Trog's Tavern CLVI

[Rebonack]

Upon entering the tavern you find it to be rustic, dim, cramped, and smelling of spilled beer. Moving through the crowd you spot a fireplace with a banjowood carving on the mantle and bubbler-style juke-box playing some old-time tunes. You also make out through the haze the curving bar and private booths hidden behind ferns. A side door leading to a patio outside reveals a hungry looking dumpster mimic sneaking towards an unsuspecting customer. You spot a flight of stairs leading up to the second floor rooms, a pair of tipsy patrons making the arduous trek.

Near the stairs to the second floor rooms is a floor length mirror. Stepping through will teleport someone to the Temple of Inari where healers are always standing by in case of bar-brawls.

A large trap door near the tavern's designated Dark and Mysterious Corner apparently leads down to the Dungeons of Doom, of which the Tavern is not liable for any personal injury sustained therein if the nearby sign is to be believed.

Trog's can be found right around the corner from any place in the Nexus. Somehow. It's best not to question it.

Staff:
Owner and Proprietor: Trog
Bartender: Zee
Temporally Non-Linear Bartender in Training: Selekhael

Trog's Tavern hires only the finest NPC servers:
((Since all are NPCs they are up for communal control. Feel free to say what they do or say to you or any other patron. To a point.))

Servers:
Nina - A fiesty and vivacious tiefling. Mean, self-centered and completely unavailable. Updated her appearance for 5e, everyone is into blue tieflings now.
Paige - A sweet, wholesome, flirty elf working her way through PC school.
Cosmo - A quick-witted and oppressed gnome scoundrel. Truly a monster. RAWR!

DRINK MENU:
Wines:
Catoblepas Sauvingnon
Chimera Cabernet - A hearty red with a hits of oak and black cherry.
Chuul Lounge - Bacardi Limon, Aberration , creme de bananes and juices into a Chuul shaker half-filled with ice cubes. Shake well. Strain into a highball glass half-filled with ice cubes, and serve.
Constitution Crushing Wine - Fort. DC 35 or pass out!
Cormyrian Fireamber - Imported and very good.
Eladrin Carbernet - Official Feywine of the Wild Hunt.
Feline's Fancy - A purplish, swirly mixture that any feline will adore.
Funky Llama - A rich fruity wine, available in white or red.
Iames Agonia - This tart, dark red wine will stun you and leave you feeling good for hours.
Kobold Chianti - Tart. Tangy. Shifty.
Merfolk Merlot - Full-bodied with a hint of rose.
Powerlust Pinot - For those corruptable humans.
Shadar-Kai Shadowine - Served in a jagged, broken glass.
Spoonake Chablis - Straight from the Underdark!
Warlock Wine - Best served cold.
Xorn Zinfandel - Sweet and fruity!

Mixed Drinks:
A Drink - Generic booze with ice that can be shaken, stirred, or you know, whatever. Try to be more imaginative next time.
Aboleth Absinthe - Far Realmilicious!
Black Shadow - A strong concoction guaranteed to send a chill down your spine at any temperature.
Brandy Yezekiel - Apple brandy, chocolate liqueur, cream, and garnished with a sprinkle of coco powder. Almost as good as her brownies.
Coffee Martini - Buzzzzz.
Djinn and Tonic - Whirling ice cubes, fizzy soda, and one drunk genie.
Dragon Liver Buster - Strongest drink in the house.
Dwarf Spirits
Fire Archon Asylum Rum - "FAAR!!!"
Haley's Liquer - Named for the redheaded rogue, a sweet creme liquer, excellent over ice.
Hemo Colada - 100% less coconut, 100% more ichor.
Ice Liquer - From the Plane of Ice: guaranteed to cool you down.
Ichor Liquor - Made from a fermented mix of various kinds of blood.
Jasphattan - El J's Secret Recipie, vermouth & bitters.
LEVEL UP LIQUER - Need a few extra XP? We gots XP in a bottle!
Long Island Iced Tea - Tastes better than it will make you feel in the morning.
Murderita - Wasted away again...
Piña CoLlama - If you're not into yoga and have half a brain.
Rampaging Rail Mixer - Mad strong!
Rust Monster - Scotch, drambuie shaken in a wooden mixer.
Sneak on the Beach - Peach vodka, cran-pineapple juice, a cat hair.
Swampwater - Phosphorescent lemon-lime.
White Russian Wukei - For bounty hunters who dig dairy.
Wizard Blizzard - Crushed ice and Bourbon. The effect depends on the spell stored in it.


Beers & Such:
Ales - Archon, Guilders, Balthor's Best.
Grim Brewery Ginger Beer - Death-o-licious!
Mind Flayer Mead - Mmm... brains.

