Trog's Tavern CLIV

[Zefir]

The prophet who has calmed down befor is now really in a panic mode he rushes up throwing off his chair and points at the attackers with a trembling voice.
"THEY ARE HERE!"
For some reason he seems so schocked he either forgets to run or has a heart atack.
The ripper swarms spread wide which 1 plasma gun won't handle alone. They jump at customers and some even jump at the food they leave behind.

Spoiler

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Yes, the prophet has done about all he can.
Tao heard the warning, but he didn't really believe it was as bad as had been said.

When the knocking sound comes, Tao stands up and turns a bit towards the door.
The invisible tentacle-monster lurking in the corner, meanwhile, is not terribly happy with the rumbling digging sound. People are going to start shouting soon, aren't they?

When a black talon breaks through the floor, Tao gets out his plasma gun and backs away from the widening hole.
The monster tiptoes closer to get a good look at the creatures.

And when the little clawed worms start rushing at people to attack them, Tao starts shooting at them.

Even with their size they appear to be easy targets. For unknown reasons a few just stop on the spot so Tao can easily shoot them.
A moment passes and out of no reason the worms appear to be more aware of their surrounding. They dodge the shots, take cover behind tables and chars or use their prey as shields. Two worms seem to directly head for Tao.

Spoiler

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Magdalene is shoved aside and she simply releases the strap on her pack.

The invisible creature get's ignored, either because they don't see it or they just got enougth other prey.

"I'm not here to fight anyone I just want my (flowering) stuff back," she says, a dangerous edge to her voice. Pretty clearly she's WILLING to fight someone but really she has better things to do than have a throw down in a bar over the junk in her pack. She would rather like to acquire it again but really the targe is the only thing she actually needs.

As far as she's concerned this is a completely reasonable request and this crazy naked guy is both crazy and naked.

How the heck would he cut the beast off her?

What does that even mean?

MEANWHILE TYRANIDS!

Swarming out of the wine cellar is a pretty sad state of affairs. That's where Trog's keeps all the wine! What if the ripper swarm drinks it all? Would drunk tyranids be more or less dangerous?

While all this is going on a rather unassuming looking human woman with shaggy brown hair, a red cap, a set of blue overalls, and a tool belt full of electrical tools is heading down the stairs! She's rubbing the side of her head and looking a little worse for wear. "Hey Zee I finished setting up the wifi for the rooms up on the second floor, it should be working again. Definitely call me before mecha-rats eat half the routers," she calls out as she descends. "Is anyone else getting a weird headache? It feels like I've got a million bugs buzzing in my head all at... once..."

Jeanette (also known as Jeany) trails off as she reaches the bottom of the stairs and beholds the chaos.

The naked guy with the sword is kind of concerning (and kind of hot) but the REAL problem is that swarm of little toothy critters. If they're here it means bad things are probably going down. Or good things, depending on your point of view. Without second thought she reaches out to them with her mind and tries to instill a 'stand-down' order. She hasn't... Jeany hasn't ever actually done this before. For nearly a decade she's been alone on this world which has been mostly okay? But now all of a sudden there are other tyranids here?

She had felt some vague feelings from the direction of Skyside and some rumblings up in orbit, but this is the first sign she's seen of anyone else actually being here.

"No. Get out of here, shoo!" she says, moving toward the ripper swarm and waving her hands in a shooing motion. Maybe it would help if she framed the command as this attack being tactically unsound?

Jeany doesn't want to fight. Not if she can help it. But if she can't coerce the swarm into leaving the tavern the she's going to have to pull off that cap of disguise and do exactly that. Jeany has no intention of being digested and dumped into that cacophony of voices if she can help it.

As Jeanette reaches into their minds a few seem to gather her note and stand still, which results in them getting shot by a plasma gun.

Then a strong voice appears in their heads shouting orders to them. At the same time the voice seems to address Jeanette. "Join us!!!"

[Vahnavoi]

The swordsman tilts his body as if to peer past Mishnehel, then straightens uo. "It doesn't have to work that way" , he says to the half-elf. "You tell her that. Nobody's corpse needs to get back up. She doesn't need to go back to the forest. There's a way out of the cycle." Then he wanders away from the door and sits down cross-legged on the ground outside, back against the tavern wall. " It doesn't have to work that way. You tell her that!", he repeats, before falling silent. It seems he plans to wait for Magdalene to leave and intercept her then. Or maybe he just fell asleep, sword in his lap.

