks.

[5a Violista]

[Upper Village]

It should probably be noted that, for the sake of internal consistency with other scenes, this scene takes place in either the evening or early night.

"Oh." Calm Reed speaking to Zophiel jostles out her thoughts. The paladin looks over at the monk. "I was trying..." How to even start explaining this? It's not really a problem most people suddenly have.

She starts over, because her original thought process didn't explain anything. And she tries tucking her hair behind her ear, but it's not long enough to stay there. "So, I was hit by a curse that turned me into a woman." Then, in case the monk starts trying to think of ways to remove curses, Zophiel quickly adds, "Don't worry, I already got the curse removed, but I'm still a woman anyway."

She takes a deep breath, now that she's actually at the problem that was concerning her. "So I only just now realized there's still some logistics that I need to figure out. I was staying in one of the public bunkrooms, right? Without time to really tell everyone, that might make things awkward for others. And will it be better to just use the private baths now? I'm going to have to use the gym to get used to my new body but I don't know which changing room to use or even have appropriate clothes to use. In fact, I'm not completely sure I even have space to put more clothes unless I start throwing out some of my old things." There's just so many questions coming out that Zophiel forgot to breathe.

Zophiel doesn't specifically ask for any help, but...based on all the questions together, it's obvious that she's just finally realizing there's tons of questions she needs to consider ASAP.

[Morty]

[Upper Village]

The monk listens to Zophiel's explanation with growing but well-hidden confusion, a common combination for her in this strange land.

"If the curse was removed, how come you still have a woman's body?"

[5a Violista]

[Upper Village]

'why are you still a woman' is just as valid a question as 'as why is your shadow still a man'.

Zophiel sets down her bag, because if they're just standing here, there's no point in carrying it around.

"That's..." The paladin considers it, but decides it's too closely related to the things she had promised to tell Cleo first. "It's something I promised to explain to someone else first," she says, "but...it's happened before to me and, simply put, I probably should have been expecting to happen."

Zophiel sighs. "I'm pretty sure I could fix it again, but it will take a while. I already need to stay up all night to take the first steps to fix it," but, again, public bunkrooms are hard to stay up all night without bothering other people. And, to be more accurate, it's not the first steps to fix it, but rather the first steps to fix a related but different problem but is infinitely more urgent.

[Morty]

[Upper Village]

Calm Reed hasn't noticed Zophiel's shadow yet. It's not something one normally looks at too closely. The monk slips her hands into the sleeves of her robe and folds her arms, thinking. Things are making a little more sense now.

"I think you should just go to the administrators and tell them you need to move to a personal room for the time being," she says. "However long it takes. There's a lot of potential for awkwardness here that should be nipped in the bud."

[5a Violista]

[Upper Village]

"I see." Zophiel puts her palm to her face. "I guess I was just way overthinking it. There should be some administrators available at this time of night."

Then, she sighs.
"Sorry for getting you wrapped up in something that had such an easy fix," she says. Her hand slides down her face, then up her cheek to her neck; she rubs her neck, embarrassed. "It's just...I've had a really weird day, and becoming a woman wasn't even the weirdest part." For example, "For example, I found out my daughter had not-quite-died while I was away, and came back as three separate people." Zophiel's doing his best to commit their new names and how to find them to memory, but she's not even sure if it would be right to just come up to them out of the blue and say 'hey I'm back' and suddenly bring awkwardness and complication back to their life when it seems like they've settled in pretty well.

Zophiel bends down to pick the back back up: she's got to go to the administrative office now, right?

[Morty]

[Upper Village]

Contrary to appearances, Calm Reed is a fairly nosy person. It comes from being a monk - Immaculate monks are meant to know the secrets of people around them and use them as they see fit to uphold the social order and the Perfected Hierarchy. It is therefore hard for her to shake off the assumption that people should tell her things whenever she asks for them.

"How does one not-quite-die and then become three separate people?" she asks, sounding baffled despite her habitual stoicism.

[5a Violista]

[Upper Village]

"I'm not completely sure myself," Zophiel says. "I was away from the Nexus at the time."