Other Fine Beverages:
Celestial Soda Pop - Soda specially brewed in Celestia. Tastes divine.
Darknight Coffee - Cream has no effect.
Dragon's Fire Breath (Cherry Kool-Aid) - For the kids!
Fox Cola - The choice of the furry generation.
Llamonade - That cool, refreshing drink for quadrupeds.
Oni Tea - From the far east.
Red Minotaur Energy Drink - a-MAZE-ing energy!
Root Beer
Save vs. Slow Slurpees™ - C-c-c-cold...
Hot Chocolate - Mmmmmmarshmallows.

MUNCHIES MENU:
AbyssalNuts - Damned and spicy.
Baked Goods - Scones and Muffins and Croissants oh my! We have no cake - the cake is a lie!
Bamhacon - Where the ham meets the bacon. Served with eggs.
Brownies - Made fresh by Zee. The taste of chocolate fills you with Determination.
Court of Stars Salad - Fresh fey greens.
French Panwaffles - All the strengths of French toast, waffles, and pancakes with none of the weaknesses. Truly the breakfast of champions.
Hero Sandwiches - What else? Served with Villain vinegrette.
Velvet Elfish - Trogtilla chips and hot meat and cheese dip.
Yuan-ti Gyros - Lamb. Or halfling. We're not sure.
Trog's Floor Chili - Don't ask Trog where it came from and Trog won't tell you, "the floor".

SMOKABLES:
Dwarven Cigars - From our axe-hewn humidor.
Coffin Nail™ Cigarettes - Get Nailed!
Halfling Pipeweed - Bogart™ brand.

Don't forget to ask Zee about the special of the day!

[Morty]

"A couple of them," Zee replies with a nod. "In both senses of 'a couple'. People from Creation show up around here every now and again, but it isn't often. I don't think I've ever encountered a regular mortal from there, though. Which is interesting. Unremarkable people from other worlds end up here all the time. So why is it always the extraordinary from your world?"

That's the question.

Maybe because regular peasants are less interesting than super-powered demigods?

Zee answers that mysterious question with a shrug.

"It's fascinating to note the different sorts of people who arrive here. There's rarely any rhyme or reason to it, at first glance. But, I think, everyone DOES have something in common. Everyone has an interesting story."

Maybe that's the Nexus' goal?

A collection of all the most interesting stories to see how they intertwine.

That's what's happening right over there with the talk of spooky foxes.

"If this Nexus can be said to have a will, then it is clearly one to amass stories," Askeladd agrees. "It wants... if such a thing can want something... for stories to be told within it. But people don't make stories on their own. Circumstances do. Many potentially great, terrible or impactful people have lived and died in obscurity, simply because of where they were born. I suppose my mission is to do something about it."

[bc56]

Selekhael for one is glad about that, even if that fake other her sent her here after stealing her boyfriend.
She shakes her head. "I am working for it, that's, uh, why I'm here. But, uh, fighting and killing things isn't working towards having a peaceful life. That's, uh, completely backwards." At this rate, she'll never reach heaven through violence, but honestly, she has no interest in that, and nobody's really told her about it. Anything she knows about being... Whatever she is... She learned them from Lapis and Arukael.

Dungeon of Doom
Orathius growls and shakes his head. It's not a skill he's had time to cultivate. He can't really get into the chest like this either. Just going to need to wait for it to wear off.

[Rebonack]

"Yeah, that's kind of the impression I get, too," Zee replies with a bob of her head. "What happens when you take these stories and just-"

She makes a crushing motion with both palms together.

"-mash 'em together? I've met so many people here who had pretty mundane lives before they found themselves in the Nexus and then all of a sudden it's like the horizon of possibilities opens up before them. The Nexus exposes people's potential."

Granted.

There are lots of regular people, too.

But even they often have interesting stories.

"I mean, I wasn't always like this-"

She narrows her eyes suspiciously.

"-or at least I'm pretty sure I wasn't. That's a chunk of my story I would love to find again. Pretty sure a whale ate it, though," she says wistfully.

"Anywho! Being here played a large part in letting me be who I am. Or mes be who I am. It's weird. But hey! Weird tends to be the name of the game around here. So-"

She lays one forearm flat on the bar and leans forward. "Kindred soul, are yah? You like seeing people living up to the potential of their story? This is definitely a good place to pull that off."

Meanwhile!

"There's this old proverb," Zee says. "That it's better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war. People like us, we've got enough power on a personal level to really help other people. And there are LOTS of people who need help with things that aren't going to budge unless forced to. I know you've encountered it before. You helped save that village, right? And that felt good, didn't it? Even though you had to face some terrible things it meant that those people could keep tending to their fish and their crops. People like us exist so others can live peaceful lives. You can bury those talents, if you want. But that won't be doing good for yourself or anyone else."

She makes a sweeping motion at the tavern around them.

"Think of this not as an end, but as a jumping off point. There are an awful lot of great stories that begin in a humble tavern."


