Seaside 5: Kinda like One Piece without the anime

[Purple Eagle]

[Beach Party]

Two Girls and a Guy, no pizza place

"Hmm... lemme guess, you decided you wouldn't let fear of attention stop you? See, brave." Chidi puts a reassuring hand on Jade's shoulder, but then removes it. She might not feel too comfortable with him touching bare skin. His arm is around Jack, though. "So, you invited Jack to the warehouse? She could come along on one of our patrols, those wings are useful for a support role."

Zaabi

"Oh no, I hope you didn't think I was mocking you, Abi. I'm just weird, I guess. I also don't feel pain the same way as other people. I know it's to be avoided, but the sensation doesn't bother me. In fact, I find myself giggling a bit when hurt." Zara shares, then shrugs again. "Then again, I was found with a head injury because of the burning place, maybe that's the cause? I hope you don't like me any less." She looks a bit worried... but is still smiling at least a little bit.

She finishes making a gargoyle. "Look, Abi! See how his wings flap!" The animated sand is fun!

[Earl of Purple]

Beach Party
Prumathe's Panic

He might not have mentioned Samantha before. Prumathe, growing up in an orphanage, has a lot of 'siblings', and not all of them did things noteworthy. Samantha's one of those, who is there as a friendly face in the background, mediating when something crazy happens but not really doing anything crazy herself. "She'll like you, and I think you'll like her. Samantha's nice." If a little frustrated that nobody remembers anything more about her.

Jack, Jade & Chidi

"I'm not sure I'm superhero material. All I've got going for me are wings, eyes that see stuff in weird ways and a magic shovel. I guess I don't need a costume, since I can shapeshift into something where it doesn't matter too much." Also, Jack might know some of the criminals, since she has been a petty thief in the past and will possibly go back to that if and when she runs out of money from the chest she found.

Zaabi

"I didn't think you were mocking me. You were too... vehement for that." Abi looks a bit worried about the head injury and burny place, though. "Of course I don't, Zara. I'm not that shallow. And, uh, what head injury and what was on fire?" That's honestly a little worrying, since Abi doesn't know how long Zara's been in the Nexus I don't think.

Her face brightens at the moving sand-gargoyle, and she "wow"s.

[bc56]

Prumathe's Panic

"I, uh, hope I do." She sounds like a good person for Sekhmet to meet, but of course she doesn't know that. Sekhmet tries to hug Prumathe again briefly. "Thank you so much."

JJC

"Those sound like pretty useful powers. You should try it," Jade responds. "But the costume is necessary." She jokes.

[Purple Eagle]

[Beach Party]

Jack, Chidi and Jade

"You can fly, shapeshift into a jackdaw, your wing-eyes can see weird magic stuff, and your shovel remains in place at the press of a button. You'll be useful for a support role. We attack, and you be our eyes in the sky." Chidi thinks Jack would make a good superhero... but would she want to use her skills for that? If it's too much work, she probably won't...

When Jade jokes about a costume, he chuckles and starts mentally picturing Jack in one. "Don't forget the superhero name! You can be... hmm... Nightwing... what do you think, Jade?"

Zaabi

"Didn't I tell you? I grew up in an orphanage off-world. There was a fire, and I went through a portal that brought me to the Nexus instead, 6 years ago. The woman who found me said my head was bleeding and she could smell smoke from my clothes. Luckily, I wasn't burnt. See?" Zara takes Abi's finger and rubs it against her scalp. In between her thick wooly hair, she should feel a small spot where no hair grows. Of course, it feels like a scar. "I also know how to fight, I'm really good at it. It's a talent, and why I want to become an adventurer, so I can use this talent to help the helpless."

While they talk, Zara's decided to stick to making more gargoyles rather than the planned angel. They each have the twins and her orphanage kids to show the animated sand, and it wouldn't do to finish it all making a big statue.

[Earl of Purple]

Beach Party
Prumathe's Panic

"It's no biggie, really. I mean, it's about time you met some of my family, such as they are." No blood relation there, but they're close enough it basically counts.

J, J, C

"I can't see in the dark any better than anyone else. I can't fly at night unless I'm holding a torch or something." Flying into walls isn't fun. "It... kinda sounds fun, though." Jack smiles, a little more interested now.

