Trog's Tavern CLIV

[bc56]

"Thanks." Tethrik tears his shirt open and plunges the pliers into one of his wounds. It's pretty gross, and the squeamish should probably look away. "Yeah, that can happen sometimes, if they get exposed to the right types of magic. I'd like it if you could introduce me to her. They always have good information to work with." He continues fishing around in the injury, until, "GOTCHA!" Tethrik pulls the pliers out. Caught in them is a writhing metal centipede the length of a finger. "They had a warlock with them. She got away, but she also got three of these into me, chewing on my insides. Could you do me a solid and crush it for me?"

[Rebonack]

"Eao's out hunting the robots right now. All of my offspring are pretty independent. Though I don't know how much she remembers. Her robot brain was pretty badly damaged by the time I got to her," Zee explains.

Then pulls a face at the mecha-arthropod.

That's pretty gross.

Without missing a beat she reaches out toward the bug-

-and in doing so her human hand kind of... unfurls.

The result looks like a cross between a dragon's claw and a deer's hoof. Two fingers, two thumbs, solar fire slithering between the scales. Even at a distance one would be able to feel the heat radiating from the limb.

She clamps her claws over the centipede, likely incinerating it and crushing it at the same time.

It's a pretty good way of disinfecting stuff! Nothing really survives that sort of heat.

Then she gives her had a shake and its back to normal. Just a little flushed still, as if she had it submerged in hot water for a few minutes.

"A warlock? Like... a nexus native? As opposed to one of the robots?" Zee inquires.

[bc56]

"Yeah. Had some nasty tech I haven't seen before." Tethrik reaches into another wound with the pliers, digging around for a second centipede. "'Course warlock isn't quite the right word, but it works. Someone subservient to them in exchange for power."

[Rebonack]

Eew.

More centipedes.

Which means more centipede crushing.

"The warlock got away, though?" Zee clarifies. "It's not exactly reassuring that people would be willing to work with them. From what little I know they don't intend anything pleasant for the Nexus."

It's a curious thing.

Empyreans like Zee are, arguably, also beings of order like the robots.

But the sort of order they impose on the world around them is quite a bit different.

It goes to show that just because two factions are lawful doesn't mean they're going to get along.

At all.

"I should probably make a point of hunting some of those machines down again and thwarting their plans. Hopefully they might eventually decide that the Nexus just isn't worth the effort."

[bc56]

That's a good strategy. If they can be convinced their resources are better used elsewhere, they'll leave. Yeah, she got away. Stuck me with an iron lance, and by the time I pulled it out, she was long gone. If you ever see a lady with green hair, a mechanical eye, and metal tentacles coming out of her shoulders, give her a sound thrashing for me " Tethrik yanks out the third centipede for Zee to also destroy.

[5a Violista]

Cleo's Clothing Conundrum.
Nice alliteration. Makes it easier to remember.

"I..I think I know how to get there it is?" Marin says, trying to mentally picture where it is and how to get there. She'll remember it better that way.

The catgirl drinks more of her Feline's Fancy. It's almost gone, now.
"I'll...I'll make sure to look for it."

[Earl of Purple]

Earl likes Allison, the alliterating alligator.

"Oh, you've nearly finished your drink. Would you like another? I'll pay." If Marin wants one, Jack will order two- one for herself, since Marin seemed to enjoy it so much. She'll not be able to have more than one, not if she's going to her place later. But then, she's hoping she will go somewhere that doesn't require flying later.

[5a Violista]

It tasted so good that Marin has no choice but to accept another. She, however, forgets how long it normally takes to begin feeling the effects of drunkenness. But it's a wine, right? So it should be fine.

She nods, accepting another drink. "Um, thanks," Marin says.

Waiting for the new drink to arrive, she pushes a conversation on them: "So what did you come here for?" she asks. "Since, you know, people usually come to taverns for a reason."

[Earl of Purple]

"Oh, just a chance to meet people, have a chat. Maybe take someone home for the night, if I found someone interesting and interested. That doesn't happen as often as I hope it does, really." Truly, it's never happened from a chance meeting in a pub. Jack's had better luck at parties.

But, then, it was at a party that her finger was bitten off, and someone she met at another took Jack's shadow with her when she left.

[5a Violista]

"Yeah, me too, I guess," Marin says.
Having gotten her drink, she starts drinking it again.

Looking at Jack's wings, the catgirl sighs and says, "It's got to be pretty easy for you," she says. "Your wings stand out a lot and look very tasty." Her eyes drift to Jack's chest area. "Well, I guess you're missing something so maybe it's not that easy," she then adds as an afterthought.