[Dungeons of Doom]

Shor's bones...

Of course.

He's just going to have to stand around awkwardly until his blood cools off, isn't he?

That's a feeling Fenris knows well enough. It was always the nocturnal transformations that were the worst. Going out at night was always harrowing since she never knew when that all-consuming need to hunt would suddenly strike her. That overpowering hunger that can't be fulfilled when she's in possession of useless flat cow-teeth. There had been a few close calls over the years when she was in town. But she knew every little hidden nook and cranny of Whiterun. She knew all the shadowed places no one bothered to check in the night. And most of all she knew the sleepless nights of pacing her and Olfina's room on all fours.

The ring had changed all that. What a wonder it is. Shame about the admirer that came with it.

Fenris decides not to use the ring to return to human form. Instead she uses her practiced dexterity to hook her claws between the chest and its lid to pry it open with a pop.

Inside?

Well.

What an interesting collection of things.

Several small sacks filled with various bronze and silver coins.
Three books of interest.
A suit of fine clothes.
Several bottles of very fancy looking wine.
An hourglass that appears to be full of ruby dust.
A dagger with a rat-skull set into its hilt.
An intricate ivory music box.
And a piece of amber that looks vaguely like a face and smells faintly of cheese.

[5a Violista]

Definitely, the sloths will eventually come to a conclusion, which will be...essentially, just giving her a much larger-than-expected tip. The magnetic boots and the silver scale don't really seem like the sort of thing that a barmaid would enjoy, but barmaids tend to like getting tips so that's what they'll decide on. And also a larger tip for the other barmaid that has been helping them, since it seems like it would be unfair to tip the barmaid that didn't take their order more than the barmaid that did.
Of course, they won't give too much, because they decide that they also need to get an orb of identification; but they figure that's probably okay because, one argues, a barmaid would probably prefer repeat customers over getting a larger one-time tip. And accidentally bringing more cursed treasure into the tavern would not be conducive to having repeat customers.


"That's...a maid outfit? Really?" asks June for clarification, as she totally-doesn't-imagine what she'd look like in a maid outfit. "Yeah, that's pretty weird. Was it some kind of magic maid outfit, or...?" Even a magic maid outfit would be pretty weird, but at least it'd be understandable.
But, no, it was not magical at all. But! It was tailored to fit, so that's basically magic. Not many people are willing to tailor-fit clothes for someone they've kidnapped.
But but, it doesn't really seem like a targeted thing targeting June in particular, otherwise this mask would've targeted June right now instead of the sloths. So doesn't particularly seem like something June has to worry about.

When Zee returns, June gives her opinion on the gyros. "They were pretty great!" she says. "It's been so long since I've had a gyro because I never really bothered to buy the ingredients, but they're just as good as I remember."

With the food gone, June has gotten thinking about what they've talked about.
"Actually, you've gotten me curious: I need to go find one of these 'other Junes' and find out if this really is some case of parallel universe, or just a massive coincidence." And there's almost a zero percent chance of just coincidentally running into one here.



[Weird Bathroom]

With the giant no longer moving around, it becomes slightly less headache-inducing, but as soon as the crows starts cheering more and throwing things, that basically counters it.

Not wanting to disappoint her fans, though, June makes a few more cutesy catlike motions, and makes sure to grab the rapier again. She makes a wink and a wave in the direction of the false-Venus, as well.
She looks back towards where the caped guy is, since (after all) he apparently is the key for all of them to get back.

[bc56]

Selekhael looks annoyed. "Helping people is good, but I don't want to die, and I, uh, don't want to kill either!" This isn't the first time they've had a similar conversation. "Every time I go on one of those quests, I end up regretting it!" That's not even remotely true, but she's not thinking clearly. She has a strong connection to the sphere of Id as it is. Logic and reason aren't her strong suits.

Dungeons of Doom
Orathius pads over and looks into the box.
Nothing looks especially useful to him, but obviously he can't tell what anything in there is without examining it closely, and he can't do that while his hands are all messed up.

[Rebonack]

Glad the sloths figured that one out, they seemed like good people.

"Yes," Zee confirms to June with the utmost seriousness. Because there's no way to discuss people getting kidnapped and stuffed into maid outfits without being extremely serious. "Nah, it wasn't magic. Just tailored for June. Which, in retrospect, is kind of strange. Who tailors an outfit for someone they just kidnapped? Especially a random person they were just planning on using as a hostage as opposed to a specific person? Seems like a lot of trouble. But hey! Weird stuff happens here all the time as I'm sure you've no doubt noticed by now."

Y'know.

What with the whole snake tail thing and all.

That's arguably pretty weird, too.