Zaabi

"You'd mentioned the orphanage, not the fire." Abi feels the scar and delicately strokes it, and the rest of her hair. "So long as you actually do protect people, y'know? And don't get hurt doing something pointless for greed." Like the one that kept her waiting after she'd broken her wrist or whatever it was.

Abi was kinda hoping they could reuse the stuff, rather than keep it as the gargoyles. Not sure how practical it was, but she had that in mind whilst sculpting it and placing the statues. None on other sand, always on stones or shells that she'd rinsed clean of normal beach sand.

[bc56]

Prumathe's Panic

"Yes, it will be great!" Sekhmet sounds like she's trying to convince herself of that fact. It really is something she should have done before asking Prumathe to ask her to marry him.

JJC

"I might be able to help with some of those problems," Jade says. She's got a lot of miscellaneous gadgets. Some of them might be useful to Jack. "It's a lot of fun. I'm sure you'll like it."

[Purple Eagle]

[Beach Party]

Jack, Chidi and Jade

"Nothing Night-Vision goggles can't fix. We could give it a try then, one of these days. It'll be fun, Jack." Chidi says, trying to help increase her interest level further. "Could even be after that tour you promised me. I can take you there, I remember the location."

Zaabi

Zara grins at the stroking, and makes a cutesy sound. "Don't worry, I'm all about protecting people. I won't get hurt, I'm real careful... but if I do, you can help. It'll be practice!"

Since it's sand animating powder rather than animated sand, Zara carries on with her idea of sculpting more gargoyles and an angel statue in the middle. She works fast, she's good with her hands after all. Unless Abi works slower, she should be done with at least one (or two) gargoyles by now, sprinking more of the sand animating powder to make them move and flap.

[Earl of Purple]

Beach Party
Jack, Jade, Chidi

"Well, my wing-eyes can see in the dark, a little, but that's not helpful when I'm moving them as much as do in flight. What's night-vision goggles?" Jack's picturing some swimming goggles enchanted to see in the dark, not some technological gadget- but then, Jack's not very familiar with technology.

Zaabi

"I think these are probably enough gargoyles for now. Keep plenty of the dust for later." And her half-siblings and Zara's foster ones at the orphanage. There's probably four gargoyles. "This looks pretty awesome, babe. What do you think? Anywhere that could improve?"

[bc56]

JJC

"It's a device that turns heat into normal light so you can see in the dark." Jade knows Jack isn't very familiar with technology, so she leaves off most of the science stuff. "I have a few of them."

[Lord Magtok]

Moonwell Convergence

Spoiler

Show

Moonwell Convergence

The demon is seemingly helpless as Laz, or perhaps whatever was in charge or her now, rips open its belly with her sword. There is a lot of black essence oozing out of the wound attempting to mend to injury but to no avail. Her claws will find more than its fill of demonic flesh within. While she might not be able to see it, or even hear sounds of the creature she's tearing up the insides of, she can even through her armored gloves feel make out that consistency which can only be flesh.

Human, elf, demon... their flesh was all not that different when it came down to it. If Laz would devour it, it almost even tastes the same.

Organs start to drip out of the pit lords belly when it finally manages to utter it's final words of power. It had no energy to strike back but there was a fail-safe all fiends could turn to.
In an instant there is a bright flash fire that exists only for a moment and once it's gone the essence covered Laz will now also be covered in demonic ashes as that's what the creature and all its possessions have turned into. Though there's still a meal left for her as the flesh she sank her claws in and all the organs that spilled out are still there for her feast.

Only now seem Anika to consider Awen again and turns to face her. "Uh... wow. You okay back there? Turns out this was a really bad time to be wearing a bikini, huh?" The druid inquires as she starts to try to brush off the demonic ashes that have ended up covering her.

In the distance they can hear something that sounds like one of the metal doors on board the ship slamming shut.

Now that they might have a moment to look around they will see that the room they're in seems to be some kind of common room. There are four small metal tables, one in each corner of the room and what appear to be containment space on shelves above them. It doesn't appear to have been used for a very long time though judging by the layer of dust.
Then the whole ship starts shaking as its hit by two powerful blasts. Feels like someone is shooting at the ship.

[Moonwell Convergence]

Awen can't help but wonder if she had been able to stop the demon from speaking until it died, then that would have stopped it from exploding into ash and flame. If they could have brought back a body for everyone else to study, that might have helped.

With the demon gone, her whip-noose dissolves and scatters.