But this is what she was told: "Apparently some people tried to kill her, but because of some magic she had, it didn't really work but everyone thought she was dead and, while trying to bring her back, they ended up accidentally making different copies of her."
Like she said, she doesn't really know how it happened, but that's what happened.

Almost as an afterthought, Zophiel adds, "Thanks for the help."

[Morty]

[Upper Village]

Calm Reed nods.

"You're welcome. It seems you simply needed an outside perspective to cut through this confusion."

[5a Violista]

[Upper Village]

Zophiel nods. "Yeah, you're right," she says. She waves goodbye: "See you around."

Then, Zophiel leaves towards the administrative office to request a private room.


There's no reason for her to not get it, so that's good.

[Zefir]

Early Morning Training

"Interesting." Mia says. It is a bit of suprise. She throught that Wenomir and Cessie can handle things, but since she mentiones training wenomir might need the help. She will remember this for the future and maybe ask him.
"I don't think I will be on that list." Mia replies. "I am no frontline material at all, but I guess they will announce it soon. Not everyone can be woken up early buy your noisy weapons." he says with a smile. Then she watches them carry the heavy weapon.
"If you want I can take a look as well. You got the basic tools around?" Let's not forget Mia is still in her pyjama. It's just good none came she feels embarased.

[Shadowcaller]

Initiation

The woman looks surprised that Cessie might have some insight to offer - I mean, isn't she a magmamancer? That's like, basalt and pumice and igneous rocks, searing heat and flowing lava. Surely there can't be that much in common between conjuring those elements and summoning steel?

Even so, Fidelia nods, albeit tentatively.

"I, uh, can't do much with it, but...." She holds out a hand in front of her and concentrates, closing her eyes. Slowly but surely, a glint might catch the other's eyes as filings of steel begin to drift from somewhere below the desk, slowly coalescing into a formless blob above her palm. The flow increases a little from a shiver of anxiety - before the squire calms herself once more, and the metal melts away.

It's Time To Duel!

Blanche watches as the two size the other up, preparing to duke it out as she takes a seat on the sidelines. She eyes Ithuriel up, raising an eyebrow as she removes her armor, but doesn't comment.

Initiation

"That's without any sort of formal training, research, or even us knowing what world's magic hers comes from!" Saint Lazarus points out, to hype up the blob of steel a little. Sure, it doesn't look like much now, but imagine what Fi could do with that blob in a few months if she had the right mentor and guidance! Maybe it could be a spiky blob, or a room-sized blob, or even a room-sized blob that also has spikes!

The Interview

"I've been looking into a few cures and workarounds online. Going to a temple and getting killed and then resurrected is my last resort, but a few people have suggested alternative ways of getting bodies to eat, becoming a paladin for a god that might agree to fix me in exchange, getting transformed into something other than who I used to be and then trying to find a way back to being human from there. Did you know most vampires only need to feed a couple times a week, and most don't even need to completely drain a person dead each feeding? All of this would be so much easier if I only needed to take one bite, but I guess I'd still be draining people who deserve it, so..." A steel gauntlet cups her chin, as she considers what it'd be like to be Countess Lazarus von Biteyface instead. Probably a whole lot easier, all things considered. I mean, coping with a sunlight allergy would be rough, but if she stuffed her armor with UV-resistant padding, she could make it work, maybe...

[It's Time to Duel!]

For someone who casually transforms into a rhino, you'd think Ithuriel would be better prepared for other people doing the same sort of thing.

You'd be wrong. She is not.

And she did only put enough force behind that to injure an uppity elf. Not, you know, a bear.

She looks up, tilts her head in confusion, and then finds herself on the floor with a bear on top of her.

She doesn't seem overly concerned, more surprised and a little annoyed. "...you can turn into a bear?!"

Initiation

Cessie leans forward and studies the emerging metal in silence. "I... might have a few more questions for you, Fidelia if you don't mind. No need to be concerned, I simply need to be sure of what I'm seeing." She gets back properly into her seat and folds her hands together. "Do you know where your parents came from? As in, were they born in the nexus or did they come from another world? Furthermore, at what age did you discover this gift?"