"Glad you enjoyed the food! I've experimented with our standard recipes a bit over the years, trying to get everything just right. The tricky part," Zee says as she's collecting the used dishes and passing them off to Cosmo, who dutifully tosses them out the window into the dumpster mimic. "-is that just right is a little different for everyone. So I try to aquatint myself with what my regulars enjoy."

She's very thoughtful like that.

At June's declared quest Zee hums thoughtfully. "Well, there's at least one June in the [Weird Bathroom] at the moment, but I'll admit that I don't know exactly where it is. I really haven't been paying much attention to that since it's going on-"

She makes an exceptionally vague motion with one hand.

"-somewhere else."

Meanwhile!

Ah.

This is one of those times when arguing isn't going to help all that much.

So Zee gives Selekhael's shoulder a little squeeze, instead.

"Then don't kill. And don't die. You're clever and have been gifted with the ability to accomplish both of those things."

Could it really be that easy?


[Dungeons of Doom]

You never know what sort of junk someone might want to buy off you.

At this point Fenris scoops up all the contents and dumps them into her nearby backpack which appears to have been designed to just drop off when she transforms. It has ALSO been designed with a loop that fits around her human waste that she can instead slip her head through while in beast form.

What?

Fenris has been at this for a long time.

She considers her beast form to be herself just as much as her human form is. Both are her, just her with different aspects brought to the fore. That Gray-Mane ferocity manifested in a more visceral fashion.

"We can return to the tavern," Fenris rumbles. "Being a werewolf is not illegal here."

She'll head for the door at the back of the room, her instincts telling her that's the way out. Pushing it open, our wolfy heroes will find themselves in the tavern's wine cellar again.

Definitely some sort of magic.

[Ironsmith]

[Weird Bathroom]

With the giant no longer moving around, it becomes slightly less headache-inducing, but as soon as the crows starts cheering more and throwing things, that basically counters it.

Not wanting to disappoint her fans, though, June makes a few more cutesy catlike motions, and makes sure to grab the rapier again. She makes a wink and a wave in the direction of the false-Venus, as well.
She looks back towards where the caped guy is, since (after all) he apparently is the key for all of them to get back.

[Weird Bathroom]

The caped man looks back at her stoically.

He seems... vaguely unsatisfied.

But that expression doesn't last long. The room fades around June, much like it would if she were waking up from a particularly vivid dream.

When she opens her eyes, she's going to find herself back in Trog's*.

She's surrounded on all sides by friends and admirers, at least a few of whom have bought a round of drinks in her name. Arthfael's shown up again; he's got a mug of root beer and is foisting it high, a big grin plastered on his face. Creepy ghost lady is right next to him, nursing a shot of... something, it's hard to tell from here.

But never mind that, as soon as June's lucid, she's going to be greeted with cheers and gentle ribbing.

"TO JUNE!"

* At least it looks like Trog's. Doesn't look quite right. Was her picture always on the wall there? With her standing over the giant's corpse?

[bc56]

"Uh, what do you mean?" As far as Selekhael can tell, she's been gifted with the ability to kill. Right now, she could pull any one of three very lethal weapons out of thin air and kill anyone within her range. That's not being gifted to not kill. And any dangerous situations she's survived so far were just her getting lucky.

Dungeon of Doom (not anymore)
Two werewolves emerge from the wine cellar.
Orathius is trying very hard not to look threatening, but ends up just looking like he'll tear someone's throat out if he's touched. Normally he doesn't wolf out anywhere near civilization, he just takes a rest in some secluded spot when he needs to change back.

[Morty]

"Yeah, that's kind of the impression I get, too," Zee replies with a bob of her head. "What happens when you take these stories and just-"

She makes a crushing motion with both palms together.

"-mash 'em together? I've met so many people here who had pretty mundane lives before they found themselves in the Nexus and then all of a sudden it's like the horizon of possibilities opens up before them. The Nexus exposes people's potential."

Granted.

There are lots of regular people, too.

But even they often have interesting stories.

"I mean, I wasn't always like this-"

She narrows her eyes suspiciously.

"-or at least I'm pretty sure I wasn't. That's a chunk of my story I would love to find again. Pretty sure a whale ate it, though," she says wistfully.

"Anywho! Being here played a large part in letting me be who I am. Or mes be who I am. It's weird. But hey! Weird tends to be the name of the game around here. So-"

She lays one forearm flat on the bar and leans forward. "Kindred soul, are yah? You like seeing people living up to the potential of their story? This is definitely a good place to pull that off."

"I don't know if I would put it this way." Askeladd strokes his beard. "It's more... hmm. I don't want to dictate others' stories for them. I want to tell them as they are, for better or for worse. And when I tell them, maybe others will be inspired to change theirs on their own. That is what Luna wanted for me when they appeared to me, I think. If not... then it's something I want nonetheless. What I seek out are stories that wouldn't otherwise be told. I give them a voice, for however much that's worth."

