Seaside 5: Kinda like One Piece without the anime

[Purple Eagle]

[Beach Party]

Teen Loves

Yes, it does mean that, Nataliie, mainly because Eagle prefers sci-fi and can't maintain interest in magic users for very long. But Karasu doesn't know that for sure, so she smiles. "Well, we can certainly try, babe." She happily goes for the hug, squeezing tight, and places her hands on Natalie's waist. "My world's powers work via spiritual energy. Everyone has a gift to shape it in various ways, I emit energy that turns into ink, and can absorb ink to restock my energy reserves. And since everyone is a spirit in a physical body, everyone has some sort of power." Basically.

Jack & Chidi

So that's what she was going to say before going with 'Jade': Jason, or James. "Are you sure? She doesn't resemble anyone you've met before... like maybe Jason or James... or like she could be his sister?" He chooses to go with leading questions. She may have changed upon becoming a woman, but not by much.

Zaabi

Zara follows hand-in-hand, smiling like the cat that ate the canary. She forwardly lets go so she can put her hand around Abi's waist until they get to the swimwear the half-elf wants. "Y'know, I used to wish I was an elf. Elves and half-elves are pretty. Of course, I like you for being you, all of you." She quickly adds the last part so Abi won't think she's only being dated because she's half-elf, but it explains her instant attraction the first time they met. Abi's personality only sealed the deal. "I'm really glad I met you, Abi."

[bc56]

Beach Party - Monty Sekhmet's Flying Circus

"It is. It's so, uh, so wonderful." Sekhmet is so glad she got to share this gift with Prumathe. It's one of the few things about her transformation she actually likes. It's kinda romantic even, being up high away from everyone else, holding each other close.

[Earl of Purple]

Beach Party
Teen Loves

"I'm not sure if I could help, then. I don't create anything. I move things from one place to another, everything I summon comes from somewhere and goes back to something when it's no longer needed." And the suntail hawk has probably disappeared by now, since it's not been mentioned for five or so rounds. Natalie holds Karasu's hand and grins. Natalie also finds herself wondering what her ability would be, if she had been born there. She's glad she wasn't; from what she understands, her magic sounds a bit more reliable than Karasu's gift and her shapeshifting relies on an anonymous ancestor being a supernatural infiltrator that probably wouldn't exist on Karasu's world.

Jack & Chidi

"Maybe, I guess? It's been a while since I saw them last. Over a year. And we're a bit far away. I couldn't say for sure, honestly." Jack sounds a little unsure, however, and now she's looking actually at Jade, not Jade's companion.

Zaabi

"Thank you, but... Well, except for the hair and the eyes, I take after Mum. Her nose, the lip shape, and so on." She's a little slimmer than a full-blooded human, with finer bone structure, but that's mainly it. "Elvish blood has some downsides, Zara. I can't tolerate too much processed meat, and I don't put on weight easily. Which sounds like a good thing, except it's muscle mass as well." Which is why elves are usually so thin and wiry. "I'm glad I met you, too. And I'm glad that first date went so well."

And Now For Something Completely Different

"I love it up here. Could we do this again, maybe? If you could manage this over Inside, perhaps." Prumathe's grinning and he loves it. All of it is brilliant, the mix of sea and sand and all the way up to the road used to access the beach.

[Purple Eagle]

[Beach Party]

Teen Loves

Not sure where Natalie's getting 'unreliable', but then it's probably Karasu's fault for not explaining properly.

"Y'know, that exists as a power in my world, what you just described. The ability to move things from one place to another, essentially object teleportation within a certain range. Those who hone their powers can even do what you do, extend range to locations one can remember. There's a criminal smuggler in Raptor Island with that ability, an Emitter like me." Karasu explains.

After all, Geraldine Zima has to emit energy to create the effect of teleporting things to her hand.

"Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but changes from one form to another. My spiritual energy changes from energy to ink, and my big brother can never create ink like I can never create electricity. Everyone manifests a weak ability at age 10 that can be trained, and if I didn't choose to go to school to hone my power, I'd merely be able to move ink from one place to another. Solidifying it, learning offensive and defensive uses for it, that came from training. In a world like that, smart use of one's abilities gives an edge over pure strength. Zara's stretching is a Form, the spiritual energy affects her body rather than the outside world."

Then she grins, a bit cheekily. "See, I'm teaching you how things work in my world, you should pay me. Anyway, it's your turn. Gotta start sometime, yeah?" She pecks Natalie on the lips.

Jack & Chidi

"Ah, I see. She's cute, but don't flirt with her. She's going through some stuff, and flirting will just make it worse." Chidi suggests, though he's not sure if Jack will pay any heed to that. He certainly can try to stave off further awkwardness for Jade, however. "We can swim closer to check, or we can keep talking and wait until later." Unfortunately, he didn't put his binoculars in his inventory before coming, thinking he'd not need it. "So, what happens to your wings when you turn into a bird?"

Zaabi

"Hmm... true, but it has some upsides too, doesn't it? Like being more agile and/or dextrous." Zara replies with a smile, trying to cheer Abi up a bit. "I'm glad this one's going so well, too! So, choose the one you want so I can pay. Then we can go and get our animated sand." She takes a sip out of her drink.

[bc56]

Beach Party - Something Completely Different

"I can do that! Uh, Inside's a bit more crowded up here though." Crowded with vehicles, buildings and other flying people. Still an incredible experience though. Sekhmet is enjoying herself. What's better than flying? Having someone to share it with. She loops back towards the beach. "Everyone looks so small up here."

[Morty]

[Beach Party: Several Nicks]

Michalson is briefly and visibly confused when Geneva mentions "Neihnstein-Roseluck bridges", but he moves on noticeable quickly.

"Oh, aye. Barrels of 'em. We didn't call 'em like this, of course. But Sigil has portals leaving everywhere, to every plane you can think of. 'Course, first you need to find 'em and find the right key. Which, as you may've guessed, can be just about anythin' and then some. So the peel is in finding both. I was pretty good at it, if I do say so myself."

[Recaiden]

[Marlick Bay]

"We should try not to get any of the rest of us killed, Benedict."
I mean sure, they're probably going to have to kill Sekhmet once she combines the relic and goes mad with time-powers, but they should at least attempt to avoid that.
Anchor tries to run after Zophiel, up all those stairs and down to the sea...but I really doubt she can keep up with the taller stronger paladin.

[Beach Party]

"Have you tried, hmmm, making the law?" Skye flippantly suggests to the superheroine.

At the beverage table, she'll get something extremely boring and flavorless.

[Rebonack]

[Marlick Bay]

Sekhmet attempts to peer through time and space!

That doesn't really work out very well, since other spheres cover aspects like perception and information. Nor has Sekhmet acquired the Space relic just yet.

What DOES happen, though, is somewhat jarring. But it won't be immediately obvious what it was. Sekhmet just changed something. Something just shifted. But what? Well. That remains to be seen, doesn't it?

Zoph, meanwhile, takes off running!

Wow. Look at him go.

He's really good at this stuff. Maybe it's because he doesn't wear heavy armor all the time?

Regardless of the reason, once he gets up to the top of the stairs and enters the chapel he may suddenly find himself get back-handed by the awful horseshoe grab horror! Unable to parse what Sekhmet was trying to do, the Time relic had tried its best and pulled the horror from where it had come from (in the past) and deposited it where it had died (in the present). Ostensibly, now that it is alive again and bereft of its relic (which it is very angry about) Sekhmet could ask it where it came from to gain the information she was looking for!

That's assuming it would be willing to tell her.

That's also assuming that her allies don't kill it again first.

Anchor should be arriving shortly after Zoph either gets sucker punched or not.

Thumbing through the journal again, Benny will in fact find some more description of the relics in question. Apparently the relics were once part of a far more powerful artifact which the writer believes was fractured by Poseidon. Unable to actually destroy it, the fragments were scattered. However, they desire to be joined again. Two were in possession of the journal writer, apparently the mayor of Marlick Bay, one was lost at sea, and one was enshrined in the tidal caves below the sea mount.