[FireFox]

Whoop! Zee just vanished from the booth. Thankfully that scene started quite some time ago and would have been concluded well before other conversations started.

Zee doesn't miss a beat despite not being here anymore.

Sort of.

Not really?

"Here you go Tethrik," Zee says brightly as she hands over a rather large mug of ichor liquor. "You look pretty beat up. How's the other guy doing?"

She's found that the space-demon is typically pretty happy to talk about whatever violence and chaos he's been up to recently.

Also!

Spirits, huh?

Good to know.

There are probably worse sorts of heads for an Stygian monstrosity to have, all things considered.

"Bandits? That's rough. Sorry about your horse," Zee says apologetically. "This is Trog's Tavern, the restaurant as the center of the cosmos. I'm guessing you probably weren't planning on visiting?"

"Center of the... No, we weren't trying to get anywhere other than 'away'." The riflewoman should have known better than to be so vague, she thinks as she shoots the daimon an annoyed glare. "What can you tell me about this place?"

[Earl of Purple]

"I don't have much luck, really." And Earl forgot that Jack lost her shadow last time she was lucky. "I like my boobs. They might not be as easy to hold as yours, but I look down and I see my feet. And they don't flap around when I'm flying." She shrugs; whilst they might make her less attractive to some, she likes them exactly as they are and wouldn't swap them for bigger ones. "And you could easily find a partner, too. Ears and a tail? They're unusual. Wouldn't necessarily say tasty, though."

Jack has a realisation. "You don't really want to bite my wings, do you?" Better clear that up, since she's a bird and Marin's a cat.

[Zefir]

The door get pushed open rather hard as a man steps in. As you can guess he isn't in a happy mood and shuts the door right behind it. An NPC with a dark hood starts to speak up but the man just glares at him which causes him to immediatly reconsider his decission.
The then steps futher into the tavern aiming for the bar. He takes a seat holding up a hand.
"Gimmi a whiskey. Something heavy, but no fancy magic stuff."

[Rebonack]

"Here you go, sir!" says Zee the completely normal and unremarkable barkeeper. She pulls out a bottle of whisky and brandishes it at him. "On the rocks or no?"

Important drink-related questions, here.

Then to the not-fishperson and friend. "Well, I guess Trog's sort of counts as away," the barmaid reasons. "Sometimes people end up here accidentally. Like me? I got hit by a truck and then got dropped out of the ceiling along with a recliner chair right over there."

She points at a patch of scuffed floor nearby.

"Sadly the chair was destroyed by a gang of angry refrigerator golems... But hey! No use getting overly attached to things, right?"

Right.

"What sort of stuff do you want to know?"

Aaand then back to centipede smooshing!

The third mecha-bug is indeed smooshed.

"I'll make sure to keep an eye out for her when I'm doing errands slash heroics. I don't suppose you've got any leads on what the chrome plated jerks are up to right now?"

[bc56]

"No. I was hoping you did," Tethrik replies. "Whatever it is, it's big though. I uncovered evidence that they've been shipping large quantities of some very exotic materials to somewhere in Outside. No idea where, though. They're building something."

[5a Violista]

Losing your shadow can be pretty disastrous, sometimes.

"I..." Marin looks down at her drink and spins it a bit. "I don't want somebody who likes me for my tail. Or ears."

Even though this is incredibly hypocritical because she finds girls with tails to be really hot.

She drinks some more.
"It's not the only part of you that looks tasty," she says.

She blinks.

She blinks again.

"Oh! Um, sorry, did I just say that out loud?" She doesn't really answer the question, though. "I...I...sorry."

[Zefir]

The man can notice more then the bare eye can see. But he is awae that tere are people who don t have powers but like to not show them around to much.

"On the rocks" he answers. He baly gives the otherpeople a glance but turns back to hissoon arrving drink.

[Rebonack]

Into the glass goes some ice and onto the ice goes the whisky!

Zee slides the glass over to him with a smile! "Let me know if there's anything else you need, okay?"

He's probably here for a reason, right? People usually are. But Zee isn't getting a particularly clear feel for what that reason is.

Yet.

And to the demon?

"That sounds pretty ominous."

Lots of ominous stuff going on of late, isn't there?

"Do you know what kind of exotic materials we're talking about?" Zee inquires.

Magical? Physical? Improbable super-science?

[bc56]

"Ultra-durable metals, frictionless polymers, fissile and fusile materials. Those could go into any number of dangerous things." Or any number of harmless things. Tethrik shrugs. "I can't find out more unless I either get more records or find out where they're taking the stuff."