Being the farthest back, the witch has the least ash on her. "I'm fine."
"I-I could give you some of my clothes," Awen offers. Sure, it'd be small, but Awen has layers to spare so there's no need to worry about taking too much. She always wears too much clothes.
...It's too bad that the ash already is everywhere.

She glances at Laz, eating.
And then around the room.
And then catches herself from falling, from the ship shaking again. Guess that means it's time to start sitting on her broom again.

Saint Lazarus continues eating. The demon organs seem to be doing her good, as that feral, monstrous gleam in her eyes seems to dim in intensity as she gets more and more meat down her ravenous gullet. I still wouldn't make any sudden movements or abrupt, scary noises within five feet of her, though. Stabilizing isn't the same thing as stable, y'know? Of course, her singular focus on the organs also means the demon ash, shipquakes, and even the room around them go almost completely ignored. Maybe someone should say something to her if it's time to get going.

[Rebonack]

[Beach Party - Too Many Nicks]

"I can understand that hunger for knowledge," Geneva admits, giant nerd that she is. "The idea of parallel universes was largely theoretical back home. There had been studies into them. The link-cable project and the mirror project, but the war had ended those efforts before they could bear fruit."

Geneva gives her head a little shake as she filters through conflicting memories of Unova and Equestria. The how of her arrival had been the same in both reflections, but the specifics were different. Pink does her job in the background of bringing mental clarity. If you're going to have two people in the same head, it's really handy if one of them has significant psionic discipline.

"What would you say the major difference between Inside and Sigil are?" Geneva asks curiously.

She will absolutely keep grilling Michalson on this stuff unless someone stops her. Her curiosity is insatiable.

Then she poofs her head feathers out at Nick.

"Well, I can at least hear about it if I can't visit right now," she replies jokingly.

Meanwhile!

Geneva would probably have things to say about children sitting in rivers instead of getting educations.

"Eeww, that sounds really boring," Khannie retorts as she upends a bucket full of damp sand to make a tower. "When I get older I want to go on adventures and stuff like dad does."

She kind of HAS done that before and has gotten in trouble for it, too. Khannie is pretty incorrigible when it comes to that sort of thing. Honestly she's still pretty sore that her super-hero career got put on hold. Having to wait MORE years before doing hero stuff is lame.

The presently disguised as human Khannie glances up at Jade and friends briefly. She's got this WEIRD feeling that she met that lady somewhere before, but she can't put a finger on it. Oh well. Probably nothing. She goes back to building sand towers.

Navvy ponders the idea of river sitting while watching a shore bird bop its way through the surf. "Golly, I hadn't really thought about that before. Older dragons just lay around a whole bunch, don't they?"

[Earl of Purple]

Marlick Bay

The bird seems to have been affected by the time-stuff, or such is Benedict's interpretation. He'll also look for the stairs, and when found begin to descend. He'll try to let Zophiel or Anchor go first, however; he appreciates their ability as either meat shield, distraction or combatant, whilst he'd rather go before Sekhmet because she's trying to collect all the shards of the Icon and he would like one for himself.

[Morty]

[Beach Party - Too Many Nicks]

"These are the sacrifices parents make for the safety of their kids, Geneva." Nick teases. Are they supposed to call them chicks? Cubs? Foals, if they're born with Geneva's hooves? The trouble of being a catbird.
"'X in a funhouse mirror' tends to describe the Nexus well." Like that time they discovered Geneva was from a place just like Nick's but everyone was extra colorful and full of puns.

"I can understand that hunger for knowledge," Geneva admits, giant nerd that she is. "The idea of parallel universes was largely theoretical back home. There had been studies into them. The link-cable project and the mirror project, but the war had ended those efforts before they could bear fruit."

Geneva gives her head a little shake as she filters through conflicting memories of Unova and Equestria. The how of her arrival had been the same in both reflections, but the specifics were different. Pink does her job in the background of bringing mental clarity. If you're going to have two people in the same head, it's really handy if one of them has significant psionic discipline.

"What would you say the major difference between Inside and Sigil are?" Geneva asks curiously.

She will absolutely keep grilling Michalson on this stuff unless someone stops her. Her curiosity is insatiable.

Then she poofs her head feathers out at Nick.

"Well, I can at least hear about it if I can't visit right now," she replies jokingly.