[Earl of Purple]

Mishnehel will hand the bag over, and she'll go back to being a half-elf. "If it's wired into her being, it might not be that easy. Not that I know exactly how or what you're going to try, anyway." And then the swordsman leaves, so... The half-elf shrugs. The fight seems to be averted- or at least, delayed. She's done her bit, hopefully things will work out OK for both involved.

[Recaiden]

These are the things the mad prophet was so worried about?
They don't seem so bad. It's been like shooting fish in a barrel, these first few bolts.

Except there does seem to be some sort of weird noise in here. Not coming from the monsters, though...

Then when they stop zoning out and start hiding behind tables, Tao takes the rippers a little more seriously. He's careful enough not to hoot anybody who's being used as a shield for the aliens.
And some are coming after him in particular, so he moves one hand off his plasma gun, takes a deep breath, and throws a bolt of lightning at those worms, intending that the electricity will bounce from one to the next and zap them both. Such small creatures, he expects a good shock will surely stop their hearts.

[Rebonack]

[Cutting Things]

Magdalene heaves a sigh, placing her face in her hands.

"...would be pretty (flowering) great if people didn't turn into zombies when they die. That doesn't happen around here, right? The zombie thing?" she inquires of the goblin and the half elf. "If he can do something that stops my body from getting back up that would be... pretty okay. What if it works, though? What if the Hart isn't inside me anymore and my magic is gone? Who's going to stop these (flowers) from killing everyone if I don't?"

Maybe someone else can promise that they'll help save the world?

Tell this child that she doesn't have to do it?

Honestly, should she have this kind of responsibility on her shoulders?

"There's gunna be a cult priest guy. Somewhere. I can probably figure out where. He's gotta be killed or everyone dies, full stop."

That sounds like some serious VIGIL stuff.


[OM NOM NOMS!]

It's... it actually worked? Most of the rippers stopped! Oh this is great now the heroes in the tavern can pick them off one at a time and Jeany won't even have to fight anything! She'll just have to keep this up for a few minutes and then everything will be perfectly fine and she won't have to use any of her creepy living weapons in public and-

Oh hi hello there Mister Hivemind how are you doing today don't mind me shutting off my synapse BOOP now everything is quiet again yay!

Jeanette staggers away from the ripper swarm with a "NGGGH!" as she clutches her head, a small trickle of blood leaking out of her nose and ears. This is terrible. This is awful she doesn't have her backpack with her. She has none of her weapons on hand pre-made which means she would have to make something on the spot which is disgusting and terrible and she really doesn't want to do that while people are watching but if she doesn't then people are going to die.

Oh no. Nonono oh Emperor that guy just got his insides torn out by a ripper and you're standing here staring at blood coming out of your nose like a useless idiot do something you can help.

Jeany pulls off her glove and sticks her hand under her overalls, resulting in a deeply unsettling squelching noise that she desperately hopes no one will hear but haha why would they with all the screaming right? Please no one be looking at her hurry hurry grow faster come on.

[bc56]

Someone walks into Trog's. She's a beautiful woman with hair made from blocky golden crystals, batlike wings, horns on her forehead, and a tail with a spade-shaped tip. She's clad in a tight golden dress that's designed to showcase her assets. She takes in the chaos of the tavern with a critical eye before ignoring it and sashaying over to an open table and taking a seat. She's never been much of a fighter. She tries to wave over a waiter that isn't too distracted by the commotion and order a glass of wine. But other than that, she's just going to wait and watch.

[Morty]

[Cutting Things]

"No, people around here don't normally come back as zombies." Olvisin isn't sure of many things about this situation, but she can be certain about that. "And there's plenty of people who can do some cultist-stomping around. No shortage of them."

[Zefir]

[OM NOM NOMS!]

Some people get torn apart by the rippers and the strange thing is they immediatyly start consuming the corpse. Those who manage to get some good bites all retreat to the hole and jump down like they are about to die.But thats for later use.