[5a Violista]

"My only guess is that they didn't know who they wanted to kidnap beforehand, but for some reason having a tailor-fit outfit was important for some reason?" Yeah, that doesn't really make sense when June says it aloud. Unless there's a really specific kind of ritual that needs to be done, but...then that would be a ritual sacrifice and not a hostage. Very weird.

"Even not being a regular, it was still pretty good." But! Apparently, if June comes here more, it'll taste even better? That sounds pretty great.

Actually! On topic. "The weird bathroom?" June looks over at the bathrooms, as if somehow one of them would luckily be labeled 'weird'. "Not sure if I should ask how you know what's going on in the bathroom but don't know where it is, but..." Okay, maybe June should ask that, since it seems like an important question.
June doesn't ask it anyway, but instead takes advantage of snake anatomy to raise her upper body up higher, as if that somehow would help find this weird bathroom. "Feels a bit weird to ask, but...how long has she? been in there?" Not quite certain on the gender, since Zee didn't mention it for this one, but June figures 'she' is more gender-neutral than saying 'he', likely due to unconscious bias on June's part. "I could definitely wait a few hours if that makes a meeting, but I'll need more lemonade."



[Not Trog's?]

June wakes up, finding herself in Trog's*.

Is June still wearing the catmaid outfit or is she back in just a sports bra and leggings? is an important thing she probably ought to know.

Ugh. More headaches. Too many people here doing too much stuff. She barely even registers the odd picture over there, since there's already too much going on. "Came here to get advice on how to deal with a cult, and instead the whole trip turned into just one long headache," she says, complaining to herself under her breath. Sure, cheers are fine and all but she'd really rather get away from them.

Okay.
Arthfael. He's here.
She turns away from the people closest to her, and heads straight to Arthfael. She snaps in front of his eyes a couple times. "Hey. I told you not to leave that room. What gives? And not only that, but you got injured, too?" she asks. Oh. And, his drink: she notices it. With the way he was eyeing her bleeding lip earlier, she would've thought he would have ordered some blood or something instead. They probably serve blood at Trog's. She thinks. She's never actually checked because she always gets hers straight from the vampire, but. It just makes sense that there is. "Huh. Interesting choice." Anyway, "More importantly, where's your dad?" She's pretty sure he didn't actually mention family, but if he's here at the bar then of course he would have family nearby or something.

[Rebonack]

Zee considers Askeladd's reply.

"It's like a boulder at rest at the top of a hill," Zee considers. "You don't need to guide the boulder down the hill. You just need to give it a little nudge and it'll do the rest of the work on its own. And it'll probably get a whole bunch of other rocks going, too. What was once placid inaction has become motion and all it took was a touch in the right place at the right time."

Meanwhile!

"You've got ways to incapacitate someone without actually causing much harm to them, if any," Zee points out. "And people like us are really bad at dying. Just the worst at it. You don't die, you just get expelled from the Game. With someone as big as me getting back in once I'm out is a pain in the butt. But someone as small as you? You can just slip right back in without much trouble."

Zee offers a small smile.

"Death is a lie and an enemy alike, Selekhael. All of our greatest enemies are lies. But no lie can endure the light of truth."

Also Meanwhile!

"Maybe? I think foxmask is just really weird. She tried to kill me by having her minions slap me with wet mops. I don't think she really understands things the way regular people would," Zee muses. That's often true with fae. It tends to get more true the more powerful the fae are.

Hmm.

Maybe all the Junes have similar tastes?

Maybe that's why Zee managed to get it right?

That would make sense, right? Maybe?

Anyhow, other things!

"I mean, you could? I could tell you anyway? I know most of what's going on in here most of the time. Or at least the important things. But what counts as important isn't always... very sensible? I guess? Typically what people are doing in the bathrooms doesn't count as important so I don't really notice. But whatever has been going on in this weird bathroom is weird and apparently important and not really the sort of stuff you would expect to be happening in a bathroom. If that makes any sense?" Zee sort of rambles. At that seconds question Zee opens her mouth, then closes it again, then looks really thoughtful. "That... is a question I am very uniquely unsuited to answer. I don't think it's supposed to have been very long? But my perspective on this sort of thing is really skewed. I-"

A beat.

"Wait, now June is in Trog's. Proper? Or is that... not Trog's? Something really screwy is going on," Zee says as she scoots out from behind the counter, looking concerned. "Hey June? Arthfael? Can you hear me?" she calls out into the aether, her voice reverberating across the spheres.

Also Also Meanwhile (now with werewolves)!

Just lay down there next to the fire.

Everything will be fine.

Honestly it's kind of surreal for Fenris. She's spent ages hiding her lycanthropy from the world at large, revealing this side of herself only to those she trusts. To just be open about it is jarring. How bizarre to be padding through a relatively crowded tavern while being spared hardly a second glance?