"To start with, Sigil is a torus floatin' around a spire in the middle of the Outlands. Which might be the centre of the Planes. Or it might not." He feels like he should get that out of the way first. "So when you look up, you can see the opposite side of the city above you. There's no way out, except for a portal. An' there's no sun, just a glow in the sky. Then there's the Lady of Pain, our enigmatic ruler. She doesn't do any rulin', though. Just scrags any berk that threatens the city, tries to worship her or makes too big a mess. An' she keeps out Ivories- I mean gods, archfiends and such."

[Purple Eagle]

[Beach Party]

Jack, Chidi and Jade

((I'll just edit since people assume I don't know the difference between NV and thermal ))

"Actually, that's thermal." Chidi corrects. She's not wrong, however, for there're types of NV that work by converting heat into light. "The ones widely known as NV goggles work by amplifying visible light. Just make sure to that that one off in brightness, or you'll get blinded by all the light."

Zaabi

"I think it's awesome too, we make a good team! I think all we have left is to decorate it with sea-glass and shells, and we're set to take a pic of it, and of us with it in the background." Zara stretches forward her hand for a high-five. "Then we can lay a bit in the sun and have a little nap."

[Earl of Purple]

Beach Party
Jack, Jade, Chidi

"You'll make sure it's all working and it won't just stop randomly, right?" That only happens if the battery runs out, Jack. Or maybe if they run into an EMP. It probably won't happen.

Also, Chidi's advice is for actual military night-vision stuff, but what Jade described is thermal imaging, which can also be used to see in the dark but isn't actually night-vision. Thermal imaging can't make out faces so well, nor can it penetrate glass. What it can do is see through fog, mist, smoke and other such atmospheric phenomena.

Zaabi

"That sounds good to me." Abi gets her phone out and after a brief film of the gargoyles moving, goes to gather more pebbles, shells and seaglass to decorate it with. It shouldn't take too long before they start to take some photos; Abi's phone has a pretty good camera, being a top-of-the-line model when she got it, though that was several years ago.

[bc56]

JJC

"That shouldn't be an issue." Jade knows how to handle tech, unlike Jack. "I prefer thermal," She explains to Chidi. "Better for finding people, and you won't go blind if someone brought a flashlight. Plus I can attach an IR lamp so it can be used for active vision."

[Purple Eagle]

[Beach Party]

Jack, Chidi and Jade

"Yeah, no chance of that." Unless the battery runs out. "That's fair." Chidi says. "So it's settled, Jack's coming next patrol I'm available?" He makes sure to add that, because it's highly likely that Jade patrols every night.

After that it'll probably be time to say their goodbyes, unless there's something else to talk about.

Zaabi

Soon enough, they're done, and Zara pulls out her phone to take some pictures and videos of her own. "I'll take a picture of us with my stretchy limbs!" She suggests, standing beside Abi when she's ready and stretching her hand far enough. She stretches her neck forward to check that they're both in frame, then returns her head back and snaps a couple of pictures of them grinning proudly, their handiwork behind them. "I'll send you the pic? I think we should sunbathe next."

[UncleWolf]

Spoiler

Show

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...

[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!

Operation Sea Slug

Silently, watching the boiling clouds, TTN reaches out to Will to offer her hand. If they came across a crowd, she didn't want to lose him in the disarray. She feels her eyes whir slightly as she focuses on the storm, magnifying her sight to try and get a look. "It is...disheartening to hear that such a thing is common enough that you have heard of it and can explain it so readily, Leopold." She points out after a bit of thinking. Her meat brain felt so much slower than her old one had been, but at least it didn't feel like too much had been lost in the transfer. "But if it doesn't land close to us, then we should be fine. Where are we headed if we are to help your loved one? I would assume not through that Gate at the very least."

[Gnrlshrimp]

Beach Party- D&D

"Oh, I don't really think I'm one for any leadership roles. That's why I applied for lab work anyway. Or library work. Same idea. Besides, the Sergeant doesn't seem to think we're worth much on our own anyway."
Though maybe that's just Melvin's interpretation, since the guy did assign them to field work, cushy neighborhood or not.

[Beach Party - D&D]

"Sergeant's just grumpy. Don't worry about him." Ithuriel remarks, dismissively. "Besides, I asked you two to come join me, didn't I? Obviously I think you two are worth something!"

Wilfred raises a finger as if to contest that claim, but seems at a bit of a loss for words. He had rather assumed that Ithuriel didn't pay any attention to them.