[Earl of Purple]

Beach Party
The Larch

"They do! It's absolutely amazing." He can believe Inside being busier, with vehicles and people and things. Maybe Sekhmet should meet Jack, go on a tour of the rooftops and find things that aren't visible from the streets and alleys of ground-level. Or maybe she should do her own aerial exploration.

Teen Loves

Unreliable isn't really the word I wanted. She got the ability she wanted, rather than being born with one and no control over what it might be.

"That's not just objects, Karasu. That's how it works with the creatures, too. I didn't create the hawk, I brought it here from somewhere else. And now it's gone back to where it came from, pulled by the same leylines I used to bring it here when my concentration waned enough they reasserted themselves." Well, probably. The mechanism of what happens to a summoned creature when it is no longer needed is unclear and much discussed and almost entirely theoretical, with little to no practical importance whatsoever. "I thought every power was unique, like an IME but not so... decorative?" So does it work differently for different teleporters, and how can it be taught?

Jack & Chidi

"If we stay over here, I probably won't get the opportunity to flirt with her and you won't have to worry about it." Which would solve the problem, probably. Unless they meet later and Jade starts flirting first, in which case... Jack might not notice. "They shrink and get smaller, like the rest of me. Except they don't otherwise change. I can't get rid of them; they're not affected by the rest of my shapeshifting." But Jack isn't going to demonstrate whilst she's in the sea; jackdaws aren't waterbirds and lack waterproof feathers. She'd get waterlogged and possibly drown.

Zaabi

"Can't really say I've noticed, but... I haven't fallen off my bike for years." That's balance and agility, so it might count.

Abi picks a green bikini, the same shade as her hair, quite modest. It does show off her belly, though, and unlike the tankini it doesn't have fabric ruffles to disguise her shape.

[5a Violista]

[Marlick Bay]

You know that feeling where something you previously thought was dead is suddenly alive again?
In case you've never experienced it...
...
...it feels like a sucker punch. Like, exactly like it.

But, to be honest, 'not wearing heavy armor' alone isn't enough to explain it, considering that each of his swords alone weighs as much as, if not more than, a full set of armor. . . . . .but somehow they still work and generally don't obstruct normal life. Then again, if he had the swords and armor then maybe it would be too much.
It's kind-of weird.

Zophiel is smacked.
He almost falls back down the stairs, but thankfully manages to twist and fall to the side. After all this running here and there and back again, he really wants to take a break.
But other people will shortly be up the stairs, he figures, and he needs to take care of this thing.

And so, Zophiel moves away from the stairs, to draw its attention to him instead of towards the stairs. "So you can regenerate," he says, deducing how it came back. "Or come back to life."

He gets up.

[Earl of Purple]

Marlick Bay

"I will do my utmost to prevent her from succeeding in completing it." Or at least try to ensure Sekhmet doesn't get to keep it if she does reassemble it. Anchor might not be able to convince Benedict not to let the others die, however. He hasn't even bothered to learn their names.

No, looks like there's no clues in here to a shortcut. Benedict's going to have to go running to catch up. He sighs, hikes up his robes and pulls the sword from his belt so it doesn't bang into his legs and trip him as he follows. He's not in the best shape, more scholar than adventurer, though he does a fair bit of adventuring he tries not to do any heavy lifting or running during the process.

[bc56]

Marlick Bay

"Uh, something's changed." Sekhmet seems worried. That might not be good. "Something with time." One might wonder how she knows that, but she's already running up the stairs. "Be careful!"

Beach Party

Drinking Supers
"That's outside my pay grade." Not that Jade gets paid for what she does. Where her funds come from is a bit of a mystery. She grabs a hot coffee. That will help with the chilliness. The cold makes her once again aware of how little she's wearing, and how exposed she is.