Granted, most patrons are giving them plenty of space. It's pretty clear they're feeling uneasy.

Paige, meanwhile, will approach the pair and stands at a respectful distance. "You two decided to check out the Dungeon of Doom? How was it today?"

"Strange," Fenris replies after a few moments of thought.

"I bet. Can I get you anything?" the elf asks.

[Ironsmith]

Oh, look who's back.

She's got horns, she's got a temper, and she's got a little folder tucked up under her arm, conspicuously modern compared to the whole pseudo-medieval look she's got going on.

Braon settles herself in front of the bar, setting the folder nearby and burying her face in her arms. She knows exactly what she wants to do in this situation and has been rather expressly forbidden from doing it... though this time, she has the benefit of knowing why and her usual compulsion to rebel is left squirming under her conscience.

"Glass of water..." She mumbles despondently, through her arms. She doesn't see if Zee's moving to comply, or possibly one of the other servers. She doesn't really care, either. Water isn't much of a drink anyway. She's mostly here because the place is familiar and safe...ish.

[Not Trog's?]

June wakes up, finding herself in Trog's*.

Is June still wearing the catmaid outfit or is she back in just a sports bra and leggings? is an important thing she probably ought to know.

Ugh. More headaches. Too many people here doing too much stuff. She barely even registers the odd picture over there, since there's already too much going on. "Came here to get advice on how to deal with a cult, and instead the whole trip turned into just one long headache," she says, complaining to herself under her breath. Sure, cheers are fine and all but she'd really rather get away from them.

Okay.
Arthfael. He's here.
She turns away from the people closest to her, and heads straight to Arthfael. She snaps in front of his eyes a couple times. "Hey. I told you not to leave that room. What gives? And not only that, but you got injured, too?" she asks. Oh. And, his drink: she notices it. With the way he was eyeing her bleeding lip earlier, she would've thought he would have ordered some blood or something instead. They probably serve blood at Trog's. She thinks. She's never actually checked because she always gets hers straight from the vampire, but. It just makes sense that there is. "Huh. Interesting choice." Anyway, "More importantly, where's your dad?" She's pretty sure he didn't actually mention family, but if he's here at the bar then of course he would have family nearby or something.

[Totally Trog's I Don't Even Know What You're Talking About]

June's wearing whatever she thinks she should be wearing at this point. It depends on whether she would have changed before celebrating her victory.

"My dad?" Arthfael begins, looking up at June. "Oh! Yeah! Don't worry about him. He's back home, doing stuff. Busy night for him."

"Hey June? Arthfael? Can you hear me?"

The words sound a little distant, which is probably due to how busy Zee(?) is manning the bar. It looks like half of Inside is here to cheer June on... or more cynically, here to get some free drinks. Either way, the totally normal and real bartender is up to her eyeballs in work.

[bc56]

Meanwhile (with barmaids)
"Sure, but, uh, you can't deny that, uh, I have more ways to kill people. I, uh, don't like it." Selekhael just looks confused by the other things Zee says. "I, uh, still don't understand this game. Treating life like a game seems wrong, uh, especially when you score by, uh, killing people." To be fair, it's not the only way to score. But it is fairly major.

Meanwhile (with Werewolves)
Orathius thinks this is weird too. And he can't talk to say he wants to wash down a bucketful of mead. So he'll just stand here awkwardly.

[Rebonack]

"Everyone has more ways to harm than to heal. That's true of anyone. Building up is always harder than breaking down. And you're right, it isn't good that we treat this like a game. It isn't a game to the people who live here. But we have to convince others like us not to treat it that way, either," Zee insists. "I've been working at it... geeze. Since I first ended up in the Nexus, really. My mom's goal is basically the same she's just..."

She waves a hand in a vague sort of way.

"Ginormous. Empyreans like her are so huge they lose perspective on things. She's trying to help, I know she means well, but her help isn't always very helpful, if that makes any sense. ANYWAY, what I'm trying to say is-"

"HI!"

It's at this moment that Lapis Lazuli, aka Sappeerel, pops up between the two bar tenders.

"Hey Selekhael I was thinking about how you seem so nervous and sad a lot and one of my friends had toy animals called plushies that they would hold to make themselves feel better so I thought maybe one of those would make YOU feel better so I got you this!"

Lapis brandishes a great big chocolate brown rabbit plushy with long floppy ears at Selekhael.

She peeks out around the glassy-eyed toy, smiling a huge smile at the ophan. "Isn't he great I love him he's so soft you'll love him too!"

[5a Violista]

[Totes Trog's, Trust Me Bro]

In that case, June is still wearing the maid outfit (complete with the cat tail and cat ears!) on top of her other clothes. She's not adverse to it, and her top was ruined earlier so it's a no-brainer.