"Look, I appreciate the smart guys who keep me from doing anything stupid, that's all."

[Shadowcaller]

Moonwell

”Use your lowest caliber shells, the goal is to see if the ship is there, not cause actual damage,” Blanche answers with a little annoyance. It should be common sense if the goal of this task isn’t to destroy, especially if allies are on the ship and they can’t see if they’ll hit a critical component or not. Besides, if the ship isn’t there, lower caliber ammo is way less important to expend on nothing. “And you saw the ship, it’s pretty dang armored. I think we’d only risk a chance of hurting them if they were outside of it, and we’d see them on the exterior of it’s cloaked.”

A small grin takes shape as her assumption proves correct, and Blanche turns to whoever is piloting. ”We need to fly in close, get our people off that ship before it can retreat and take them with it. Don’t focus on taking that thing out either - our goal is to secure this place, eliminating hostiles is secondary.”

[Moonwell Convergence]

Awen can't help but wonder if she had been able to stop the demon from speaking until it died, then that would have stopped it from exploding into ash and flame. If they could have brought back a body for everyone else to study, that might have helped.

With the demon gone, her whip-noose dissolves and scatters.

Being the farthest back, the witch has the least ash on her. "I'm fine."
"I-I could give you some of my clothes," Awen offers. Sure, it'd be small, but Awen has layers to spare so there's no need to worry about taking too much. She always wears too much clothes.
...It's too bad that the ash already is everywhere.

She glances at Laz, eating.
And then around the room.
And then catches herself from falling, from the ship shaking again. Guess that means it's time to start sitting on her broom again.

Moonwell Convergence

Saint Lazarus continues eating. The demon organs seem to be doing her good, as that feral, monstrous gleam in her eyes seems to dim in intensity as she gets more and more meat down her ravenous gullet. I still wouldn't make any sudden movements or abrupt, scary noises within five feet of her, though. Stabilizing isn't the same thing as stable, y'know? Of course, her singular focus on the organs also means the demon ash, shipquakes, and even the room around them go almost completely ignored. Maybe someone should say something to her if it's time to get going.

Operation Sea Slug

Silently, watching the boiling clouds, TTN reaches out to Will to offer her hand. If they came across a crowd, she didn't want to lose him in the disarray. She feels her eyes whir slightly as she focuses on the storm, magnifying her sight to try and get a look. "It is...disheartening to hear that such a thing is common enough that you have heard of it and can explain it so readily, Leopold." She points out after a bit of thinking. Her meat brain felt so much slower than her old one had been, but at least it didn't feel like too much had been lost in the transfer. "But if it doesn't land close to us, then we should be fine. Where are we headed if we are to help your loved one? I would assume not through that Gate at the very least."

Operation Sea Slug

Leopold opens his mouth to reply, but whatever he was about to say is overshadowed by a loud booming voice cutting through everything else.

"LANNERETH!"

The head of a skeletal dragon emerge from the purple cloud, it's eyes lit with orbs shining with pure malice (if malice was purple colored). "GUESS WHOSE BACK?!" It, or rather she by the sound of it, sounds downright giddy as more and more of its body comes through the 'gate. "YES ME, YOU ****ING NERD! Come and face me now or I'm going to ERADICATE your entire race!" As if to make a point it gestures with with its skeletal claw at something. As the claw starts to glow screams of pain and terror can be heard from the streets underneath it.

Leopold stares in shock at the flying dragon skeleton and then silently gestures for the two to follow him.

[Sergeant Blanche takes command]

The captain nods and the skyship is taken closer to the previously hidden obelisk ship.
But as they come closer the ship does something weird. It abruptly stops and like a bumper car at a carnival ride it makes a strange 180 degree turn in the air and starts moving towards the VIGIL ship.

"What the **** are they doing?!" The lizardman gunslinger shouts.

"Think der going for a suicide attack." The fiery dwarf grimly replies.

It does appear that the obelisk ship is planning to ram them, now becoming fully visible.

Moonwell Convergence

"Thanks for the offer, but it's okay. Let's focus on the demon slaying now."
Anika then starts to approach Saint Laz to check if sh's okay (and what in Elune's name she was doing) but loses her balance and falls to the floor when she entire room makes a 180 degree turn.

"Hey, are you- shiiiiiit!"