Sky High Couple
"Uh, did you ever find out, what the, uh, power I gave you is?" Sekhmet asks, a bit awkwardly. "I, uh, might be able to help you access it." But for now, they can just stay up here and enjoy the view. But they'll have to come down soon. Sekhmet's wings are starting to tire.

[Purple Eagle]

[Beach Party]

Teen Loves

"Ah, right, there's the difference." Karasu can't make much sense of it all, there's too much that's unclear to her at the moment. More things for Natalie to teach her! "Every power is unique, Talie, in that every living person has a power unique from other living people. I'm not the first to have an ink-based power, and after the end of my lifespan, another will be born. That makes learning easier, but schooling is meant to facilitate honing your abilities for use in a variety of situations. In short: yes, it can be taught."

Jack & Chidi

"I'm not worried." Chidi corrects, but then Jack seems rather unaware as to Jade's current circumstances. "So, you have 4 wings as a jackdaw. I'd ask to see, but we're in the water... except you climb on me and change from there."

"Do the wings get in the way of 'fun' though? Lying on your back, for instance." A good question. "I think it'd be cool to have wings, but using my powers to glide will have to suffice." He swims close and puts an arm on her back, generating some sound-based vibrations that'll feel good, in a massage type of way.

Zaabi

"I like!" Because it's green and quite modest. Zara quickly pays for it, plus extra so the magic won't fail, and follows Abi to the changing room so she can switch to the bikini. She hums appreciatively when Abi's done. "I hope your mom won't mind, though. I'd hate for you to get in trouble because of me."

[Recaiden]

[Beach Party]
Drinking Supers

That's the point, Jade. Take a show-offy pose!
Skye glances distastefully at the coffee for a moment.
"Are you paid? I thought superheroes were volunteers. Otherwise ... you know?"

[Marlick Bay]

Well, that's probably the best one can get out of the occultist.
Anchor is still making her way up the stairs.
Most likely ahead of Benedict, but quite a bit behind Zophiel.
Which gives the paladin a chance to deal with the monster, so that's probably for the best.

[bc56]

Beach Party

Drinking Supers
"No. Back when NERD was more active, I got a small stipend from them, but no, I don't get paid. Hence, outside my pay grade." With the mental component of the curse sealed, there's no compulsion for Jade to show off. So she doesn't. Of course, one might wonder why she wore a bikini if she didn't want to show off.

[Earl of Purple]

Beach Party
Nobody Expects...

"No, I didn't. I tried accessing it when I was making myself stronger, but all I noticed happening was the room feeling colder, so I was getting hotter. Not what I intended, and I didn't know how hot I could get so I dropped it. Why, you figured anything out your end?" Earl had actually forgotten about that power, oops.

Teen Loves

"So are they truly unique, or do they recycle so there's only ever one of each type of power in existence, but once the person with the power dies someone new is born with it?" That would imply part of the soul is being reincarnated, even if not the whole soul. It's quite interesting to Natalie, though she doesn't have the vocabulary or the scholarly background to actually hypothesise about it.

Jack & Chidi

"Except even on your back, I'd be too wet to fly easily. I could do it, though. If you reckon you can take my weight, that is." One thing about feathers- they take forever to dry, not like skin. "And you won't be able to actually watch me transform if I do it on your back. Wait till we're back on the beach drying off, I'll demonstrate then. And you'll get to watch." Jack winks. "A little, but... It's not stopped me yet. I can spread them out if necessary, then my back's mostly fla-aaaaaat..." Jack's eyes widen as she feels the sonic waves massaging her back and shoulders. That does feel pretty good.

Zaabi

Once she's changed, Abi does a little twirl for Zara, arms out and trailing rainbow illusions. "If I get in trouble, Zara, I'll tell Mum they were a gift, and I'm no longer in trouble. It's not a problem, really." Abi is sure it won't be a problem, and even if it isn't, she won't let Zara know.