Jeanette might have this hivemind trying to reach out at her now that it knows one of her kind is here. It's not that strong which, she should know, means that it's still far away. It does seem to manage having old links up but has a hard time building up new ones. The ripper ignore or even avoid her as they attack all living creatures and the food that got left.

Tao hit's the smal worms with his lightning shich will make them stop their attack and start shaking uncontrolled at the ground. One of them seems to be dead, but it still moves under the effect of the bolt. The other one is defnitly alive as it starts to move up again, slowly. It's defnitly near death. This will draw the attention of two other rippers who now try to surround Tao. It seems they adapt quick.

[Rebonack]

[OM NOM NOMS!]

Reaching out to Jeany is going to be tough. The synapse organ in her brain has basically been shut down and reabsorbed. Any and all telepathic connection is impossible. Honestly, she hasn't ever encountered any other tyranids before, let alone another synapse creature. She's been completely alone. And as soon as she felt that will pressing down on her consciousness she made herself even more alone. She's a rogue valuing her own autonomy.

And in that spirit?

She pulls a pistol made of white bone and bronze-color carapace out of her shirt, a weapon with a four-part barrel like the petals on a flower. She takes aim at the swarming nasties and fires.

There's an electric jolt from the weapon as it fires a shotgun blast of little steel-headed bugs into the swarm of rippers, tiny wings adjusting flight paths directed by the gun to keep them on target. They strike with bullet-like force. Force which causes their insides to go gooshing out their mouths and spilling corrosive chemicals all over whatever they hit. Projectiles that don't penetrate armor will thus corrode armor, allowing follow-up shots a greater chance of punching holes in something vital.

She backs up, firing into the swarm a second time to try to keep them away from the fleeing tavern goers. Okay, these things only have three shots per brood bug and she's going through shots quickly. Jeany begins cooking up some more. Ugh... she has none of her weapons with her. Why did she leave her backpack at home? She's going to have to cook things up on the fly and that means she's going to need biomass and that means... ugh... she's probably going to have to eat the dead tyranids. Eeew eew eww!

Some part of her knows that there must be another synapse creature somewhere nearby. Something has to be directing all these little monsters, right?

"There's a big one somewhere," Jeanette calls out to Tao. "If we find the big one and kill it the little ones will lose organization."

[Recaiden]

Hmm, what is that girl in the overalls doing? She's going to get eaten over there.
But what can Tao do about it now?

He's got one ripper that survive the lightning- no, three rippers now that it's gotten reinforcements.
He shoots at the slow one, hoping to finish it off while it's still recovering from the electricity.
This means they definitely will surround him, though.

[Earl of Purple]

Cutting Things

"Not usually. I think it can happen, but generally needs someone on the outside to do it." Mishnehel listens and thinks, adding "You should think about joining Vigil. They all want to stop the end of the world, and if you join them and die, then they'll have someone on hand to put your corpse back down, maybe." Or maybe they'd become more cannibalistic wights like the ones that the swordsman eviscerated back on the street, but still.

"I'd offer to help put them down, but... I'm going to be keeping an eye on the swordsman. Make sure he doesn't get into trouble or try fighting you somewhere there's potential collateral damage." Mostly because Earl dislikes controlling two sides of a fight.

[Zefir]

[om nom noms!]

As mentioned the Synaps Creature seems to be far enougth away that there is no problem shutting it of. It will continue it's attemp, but at the moment it's nothing more thenaannoying to her.

As she unloads her first two shots she hits a few (four) of the rippers in total. They don't seem to have a good chance since their armor is more or less a helmet. What might be odd is that the survivers think in the same way as Jeany. They immediatly swarm to the corpse and consume it in order to collect Biomass. Right now there are only a dozen ripper left. The number was n't very high if you know Tyranids but there aren't any new coming from the hole. Either way the mind behind it has changed tactics so two of the remaining ripper will storm at Jeany. They use the same tactic those near Tao do. Split up so she can't just shoot both and attack from different angles.


Tao got an easy target since the stunned one doesn't even try to dodge. The otehr two get in position and immediatly charge at Tao. Maybe they assume his gun can't take out both in time, because they go straight at him. They make a leap at him when they are close trying to get a bite at his arm, hip or leg.