If Awen did manage to get up on her broom she will be spared from the sudden shift unlike the druid and Saint Laz. Evidently there is at least one demon left controlling the ship.

[Deathkeeper]

[Beach Party- Many Nicks]

Nick shakes his head.
"Sounds...dreary. I like having a sky. Even my old, bombed-out one. And I like to think we come across as less...distant in the way we run our city." They're not mysterious god-level beings at least.

Meanwhile!

"Yup! Lots of dragons are super lame and just sit around for centuries. Booooring." Nick Jr nods as he pats sand into conical shapes.

[Beach Party- D&D]

Melvin does seem equally put aback.
"Did we work on any of your cases, Ithuriel? I don't remember seeing your name on any of the reports we were out workin' with." And he's very consistent about reading those! Even if everyone else doesn't bother reading every little word.

Operation Sea Slug

Will looks up sadly at the giant foul-mouthed dragon and slowly reaches up to take Titania's hand.
"I just wanted a shower, a bed, and maybe fitting in today." he says very quietly as he goes along with the other two. When did today get so weird?

[5a Violista]

[Moonwell Convergence]

Awen is incredibly glad that she got onto her broom. No need to fall over, which is good.
Falling over isn't fun.

She noticed that it turned completely around, however.

The witch tries to deduce what's going on: the ship was escaping, moving directly away from the Vigil ship. Judging by how far it turned, it's either going back to Vigil's ship, or it's going to the moonwell. Probably not the moonwell, honestly. Which leaves..."They're going to ram the ship," she says. And if the rest of Vigil had some way to take down this ship, they would've done so already.

They need to find the steering, or whatever. Or whatever passes as an engine, and destroy it.

In order to solve this, Awen tries yet another spell. She tears off a pinch of hair from her arm, and then dips it in her own blood. Then, like eyedrops, she puts drops into an eye. This, of course, is a magic that'll let her find other demons. Not just any demons, obviously - it won't find any of those raven demons or other kinds of demons that are around, but instead only demons who are the same type as the one they just barely fought. It's not ideal, but she doesn't really have any other choice other than to just run around the ship hallways looking for something.

She turns around, looking for any of that same kind of demon; even (normal) walls can't stop her sight.

[Earl of Purple]

Beach Party
Chade, Jack, Jidi

"Excellent, sounds good. I hope I'll be there." She might forget again, though. She's also not really that good at keeping track of days.

Jack doesn't have much more to say, if anything.

Zaabi

"Sure, we can go sunbathing." She reaches into her bag and pulls out a little box, into which she directs the gargoyles so she can keep them and show them off.

Once that's done, she turns to Zara and looks her up and down. "I'm not sure it'd help either of us, though. I don't really tan." And Zara's all bundled up.

[UncleWolf]

Operation Sea Slug

"...time to go. Now." TTN says, hauling Will up upon her shoulder and kneeling down to try and drag Leopold up on her other one. "We need to go now. He's after the lich we arrived with. Leopold, please tell me where to go and the fastest way to get there. I don't think there's going to be much of this place now unless that dragon is confronted..." She pauses, but Will will almost certainly understand she's actually thinking of fighting the thing now. After all, there probably were at least a few truly innocent here...

[bc56]

CJJ

"Sounds good! See you then!" Jade is half expecting Jack to miss it, but hopefully not. She's done talking if the other two are.

[Purple Eagle]

[Beach Party]

Jack, Chidi and Jade

"I'll remind you. Let's make it the day of that tour you're taking me on. Alright! it was nice seeing you again, Jade." This time he looks at her face, no ogling or anything. Clap for Chidi! He gives her a high-five, then waves and leaves with Jack.

"So, what next? We leave for that rooftop garden?" They've eaten and swum, is there anything left to do?

Zaabi

"I don't tan much. We don't have to sunbathe exactly, just lie in the sun. I brought an umbrella! I always carry around an umbrella, in case it rains, but this time I got the beach type." Ever smiling, Zara sets it up and spreads a towel for her to lie on, waiting for Abi to do the same. "I thought we could just nap together for a bit, maybe even... cuddle?" Which would require laying their towels very close to each other so they can cuddle without getting sand on Abi's body.

[Shadowcaller]

Operation Sea Slug

"Go north, go north!" Leopold insists with gestures towards the jungle even as he's being dragged. He can't quite move as fast as TNN but he tries to at least not slow her down.