[bc56]

Beach Party

The Spanish Inquisition

"No, uh, I was just curious. It sounds like you made some progress though." Sekhmet's not sure exactly what she did to Prumathe. It just came naturally to her, and she did it almost instinctively when she kissed him. She hopes it's not going to hurt him.

[Purple Eagle]

[Beach Party]

Teen Loves

"The latter." Karasu clarifies, though reincarnation has nothing to do with it. "There are more than a billion people in the world, and gazillions have existed since the beginning of time." Which is why if Eagle ever adapts this to a non-Nexus story, he'll either go the route of 'not everyone is gifted' or limit the existence broad powers. "Your turn. What exactly is a ley line?"

Jack & Chidi

"True... when we get to shore, then. I know people with bird-related powers, but none can turn into a full bird. They have the bird senses, wings and all, however." Chidi says, a bit excited at what's to come. Also that which is to come much later, given his grin at her reaction to being massaged by sonic waves. "Y'know, thanks to my powers, I'm good at giving massages. I can give you one." He suggests, hinting they should go and have some fun, because I'm running out of ideas.

Zaabi

Zara grins and claps happily once the display is over! Her worries about getting her girlfriend in trouble are calmed, and she takes Abi's hand once more. "Next, the animated sand!"

[Deathkeeper]

Beach Party- Several Nicks

Nick smiles and pretends that he has any idea of what's going on when people start talking about portals.
He never knows what's going on when people start talking about portals.

Meanwhile!

Nick Jr grins a wide dragony grin.
"Yeah? What kinda castle? Tall kind? Short n' wide kind? Shelly kind?" seems he knows a lot about sand castles.

[Lord Magtok]

Moonwell Convergence

[Moonwell Convergence]

If Saint Laz does attempt to open the door, she will have to put in some effort but eventually the wheel will turn. However, almost as soon as the door starts to open and Laz gets a view of the other side, the pit lord (made of 100 % pure demon flesh) she catches a glimpse of on the other side of the room beyond the door throws a large fireball at her.

There's only good way to deal with a fireball like that. I mean, it's a big ball of energy, and there's no way in hell she's dodging something that huge on such short notice, and even if she did, it'd probably just go past her and get her teammates hurt. If she tries to move out of the way and fails, she's just going to prolong the amount of time she spends caught in that ball of death by an extra fraction of a second, and that's no good either.

No, the only path forward is straight through. She grits her teeth, squeezes her eyes shut, and charges the pit lord with bestial fury, intending to bring the fire right back to him. Maybe the witch knows a spell that can douse the flames, who knows? Saint Lazarus would certainly appreciate such an act of flame retardant witchery, but she's far too busy trying to impale this monster on her heated blade to make such a request herself. There's FOOD in front of her, and she'll be damned if she's going to let a little thing like agonizing, excruciating fiery death slow her down.

[Shadowcaller]

Spoiler: Quoted Scenes

Show

Approaching the Crystal Pinnacle

Sirens wail and the townsfolk prepare to evacuate. The engines are shut off and the jaws open, as the engineers and guards cease their assault on the frigate and cut the harpoon lines keeping it in place; there's a small hole in the hull, but a lot of the engineers are surrendering to the goblins if they sail out of the Gut. Others are fleeing on a variety of other vessels; there's engineering boats with cranes, circular saws and other equipment driving out of the sinking town. On top deck, some of the buildings are being unbolted and accepting passengers; the plan is for them to float off the top of the sinking town to provide a nucleus for a new community, or at least serve as lifeboats. From the rear hatch, a barge- the remains of Beverly-in-Hull's last meal- sails out. The barge is relatively small and barely seaworthy, the engines and large sections of deck having been stripped and repurposed. It's being pushed by a pair of engineering boats, one with a hydraulic arm equipped with a pair of ripping jaws and the other tall and ungainly from scaffolding erected upon its deck. The barge itself is piled high with raw materials; there's one intact building, a domed structure in the middle made of brick, though the doors and windows have been removed. The spear recovered by the urbivore is here already; a group consisting of Gut workers, engineers and some hydroponics workers are trying to turn it into a sail.