June would probably ask Arthfael more and make sure he gets back home, but...
There's way too many people here. Seriously, with this many people here it's getting hard to even think straight.

Luckily! She hears Zee. Oh, good, Zee's here. She turns to look at the busy Zee(?) at the bar, and steps towards it. "Hey, um...." She waves her wrist back at Arthfael. "Make sure the kid gets home safe. Um, bathroom led to extradimensional space again. Um...psychic cockroaches, not sure if that lady's a ghost or not, um....cape...sword..."

She puts an elbow on the bar and her palm on her forehead, and closes her eyes, hoping that'll help enough to complete some more sentences. "Need to take care of that...um...that..." She waves a hand again, as if trying to grab the correct words out of the air. "...that thing I told you about." That one thing. Remember it? June can't think of the word for it with all these people around, though. "Gotta get out of here. Gonna take kitchen exit. Venus can tell you after warlock drugs. Make sure kid's safe, yeah?" she tells the Zee.

In order to get away from the crowd of cheering and future-drunk people, June starts walking (using the bar as half-support) back to the kitchen, so she can take the back exit out to the alley.


Meanwhile!
[Trog's]

When Zee asks if that all makes sense, the June who has multiple arms and is actually here in Trog's at the moment with the real Zee nods. "Surprisingly, yeah, that actually makes sense." Somehow knows all the things that are going on but only the important things? Yeah, that's one of the more sensible things June's come across.

June opens her mouth, about to ask for clarification on what the time-perspective thing is supposed to mean and so on, but:
When Zee suddenly noticed something, June closes her mouth again.
She looks around, trying to spot any doppelgangers that may-or-may-not be a vampire or a mushroom.
"Don't see anyone who looks like me here." And! This June has the benefit of being able to turn her body completely around pretty easily, so there's no blindspots.

[bc56]

"Eep!" For someone who regularly appears and disappears out of thin air, Selekhael is still surprised when Lapis does it. "Oh, uh, thank you Lapis. He's very nice." Selekhael takes the bunny and squeezes it. She really does like it, she's just recovering from her surprise. She's not one for unrestrained enthusiasm. She squeezes the bunny again.

[Rebonack]

Over in werewolf land it appears as though Zee has caught wind of the communication problem. She gives her fingers a snap, which catches Paige's attention flawlessly. The elf looks a little puzzled, if only briefly, then nods. "Mead and keep it coming, right?"

Fenris wasn't really sure what she wanted yet, but that doesn't sound terrible to her.

She is a bit curious about the blends they make here. How it compares to meaderies back home. So she nods her ascent.

Paige will head off and find something that a werewolf can easily drink out of. It isn't an uncommon problem that she has to resolve.

Which means!

The pair of adventurers will be able to hang around here until Orathius finally manages to shrug off beast form.

Meanwhile!

Lapis seems deeply pleased that her gift is well received.

Zee tousles her daughter's hair. "How are things going at VIGIL?"

"Busy! I'm working on planting flowers for spring they'll be so pretty I love them! Oh and I found a kitty!"

Finding kitties is deeply important.

"Did I interrupt something? Sorry I was so excited about giving Mister Bun to Selekhael," Lapis apologizes.

"Nothing too important," Zee replies thoughtfully. Maybe it's good that Lapis popped in and broke the train of thought. Sometimes Selekhael gets stuck ruminating on ideas that steadily upset her more and more.

Also Meanwhile!

"She doesn't look like you so much at the moment, I don't think. I'm pretty sure the snake plus arms look is uniquely you," Zee says as she tries to focus down a bit further and ignore all the other stories constantly pressing on her senses. "Oh. She's got the maid outfit on again. And it's got cat ears on the bonnet?"

Or at least she's pretty sure they're just on the bonnet. As opposed to being actually cat ears inexplicably growing off the top of someone's head. Which is how cat girls work but Zee still thinks that's strange. Anatomically speaking it doesn't make a ton of sense but hey that's a topic for another time.

"I don't think it's here, not exactly. It's here but it's not, like what happens when someone decides to try doing a Dungeons of Doom delve," Zee says, pointing at the trap door over yonder with the little sign set up next to it. Then Zee frowns. "I'm pretty sure whatever is going on happened months ago from my perspective. If I try stepping in I'll probably break something."

She takes another breath and speaks, "June, you aren't back in Trog's yet. Something isn't right. I'll try to help if I can."

[bc56]

Meanwhile (with werewolves)
By the time Orathius reverts, he's blackout drunk. He hasn't been this inebriated since that weird Sam fellow challenged him to a drinking contest in Ivarstead. He's passed out in a chair snoring.

Meanwhile (with empyreans)
"It's nothing. Uh, you're okay, Lapis." Selekhael doesn't really want to intrude on the conversation between mother and daughter. It would be impolite.

