Trog's Tavern CLIV

[5a Violista]

June's eyes are a sort of blue or maybe green that which color it looks like depends on what lighting it's getting. Which would change as someone gets closer.

June almost replies to Pyrite, but suddenly finds his mouth occupied.

At first, he doesn't kiss back. This is moving way too fast!
Not to mention, he runs his thumb across his ring. He...
Well...
He already accepted that he's probably never going to get back.
Okay, he decides. He kisses the predator back.

[bc56]

"Mmmm, that's good." Pyrite releases June after a few moments. Just in time for their drinks to arrive! "Wow, perfect timing!" She raises one mug of cider to June. "A toast! To new beginnings!"

[5a Violista]

The toast is very appropriate.

And, yes, that kiss did feel good although he's not sure if he's ready to admit that. The earring probably made it even more so, too.

June raises his mug of sparkling cider too, to toast. "To new beginnings," he repeats.

He drinks some, and then starts to wonder if he's supposed to say something to get to know her better now, or if that was a one-off spur-of-the-moment thing, or what. Hasn't really done something like this before.

[bc56]

Pyrite leans back in her chair, satisfied. Her tail releases June and she sighs contentedly. "Thanks for humoring me there. You're cute." That kiss satisfied some deep urge she didn't know she had. She feels like she could do so much more.

[5a Violista]

No longer being grabbed by a tail is a good thing. He's glad that it was just that and not something more sinister or awful.

He smiles and sets down his drink. "Thanks," he says, accepting the compliment and apparently breaking a taboo and causing a connection when it comes to these nymphs. "You're cute, too."

She is, though.

[Zefir]

[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.

[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.

[Om Nom Noms!]

On this point the prophet is in total panic. He stands there, his face pale white, but sometimes his expression changes and mimics the little rippers. Jeanette, if she glance over, will know what this means. This man is connected to the hive and the close physical Synapscreature effects the man. Since he has some clear moments he is able to move, but walking to the door is to far away so he jumps at a window head first. The pain from that window is nothing related to the the pain in his mind.

The rippers have no feet at all. Just six tiny arms with claws they can use to climb. Not that a tavern offers enougth possibilities. The rippers is shot while having half of his brothers body in his mouth, it looks kinda stupid. The rippers see no way to follow up so they decide the next thing, going for the other guy. But there is no break for Jeanette as two bullets get shot at her from the hole. That ammunition appears bullet like and a bit like small drills which penetrate armor. The shooters soon approch from the hole and immediatly seek cover as if they know whats up. The new creatures are much bigger. They both look like small raptors of 1,3 meter heigth with two strong feet. Their backs are covered ina natural armor like bugs have. Both have 4 arms while one arm is strangly mutated as if it merged with some kind of organic gun. The other three are just sharp clawed hands. Both have white skin with blue marks where the veins shine through and a shadow grey armor. They appear to be heavy as they just run over tables and use them as cover.

The ripper is confused as Tao turns into smaller creatures. Which is enougth to allow the dragons to bite him off if they can do that. Meanwhile the other rippers have mostly turned to Tao and charge at his current form. Biomass is Biomass either if it's a person or small dragons. Tao might also notice the new thread coming from below who shoot at the girl.

[bc56]

Ooh!
Did he just thank Pyrite? She can use this! She giggles at being called cute. "You're welcome. And thank you." She drains her cider quickly. "Aaaah."

[Rebonack]

[Om Nom Noms!]

A human with a link to the Hive Fleet?

A human-looking genestealer, maybe?

Jeanette really doesn't have much time to contemplate since she just got shot at! A flicker in the warp briefly shimmers around her like a soap bubble before becoming an impenetrable barrier for the projectiles, burn them to ashes before fading from view again. That gets her attention in a hurry alright! But now she's got a problem. Her perch in the rafters might help quite a bit against the little crawly critters, but not so much against foes with firearms.

Or bugarms, maybe? Not much fire involved.

Okay things are heating up this is WAY worse than just a couple rippers. She isn't even wearing her armor not that it would be much help armor piercing weapons. This is a serious fight and she's going to need some serious firepower and resilience.

Making a snap decision, Jeanette pulls off her hat and places it on the rafter next to her, her form immediately and rapidly changing with a series of sickening pops. Her skin toughens and turns blue as bronze-sheened carapace plates grow across her body with four smoke-stack like respiratory tubes growing from her back. A long, thick, lithe tail emerges from the base of her spine ending in a pair of crushing pincers. A second pair of arms grows from her torso as her feet morph into vaguely equine hooves. Her face still looks surprisingly human, despite the carapace plates running across her forehead and the blue tendrils she has for hair. The pistol has fused with one of her hands, a fleshy tube leading from her abdomen to the side of the weapon.

Leaping off the rafter, she aims to land with her full bulk directly atop one of the termagaunts and crush it into the floor while aiming to grab the other's neck with her tail and shear it off.

"Are you doing okay over there, dragon... swarm person?" she calls out. Oddly enough her voice isn't coming from her mouth, but from some of the breathing holes on her body. It sounds a little wheezy but it's otherwise identifiable as hers.


OH HEY A NEW THREAD ROMAN NUMERALS ARE DUMB