If the goblins sent over lifeboats and rescue craft, the towndwellers are unlikely to resist the help, as currently it seems everyone is trying to escape with very little plan and quite a bit of panic.

[Moonwell Dragon Profanity Adventures]

So.

A slight problem here.

Geneva was MUCH closer to the moonwell than the ship. She had, as it happens, grossly underestimated how big that explosion would be. Her barrier can handle things like small arms fire, but not something like... that.

She's rather unceremoniously pulped by the blast-wave.

Bleeding and broken, the mew tumbles through the air a few hundred feet before evaporating in a cloud of pixels.

The OTHER Geneva back on the VIGIL ship, meanwhile, cries out in pain when her substitute dies, momentarily losing control of her telekinesis and flopping to the ship's deck. She's still alive, but isn't looking very happy right now. When the blastwave hits the ship she'll be tossed around, completely helpless. Hopefully someone will have the presence of mind to grab her so she doesn't go sliding overboard.

Well!

Looks like Substitute did its job!

Geneva figured there was a not unreasonable chance that she was going to get blown up and it turns out she was right!

Operation Seaslug

Well, everything Leopold Blackfur was telling TTN definitely sounded worrisome and she casts a glance over at Will. "If we have to run, I ask that you hold onto me." She advises before looking back at their guide. "If everything you say is true, then it sounds as if you're expecting a hostile invasion and for the citizenry to be attacked. And this is...frequent?" Titania asks, sounding appalled by the picture he'd been painting. She really wished she could have another plasma rifle at the moment, but she may as well wish for them to be anywhere else while she was doing so. "I just hope Tammy is doing alright." She adds, lowering her tone a bit with a shake of her head. She'd grown fond of the goblin warlock.

Moonwell Convergence

There's only good way to deal with a fireball like that. I mean, it's a big ball of energy, and there's no way in hell she's dodging something that huge on such short notice, and even if she did, it'd probably just go past her and get her teammates hurt. If she tries to move out of the way and fails, she's just going to prolong the amount of time she spends caught in that ball of death by an extra fraction of a second, and that's no good either.

No, the only path forward is straight through. She grits her teeth, squeezes her eyes shut, and charges the pit lord with bestial fury, intending to bring the fire right back to him. Maybe the witch knows a spell that can douse the flames, who knows? Saint Lazarus would certainly appreciate such an act of flame retardant witchery, but she's far too busy trying to impale this monster on her heated blade to make such a request herself. There's FOOD in front of her, and she'll be damned if she's going to let a little thing like agonizing, excruciating fiery death slow her down.

[Moonwell Convergence]

As it turns out, seeing Anika exposed in a bikini affects Awen: seeing someone with so little clothes causes her to turn away and blush. She, of course, tells herself that it's all because of the magic she used on herself earlier that's rewiring all her pain as pleasure. Which...to be honest, it probably half of it - and the other half is the fact that Awen is used to people wearing a lot more clothes.

"Y-yeah," Awen agrees. "I couldn't find anyone to drain healing from," so she'd really appreciate being healed, because that would mean she no longer needs to ride the broom in a hallway.

She flies closer to Anika and lets her heal her while praying that it actually takes: Awen has an inherent resistance to magic so sometimes even healing magic doesn't hold. This caused a problem in the infirmary back at the base once. Luckily, it seems to work nearly perfectly, as her broken legs are fixed.

Approaching the Crystal Pinnacle

The soldiers aboard the seawitch and the destroyer seems unsure how to react to this sudden outpour of refugees having never seen anything like it. It was clear that the ship eater was sinking though. Even though it's weapons were still functioning the vessel itself wouldn't last long.

Eventually the goblins on board the speed boats along with a few additional ones will start to set off towards the sinking Beverly-in-Hull to offer aid. They will approach with caution however, threatening every passenger as a potential threat.

But while they will be picking up survivors (particularly those that have fallen overboard) their main mission is to save their destroyer before it sinks along with the rest of the ship. Is it possible to get out the destroyer somehow now that the maw is open?
The soldiers would also be asking any survivors whose in charge and on which escape raft they're going with.