[It's Time to Duel!]

Ohh! Anika could feel that she had the perfectly reply to that question ready inside of her.
She wasn't cocky enough to believe she had won, even in this position. Plenty of warriors, and even a few spellcasters, had won despite being sat on.
So she had to make Ithuriel surrender before she could pull off whatever she had planned.

As a response to the angel's question she first lets her snout bop into Ithuriel's nose...
And then she let's out the most disgusting bear-belch she could muster. She had trained to make the longest, loudest and most revolting-sounding belches possible so she hoped it would finally pay off today.

The Interview

The vampire question brings a smile to Faith. "Yes, other undead have a bit of a jelousy complex when it comes to vampires. Or rather, common types of vampires I should say. The fact that they can appear mostly like they did in life and don't always have to murder to prolong their existance is something of a sticking point. Indeed, there's even people that want to become vampires. One could say that the benefits outweights the cons in some cases. But I digress, what I did want to ask while we're on the subject of vampires is your opinion of the undead. It sounds like you have identified at least two types already, your own sort and vampires. Do you make more distinctions than just those?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[It's Time to Duel!]

After her moment of incredulity, Ithuriel snaps back to the matter at hand.

There is a bear on her.

This is not ideal.

Also the bear's trying to humiliate her. Rude.

Not really willing to just lie there and be belched on, Ithuriel decides a quick solution to the situation is required, and she rolls her shoulder. In fact, she rolls her left shoulder really far, and twist her arm. There's a series of quiet snaps and cracks, which depending on the extent of her hearing, Blanche may be able to pick up (Anika's near enough to definitely hear something).

And then Ithuriel's arm bends at a very painful-looking angle and slips out of Anika's grip, snaps back into position, and she swiftly jabs at the side of Anika's snout, taking the opportunity to roll out the other way. This one is meant to hurt.

[5a Violista]

[Morning - Gym/Training Grounds]

Zophiel goes to the gym first, and then the training grounds to get more used to her new body and figure out a way to still use her weapons.

She's bringing her two swords along with her. They're pretty large - large enough that most people would probably need three hands to use them...Zophiel would usually use one while using the other one as a counterbalance weight. Now, as a smaller and lighter and less muscular woman -- but she's still both pretty tall for a human woman and pretty muscular -- it's a lot harder. Even holding them on her back is harder, due to the size difference in every dimension.

She practices having one of the swords on her back and the other in both hands, just to get used to the weight again.

Swinging such a large and heavy weapon is pretty hard, however, especially with a complete different body size, and so she's finding it hard to keep her balance while swinging or moving around.

[Earl of Purple]

Gym/Training Grounds

Somebody else is here. They're also human, but don't look it, and also a woman. They are taller than Zophiel; quite a bit taller, as it happens. Makuro has orange skin and brown hair, with pitch black eyes with no differentiation between sclera, pupil and iris. Her limbs are unnaturally long; her torso would fit on an average-sized woman, but her legs are long enough that she stands about nine feet tall. Her arms are equally long. She wears a white jumpsuit, tailored so it fits her unusual frame, but she's barefoot.

She'll watch a while, doing some exercises of her own- unarmed martial arts, mostly, some gymnastics. She's fast and agile, as well as tall.

[5a Violista]

[Morning - Gym/Training Ground]

Wow, that's even taller than Zophiel used to be. By a significant margin, even.

After another swing that makes her lose balance and fall over, Zophiel decides it's time to take a break: her exhausted muscles are making it harder and harder to stay up. She removes the sword from her back, and rolls over onto her stomach. She watches back at the unarmed martial art and gymnastics while catching her breath.

Then, she stands up. "Hey," she calls out. "Do you know any easy ways to get taller?" Because that would be incredibly convenient. "Or, alternatively, any training you'd recommend to get better at balance? I'm..." not used to this body so it's not working the way she wants "...kinda new at this."