Tao also might notice that the number of ripper decrease and obviously not only be the shooting of him and the other person. A shriek from below might forshadow the reinforcements. Or maybe just another wave?

[Rebonack]

[Om Nom Noms!]

Okay okay there are still lots of them and they're eating that guy come on Jeanette you have to hurry.

Seeing the little monsters skittering toward her she thinks fast. Those tiny legs have a number of pretty notable limitations she can take advantage of. To that end, she bends her knees, braces, and LEAPS straight up, catching herself on one of the tavern's rafters and hauling herself top it. From her perch she fires downward at the swarm eating the dead patron, the spray of flies spreading out and homing in on rippers. With the magazine expended the barrel of the weapon snaps open and expels the spent husk of a small maggot-like creature.

Thankfully Jeany had the good sense to begin cooking up ammunition in a hurry.

Her glowbug pistol has a pretty limited magazine, but it packs a real punch and blasts through swarms of little critters while being discerning about friendly fire.

Given the crowded nature of the tavern that's exactly what she needs right now.

The roar from below gives her pause, however.

Great! More friends incoming.


[Cutting Things]

Magdalene blinks at the explanation of who VIGIL is and what they do.

"Wait, so, there's a whole BUNCH of people here who go around kicking Old Gods or whatever (flower) is trying to end the world?" she asks, sounding like she's pretty okay with that idea. "How do I get in contact with these guys?"

Because they sound like exactly the sort of people who might be able to put an end to this problem.

And... if there is a whole organization that does what Magdalene does... maybe she doesn't have to?

Maybe she SHOULD give the swordsman's offer a shot?

[Recaiden]

[Om Nom Noms!]

Tao fires his gun wildly at one of them - not his best aiming, but it's right there so he might get it anyway.
They jump, and for a moment his appearance flickers and blurs like he was a poorly-rendered video game character, reduced to vague triangles.
And then there's nothing to bite as Tao dissolves into dozens of truly small dragons, which try to swarm over and bite into the other ripper like the rippers would devour humans.

[5a Violista]

Someone walks into Trog's. She's a beautiful woman with hair made from blocky golden crystals, batlike wings, horns on her forehead, and a tail with a spade-shaped tip. She's clad in a tight golden dress that's designed to showcase her assets. She takes in the chaos of the tavern with a critical eye before ignoring it and sashaying over to an open table and taking a seat. She's never been much of a fighter. She tries to wave over a waiter that isn't too distracted by the commotion and order a glass of wine. But other than that, she's just going to wait and watch.

There is another person who is largely ignoring all of the tavern chaos.

It is a redhead guy, June, in a hoodie. He came to Inside to check out the Thanksmas celebration and stuck around to see what Trog's Tavern is like when it isn't a holiday celebration. Either that, or he decided to come here before the party started. Or something. Continuity is unclear at the moment.

He is human. (Well, he's a mushroom but he definitely looks human.)

He is sitting near the crystal-haired woman when she sits.

Since they're both alone, he turns in his chair towards her "Hi. What'd you order?"

[Morty]

[Cutting Things]

Olvisin breathes out, running her hand through her hair. She's crazy, and the naked sword guy is crazy. This is way beyond her paygrade even if she was being paid for that and she's not.

"I can call them, so they come here and sort this out."

[bc56]

There is another person who is largely ignoring all of the tavern chaos.

It is a redhead guy, June, in a hoodie. He came to Inside to check out the Thanksmas celebration and stuck around to see what Trog's Tavern is like when it isn't a holiday celebration. Either that, or he decided to come here before the party started. Or something. Continuity is unclear at the moment.

He is human. (Well, he's a mushroom but he definitely looks human.)

He is sitting near the crystal-haired woman when she sits.

Since they're both alone, he turns in his chair towards her "Hi. What'd you order?"

"Oh, just a glass of wine for now." The devil shimmies around in her chair to face the redhead, leaning forward interestedly (and also giving him a good view of her generous cleavage) "What about you? Anything good on the menu?"

[5a Violista]

June does his best to keep his eyes level with hers. He's not really sure if he can blush anymore, but he doesn't really want to risk it.
"I only ordered hot chocolate," he says, shrugging.