[Moonwell Convergence]

Anika smiles in a way she hopes is reassuring as Awen agrees to be healed. Honestly, she should have noticed it earlier but in all the excitement she had completely missed it.
"You should have just asked. I still got plenty of healing juice left." She remarks while holding out her hands, causing purple and green magical energy to start to swirl around Awen which will start to mend her broken bones together. '

But then a fireball explodes in the room just next to them as Saint Laz charges in.
The shockwave nearly causing Anika to topple over where she stands. "Ouf!"

Inside the other room the ghoul knight meets the full fury of the fireball as it makes impact with her and the surroundings.
There's two parts of a fireball.
The fire of course which likely causes her armor to get so hot it will start to burn into her skin. That part is relatively harmless to our ghoul knight at the moment however.
The real troublesome part is the ball. The kinetic energy driving the fire fourth before exploding into a shockwave of energy that this close is strong enough to break bones and cause internal body failure to the degree it'll kill someone outright.

Saint Laz isn't just 'someone' however. She doesn't even look at the explosion as it fades behind her.

Whatever damage she sustains by tanking that hit she's still moving at the end which is enough to even cause a pit lord more than twice her size to hesitate and start to back away.
It's not made of near indestructible metal as the golems and it's not even as well armored as the more melee-focused fiends. It carries a huge wicked blade which it seems to be using as a focus for its spells but is otherwise unarmed.
Laz might be completely blinded and probably partly deaf at the moment, but she can still recognize feeling of her blade sinking into soft flesh as it has done so many times before.

Operation Seaslug

"First we need to see where the demon is going before I'll decide on a route." Leopold claims while gesturing at the 'gate' expanding above the city. Then he turns to TNN and shakes his head. "But no. No invasion. Sometimes it's slavers, other times they just need bodies. But they usually just pick villages or the slums." He gestures north across the city. "We got guards and demons like her protecting us here." Leopold points at Titania and then seems to quote something. "'The only thing that can stop someone bad with a demon is someone good with a demon'. Still, they might not reach us in time and this one looks pretty strong."

He looks up at the gate again which now have started to swirl wildly. The purple clouds expanding outwards as if the area had been hit by a sudden storm. Something seems to be moving within...

[Recaiden]

Drinking Supers
"No. Back when NERD was more active, I got a small stipend from them, but no, I don't get paid. Hence, outside my pay grade." With the mental component of the curse sealed, there's no compulsion for Jade to show off. So she doesn't. Of course, one might wonder why she wore a bikini if she didn't want to show off.

"That hardly seems fair, does it? Even most of the other side is getting paid. Hmm." There could be an opportunity here.
Maybe Jade just likes how it looks for herself, or thinks it's what she's supposed to wear to the beach.
But if it makes Skye look all the more comfortable and showy by comparison....she won't complain.

[bc56]

Beach Party

Drinking Supers

"Life isn't fair. But I make plenty of money, from my patents and investments. I don't need to be paid for helping people. Besides, that seems too... Mercenary. It creates some perverse incentives." Heroes who get paid for stopping crimes have a reason to cause crimes in the first place, because it earns them money. If Skye likes Jade being awkward, good for her. Jade won't try showing off without some encouragement.

[Recaiden]

But causing crimes is something other heroes would be incentivized to stop. Surely it would all work itself out.
"Patents? What is it you've invented - I don't think you've said." Skye asks, and her voice has lost the teasing tone it's had for a lot of these questions.

[bc56]

Beach Party

Drinking Supers

Jade looks a bit more interested in the discussion now. "Oh, nothing special. Better light projection, holographic imagery, hardlight construction." Those sound fairly special. Maybe she's just being modest about it.

[5a Violista]

[Moonwell Convergence]

"Th-thank..." Awen says, when the shockwave of the fireball hits them.
She's blown back a little, but not enough to counter her broom's flight. She gets blown back a bit, but then the broom corrects and moves her back forward before she hits a wall.