[Earl of Purple]

Gym/Training Ground Morning

"Whatever happened to me might work. But I can't remember what it was, so I can't state for sure." Makuro ceases her movements and goes to sit down on the floor. She crosses her legs, so her head is much lower than it was before; lower than Zophiel's would be, if she sat the same way. "I woke up like this, with no memory of before. I can maybe help train your balance, if you let me try one of your swords." She gestures towards one. "My name is Makuro. It is a pleasure to meet you." She smiles.

[5a Violista]

Gym/Training Ground Morning

"Oh."

"Zophiel," the paladin responds. She smiles, too. "Same."

"Yeah, let's do that. It's a deal." She pushes both of the swords towards Makuro so that she can try them first - training balance sounds like it will take longer. "They're pretty heavy so I'd recommend using both hands to hold it, and find a way to attach the other to your back as a counterbalance because it will throw off your center of gravity."

Or, alternatively, stick your feet to the ground as you swing. If you can do that sort of thing.

[Earl of Purple]

Gym/Training Ground Morning

Makuro has enhanced strength, as it happens. She can lift it with one hand, though it's tricky and she can add the second hand for more control and to hold it steady. She also sticks her feet to the floor for the practice swing, first one handed and then two. She's faster than she might look, given her ungainly appearance.

I rather suspect Violista has a better idea as to teaching balance than Earl does, which is a pity. Makuro will try with planks on chairs, getting narrower.

[5a Violista]

Gym/Training Ground Morning

Zophiel watches Makuro do it - and notices her enhanced strength and her sticking to the ground. That's...actually an idea she never considered. Maybe Zophiel could figure out a way to copy that, by enhancing her strength? And some thing tethering her to the ground? "Wow, good job," she says, impressed.

But,
It's true, Zophiel's player is pretty good at both balancing and teaching balance. The biggest thing is that Makuro will want to watch Zophiel to see where the biggest problems are.

She's got the muscles necessary to balance; it's just that she's not used to the body, her reflexes are all wrong, and she overcorrects too far. Makuro should be able to notice this pretty easily after watching her for a bit, regardless of which exercises she chooses to do.

Well, also, her muscles are exhausted which doesn't help, because that means half the time she won't be using enough strength and the other half of the time she'll be using too much. Honestly, if Zophiel wants to continue doing the same fighting style as before, she'll definitely have to find a way to enhance her strength because otherwise exhaustion will just set in - and exhaustion amplifies all her problems of overcorrection and so on.

After a while of training, she pants. "So. Any recommendations on training?" she asks.

[Earl of Purple]

Gym/Training Ground Morning

"You've got the muscles to balance. You should be better than you are. You overcorrect a lot, that's probably what you should be working on most. You're tired, too. That's not helping. Rest, and practice again. Don't worry about the swords- you can't use them properly until you can balance. You're not strong enough, I don't think, for the style you're using. You should find a way to adapt your style to your body. Adapting your body to your style will take longer and might not have the results you want. I can't teach you my style; I taught myself, mostly, as my proportions are... unique, as near as I can tell, and my body has other advantages in addition to the ones you've noticed already." And the disadvantage that she can't blend in and usually attracts stares wherever she goes.

[5a Violista]

Gym/Training Ground Morning

Zophiel groans. "That's what I was afraid of," she says. That she has to completely re-learn a new style of fighting. Not even learning from someone else, but creating a new way that fits with her. She runs her hands through her hair and pulls out of frustration. "I guess what it comes down to is how long I expect to be like this." She has some new ideas to try, but that'll have to wait for the magic seal to be reapplied.

...

She walks over to pick back up her swords. "...But thank you. I know what I need to work on now." And, of course, take a break. Maybe, after a shower, to go to the bath and relax there. "I'm going to go cool off in the bath."

[Earl of Purple]

Gym/Training Ground Morning

"You mean, this isn't what you usually look like? It would explain the mistakes and problems I saw." Makuro's not really encountered anyone who didn't look like they do all the time, yet. There's Lapis, who may or may not be a sheep, but that occurred after she met them. And I don't think she's met Anika, either.