As they turn to run away they can no longer see the dragon but they would have to run quite a while to be unable to hear her and boy does she love to talk.

"This angers you doesn't it, Lannereth?" The dragon calls over the screams. "You love your pathetic little people so much despite them being so WEAK. But if you just hand over the core-"

The dragon abruptly stops talking and so does the screams.

If TNN or Will dares to look her way they will not like what they see.
She's looking their way as if sensing their presence.

"Don't run now, I just need to talk to you~" Her voice have suddenly turned sickeningly sweet. "Think you've seen a demonic core I need~" And so the dragon have reached the top of the hill they were standing on in a single flap of the seemingly useless skeletal wings that nonetheless seem to carry it through the air.

They might realize that she's actually humming to herself now.

[Deathkeeper]

[Operation Sea Slug]

Will is hauled onto TTN's shoulder. He hastily starts refastening his armor as best as he can.
"No, he's after you! And you don't get two heroic sacrifices in one day! Get us the hell out of here!" Will hisses into TTN's ear, feeling as helpless as the rest of today. What are they supposed to do against that? Lannereth better show if she doesn't want TTN ripped apart again after all that work she presumably did to revive her.

[Rebonack]

[Marlick Bay]

Down the stairs our heroes go.

The walk is a bit winding but, thankfully, not terribly treacherous. The way is hidden, not unmaintained. Thankfully it just so happens to be the lowest tides of the year, which means the normally submerged sea cave at the base of the rock is now exposed. As soon as our heroes set foot inside they're beset with the acrid smell of brine and rotting fish.

No doubt these salt-soaked crags are teeming with pelagic nightmares!

But for now, none appear to be forthcoming.

Damp sand squelches under foot, the surroundings illuminated only by eerie plankton dwelling in the sand and tide pools. Each step ignites the cave with a ghostly blue glow. It's difficult to make out in the low light, but the walls of the cave are smooth and worn. Likely not by water, if the ghastly conjoined spirals that spread fractally across every available surface is any indication. Our heroes lest guard their minds as well, lest that unwholesome shape begin twisting itself into the folds of their brains.

Before long the the path will split. One downward, where the scent of brine grows stronger still. One level, where hideous, squat, inhuman figures have been carved into the stone. One upward, water pouring down the stone stairs and anemones grasp as anything that moves past.


[Beach Party - Too Many Nicks]

"Queen of Pain doesn't sound like a particularly inviting title," Geneva replies, her tone deadpan. "But I suppose she really isn't trying to make friends, is she? It sounds more like she's a local problem solver."

Where problems are, apparently, gods and arch devils.

"It sounds quite a bit more open than a vault, at least. Having grown up in an underground bunker I can stand some degree of confinement," Geneva says. Then adds with a chuckle, "You know, the first time I saw the night sky I was terrified of it. It was like staring off into a bottomless pit. I had this nagging, irrational fear that if I wasn't careful I might go tumbling off into the sky."

A moment's considering follows.

"Do you know WHY this Lady of Pain doesn't like people worshiping her as a god? I wonder if there's some kind of geas against divine entities being in the city and if she got enough worshipers she would be excluded."

Oh no, now Geneva is curious about something.

"I don't suppose anyone has ever asked her?"

Meanwhile!

Khannie decides to wade back into the water and find some more sea weed to make additional shrubbery around their castle.

"What kind of stuff are you going to do when you grow up instead?" Navvy asks. "Mother doesn't really lay around sleeping a bunch, she runs the Trog's Tavern and helps keep the Nexus safe! She's pretty aces. I always kind of wanted to be a paladin! It would be super-keep, going around and helping people and vanishing bad guys!"


[Is the Moonwell Even Still There After That Explosion?]

Geneva makes a tiny, groggy animal noise. It probably isn't heard over all the commotion of the incoming ram attempt.

[Earl of Purple]

Beach Party
Jack, Jade, Chidi

"Yeah, rooftop garden. Want to get changed into street clothes first, or go as we are?" Jack's barefoot, but she's got shoes in her satchel she can put on if she must. Or she can fly. Either works as well as the other, really.

Zaabi

"Sun umbrella? Like a parasol, or a bigger thing like you get in pub gardens?" Or possibly a beach umbrella, a big thing that Zara's not too familiar with. Abi puts her own towel down as close to Zara's as she can. Abi is very interested in cuddling, and enjoys being close to those she's close to.