She thinks. Her legs still hurt - or rather, feel like bliss - a little, so she assumes that means they're not broken anymore. She could probably walk, but...what if there's another shockwave like that one? She's not as big or as tall as Anika: Awen would just fall or crash into something. Even if it takes one of her hands, it's probably better to stay flying.
But it seems like it's healed enough; no need to waste any more time healing it.

Awen turns to Anika: "H-how long can you hold your breath?" she asks her, mostly just to warn what's going to happen. Awen has a way to stop Laz from being on fire, but...with Anika around, it could get dangerous if Awen doesn't pay attention.

The witch immediately begins casting her spell to counter the burning and more flames or explosions. She takes a deep gasping breath, and holds it. Shortly afterwards, all the air in the room and the hallway and the connected rooms and Awen's own lungs - they begin draining out, creating a vacuum of nothingness. Flames can't burn in a vacuum; shockwaves can't propagate; people can't breathe.

She flies closer to the room, and while holding her breath, begins her next spell. The witch holds her nails to her left palm and twists, carving out a circular shape, then pulls. The handle of a whip of black energy appears that she pulls out of her palm.
At the same time, the other end of the whip lashes down from the ceiling above the pit lord - made from the same energy. If the pit lord doesn't dodge it, it'll reform itself as a noose around the demon's neck, squeezing and pulling upwards and draining its strength and energy.

[Recaiden]

Drinking Supers

"Are those 'not special' where you're from? Hard light is quite a rarity everywhere I've been." Just the sort of thing one reads about and doesn't actually encounter, really.

[bc56]

Beach Party
Drinking Supers

Jade sighs. "In a world where other people have created devices that can literally move planets? A lot of lesser things lose their impressiveness. My tech is mainly used by the entertainment industry." It's clear Jade would rather make a more substantial contribution. "It's good money, but it's kinda hollow work. Heroism is my chance to do something real and impactful for others. To make a difference."

[Deathkeeper]

[Operation Sea Slug]

Will doesn’t look particularly encouraged by the gnoll’s words.
”Well I don’t really like our odds against the size of that thing. So. We should be ready to run I think.”
TTN is someone he trusts completely, but she’s been a demon for about an hour. He can’t expect her to be fighting ready already!

[Rebonack]

[Several Nicks]

"That's fascinating. So the bridges manifest as literal doors with literal keys?" Geneva asks curiously. "Or am I reading too much into this?"

The statement 'literally anything' throws her off a bit. Maybe they aren't doors and keys? Or maybe they are.

She just wants to make sure that she understands properly since proper understanding is something pretty high on Geneva's priority list.

"This sounds like it might be an interesting place to visit, if only for research potential," the hippogriff considers.

Meanwhile!

"All sorts of castles are real keen!" Navvy replies. "I like the ones where you drip a little bit of water and sand down your claws to make towers!"

Khannie, meanwhile, is pulling some goggles over her eyes so she can plunge her head underwater and look around. She's the only one present who really needs them, isn't she? Everyone else nearby is aquatic!

And what's down there?

Sand. A little bit of sea weed. And one smell jellyfish blooping along.


[Marlick Bay]

And now everyone's going up the stairs, aren't they?

The monster crab thing is surprisingly fast for how bulky it is, taking to long strides toward the paladin before hauling back to clobber him again with one of its big spiky claws.

That'll be the scene our heroes come upon!

Though...

Oddly enough the pile of dead, burned crab is still laying in a heap over there by the wall. It flickers now and again with flashes of shattered color and jagged shape, as if it were a DVD artifact depicting any object rather than an actual object. That is, of course, very strange.

Thankfully for our heroes the crab appears to be fully focused on the paladin. The others could probably take an opportunity to whomp it from behind.

...however the carapace on its back is quite thick.

And covered in eyes.

Because horse-shoe crab.

It isn't showing any sign of knowing that anyone is behind it, but it's probably well aware that they have arrived.