[Rebonack]

"Hmm..." Zee hums, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "If they're getting fission fuel then that might actually be something that can be tracked. That sorta stuff spits out ionizing radiation. If they're moving a lot of it the radiation could be detected. I dunno how commonly people are carting around uranium and thorium and plutonium Outside but I can't imagine it happens that often."

Especially when most places Outside tend to be a bit lower on the tech scale.

"Maybe we could find someone with some really sensitive Geiger counters?"

That's a start!

It would only work if the robots hadn't shielded the nuclear fuel.

Just lettin' that radiation leak all over the place!

But hey, it's worth a shot right?

"I don't have an radiation detectors but I can't imagine it would be hard to buy one."

[Zefir]

"Thanks" he just says as he grabs his glass from above and swings it slightly around to move the liquid.
He can t avoid hearing what they say.
"Just go Malside or any store who prepare for an apocalyptic event. They should easily get some."

[bc56]

"I've already got one." Tethrik reaches into his belt pouch and pulls out a Geiger counter. The device is notably larger than the entire pouch, making it a mystery how it fits in there, but those who know Tethrik have probably seen him pull much larger objects from the same pouch. "It's a lot of ground to cover though. Honestly like finding a needle in a haystack."

[Earl of Purple]

"I'm not just interested in you for your tail, Marin. Or your ears Trust me on that. But, um, I'm... not really looking for anything serious, either." Jack's not sure that's what Marin is looking for, going by what is said, though she smiles at little at the bit Marin said accidentally. "I'm afraid you did, but it makes me feel better all the same. Please, don't worry about it."

[5a Violista]

"I, um..."
Marin thinks. What does she want?

On the one hand, this girl's cute.

On the other hand, Marin drinks a bit more. More than just a sip.

She raises her hand to her collar. No, she doesn't think she's quite drunk enough yet to not care. She drinks some more. "I'm...I'm up for whatever," she then says. She sounds a little apprehensive, because while she thinks Jack's cute, she's not sure how much she trusts her. "Yeah. Um. Yeah. Thanks."

[Earl of Purple]

"If you're sure, I've got an apartment not far from here. Well, not really mine. The door to the rest of the building has been bricked up for some reason, but there's an external balcony with a ladder bolted to the wall underneath it." One of her easier-to-reach hideaways and one that is also quite large, considering it's a whole apartment.

"Coming?" She'll offer a hand to Marin and stand up.

[Rebonack]

Zee taps her chin a bit, pondering.

"Yeah, you're right. We need something a little more robust. Or at least somewhere to start. Do you know WHERE they stole some of this stuff from? Maybe we could trace it from the source?"

What else could work?

Would it be possible to go bug Magtok up in orbit?

It isn't like he's doing anything important up there, right?

Those ships were pretty big and they probably have...

Like...

Scanners.

Or science detectors.

Or something.

Great big sci fi ships always have stuff like that right?

[bc56]

"No idea. I got records of it being shipped into the facility I raided, inventoried, then shipped out. That's it." Tethrik shrugs again. "Need more information for anything concrete."

[5a Violista]

Marin looks at the rest of her drink, and then at Jack's hand. She's already had one and a half, so she probably shouldn't drink the rest of it so fast, especially if...

The catgirl grabs Jack's hand. "Okay," she says. "I'm good at climbing ladders."

She stands up, and follows Jack.

[bc56]

Someone pushes open and enters the bar.
She probably turns a few heads.
Jade Fisher is a beautiful, curvy woman, with large, dark eyes and shoulder-length brown hair. Those who know her would be surprised by what she's wearing: a knee-length billowy white dress tied at the waist with a blue ribbon. Those who don't know her would be surprised to know that just over two weeks ago, she was a he, that Jason Fisher was the unfortunate victim of a curse which transformed him into the attractive lady here today. She's getting used to her new self, and apparently that now includes wearing dresses. She takes a seat at the bar, smoothing out her skirt in an awkward, unpracticed motion, and orders a beer.

[5a Violista]

Another woman also enters the tavern - into Trog's Tavern for the first time ever.

Everything about her screams 'gray'. whitish-gray hair. Dark gray dress. Grayish skin, cracked and reminiscent of ash. A dull flame behind her eyes.

And her feet don't touch the ground.

She's practically standing, but leaning such that if she needed to balance, then she'd fall over.

She floats up to Jade and stares at her. Something about Jade caught her attention.
"The...the flames...no." She sounds a little confused. "You...you look familiar." But she has no idea from where. Still sounds incredibly confused.