"Still undecided if I should order any food or what."

[bc56]

"You want me to buy you something else, cutie?" Pyrite asks. She scoots over to June's table. Her spade-tipped tail wraps itself around the legs of his chair and slowly begins climbing its way upward."Maybe something with a little more kick to it?"

[5a Violista]

Unfortunately, June's line of vision is too high to notice something like a snaking tail climbing towards him.

He does find it easier to talk with her now that they're at the same table, though.
"I dunno:" he says, "chocolate stimulates feelings of falling in love. Can't imagine anything with more 'kick' than that."

In fact, June already has his hot chocolate mug. He drinks some from it. "I'm June," he says, introducing himself now that they're sharing a table.

[bc56]

"That's a good one. I'll remember that. I'm Pyrite." The succubus nymph laughs and leans close to June. Her tail, which has been ascending around his chair, suddenly tries to wrap tightly, but gently around his waist. "Maybe some champagne? For a toast, of course."

[5a Violista]

"That's a pretty nice na...me..."
He starts his reply but then is suddenly sneak-attacked by the tail which puts a break in one of the words. He glances down at the tail around his waist. He's simultaneously jealous that he doesn't have a tail, and a little anxious because he's now grabbed.

But it doesn't stop him. He looks up and continues acting like he hasn't just been wrapped.
After only missing a beat or two, he answers, "But you already ordered some wine, so it'd be a waste. Maybe some sparkling cider would be better instead? More festive, too.

[Earl of Purple]

Cutting Things

"Yep! They're called Vigil. I think they've got a flying island somewhere. I've never been." Mishnehel doesn't know where it is, either. "Don't go to Skyside. They aren't there, and it's not safe. You... might be able to handle it, though." Slavers are all too edible, after all.

She turns to Olvisin. "Oh, you work for Vigil?" Mishnehel's a little surprised; Olvisin doesn't look like what Mishnehel thought the Vigil people look like.

[Rebonack]

[Cutting Things]

Magdalene mulls over these things for a few minutes, then at last stands, looking determined.

"Okay. Call these VIGIL guys. I'm going to see if this naked creep can actually help me."

Wait.

What?

What if she dies?

"If this just kills me toss my body in the fireplace. It'll be fine."

Oh, well. Okay then. Just fine.

She'll walk up to the swordsman.

"Alright. Do your thing before I change my (flowering) mind."

[bc56]

"Whatever you think's best, Juney." Pyrite flags down a waiter. "Two ciders, on me." She smiles at June, oddly reminiscent of a predator playing with its food. "What do you do around here? I'm new in town."

[5a Violista]

Being food probably isn't a very fun experience, to be honest.

Also, June thinks 'Juney' is a weird nickname because it's twice as long as what it normally would be. "I'm actually new here, too," he says. "Been living in Riverside for the past couple months, came here for the holidays. What about you? What led you to this town?"


After some thought, he's already been here for Thanksmas and so. . .
He has an iron earring in his left ear. Kind-of like a spike. Yes! It's exactly what you think it is. It's a cursed nail that's been reshaped into an earring.

[bc56]

"A friend of mine brought me here. It's much better around here than where I'm from. Much less doom and gloom, and more color. And the people are so much nicer, no one trying to eat me at all. It's a lovely place. Where's Riverside?" Pyrite begins, if possible, to lean against June and get closer and closer to his face.

[5a Violista]

June does get leaned against and - while he admits, it does feel nice. . .
...
he doesn't know how to end that sentence.

"Riverside's a couple hours that way," he says, pointing in that direction. "There's a train that goes right there."

But, back on track: "Sounds pretty awful, if people are trying to eat you all the time," he comments. His face is...very face-like. Not sure why Pyrite finds it so interesting.

[Morty]

"No, I don't work for Vigil. That's why I'm calling them, so they can come and deal with it. I'm not qualified to."

Olvisin steps away to make a quick call to Vigil. Someone should be arriving shortly.

[bc56]

Pyrite looks deeply into June's eyes. Her own are brown like rich earth, flecked with glittering gold. "They're not really people. They're not good conversation. Not like you..." And if she's given the chance, she'll attempt to kiss June.