[Rebonack]

"We were just talking about quests," Zee says. "Selekhael doesn't like hurting people and the number of quests that involve hurting people is a little distressing."

Lapis wrinkles her nose at that. "I don't know if the mean faeries count as people."

"Maybe you could join her on a quest that involves no violence?" Zee suggests.

At that Lapis' expression lights up!

"Oh! Oh that would be wonderful I love it!" she sequels with delight, turning to Selekhael just as quickly. "Do you want to do a duo quest with me we can find something nice I've don't quests where I don't have to kill anything at all they're fun too!"

Granted.

Lapis thinks just about everything is fun.

So her perspective might be a bit skewed.

[Morty]

Zee considers Askeladd's reply.

"It's like a boulder at rest at the top of a hill," Zee considers. "You don't need to guide the boulder down the hill. You just need to give it a little nudge and it'll do the rest of the work on its own. And it'll probably get a whole bunch of other rocks going, too. What was once placid inaction has become motion and all it took was a touch in the right place at the right time."

"An apt analogy," Askeladd agrees. "That is what I preferred doing. I wandered among my people, sharing stories and telling riddles. I slew monsters while disguised as their gods and heroes. I thought I was making them stronger, more flexible. I don't know if I was right. But others disagreed... and it led to my coming here. They would rather I turned my people into a spear, aimed at the Scarlet Empire's northern reaches."

[bc56]

Selekhael looks surprised again. "Uh, okay. Sure. Just, uh, let me put Mr. Bun in my room." How can she say no to an exuberant child? It is a little disturbing that Lapis is as exuberant about killing as she is about not killing though.
Selekhael climbs the stairs to her room and returns shortly after. "Okay, uh, let's go?"

[Aurora Alchemi]

[Quiet Respite]

Hanging feebly off of Maxson's arm, the faun doesn't even attempt to act like they can get up the stairs on their own right now. Instead, the tired healer simply stares at the floor with each step, attempting to not eat stairway as she almost certainly would have had there not been an arm, or several, for her to lean on. Reuma had remained mostly silent, only speaking up to ask that rein bring her gear, the laden pack of adventuring supplies, a wooden staff with a crystal grown into the top, and her journal, leatherbound and dusty. It was almost a fitting metaphor for how Reuma operated normally, taking on enough baggage herself to help everyone around her, all while trying not to crumble under the weight and exhaustion of the burden. It was also another sign of just how strong both Reuma and her will were; even in her current state she had carried it in with Maxson, impressive considering it's weight would give all but the most experienced hikers pause. For now, Reuma just shivers, nestled into the crook of Maxson's arm, though a loop of an arm is available for Reinholdt to help, should the need or want arise.

As the trio enters the room, Reuma pulls away, taking a few wobbly steps to the nearest bed, before half falling, half laying on it's edge. For a few moments, she breaths quietly, catching her breath, and steadying her swimming head. "i-i... guess I hope the f-food gets here soon, h-haha. I'm... more out of it then I expected..." The tone was clearly intended as joking, but the voice crackles with the weakness of a bedridden invalid. For a few long moments more, the pronghorn lays quietly, before mumbling a few more "i'm sorry" and "i didn't mean for..." to the pair of men in the room, looking away and tearing up again. After pausing long enough to make up energy, the little medic pulls herself into a half seated position, several pillows propping her up. Now that she's settled and resting, the blue sadness cloaking her horns seems to slowly get lighter and lighter, until it finally breaks over into a simple feeling, an aura of restfulness.

Finally, the healer tries to break back into real conversation. "H-hey... Rein, since you've been adventuring a lot, do you know anything about stygian manticore venom?" The question is heavy with implications, the toxin being a virulent, semimagical scourge known for suppressing certain parts of both body and magic, with the intent of causing pain and suffering before a prey dies, so that their own muscles and inherent magic tenderize and roast their meat from the inside out. It was occasionally used in low doses by mob bosses and chem barons to make a point; it would cause horribly painful wounds while sapping the strength from that limb. But Reuma wasn't the kind of person to have run afoul with mobbish types, so how might she have found out it? "M-maxson, come rest... You don't look as bad as me now, haha, but... I still don't trust the kitsune to have not pulled something. Give me a moment... more... and we'll talk a bit more..." There is a hint of evasion in the statement, as if the pronghorn is trying to direct Maxson's attention away from the question to Rein.

[Rebonack]

"Ah, politics," Zee replies to Askeladd, heaving a wistful sigh. "I can't stand it. The scraping and clawing after temporal power. They, what, want to overthrow the Empire and its monks? Set up something more to their liking? Usher back in the halcyon days of old when the champions of the heavens were crowned with glory and authority?"

She isn't sure if that's actually what they're after.

But it has the taste of a story she's well familiar with.

It is, almost always, a story about hubris.

"I think you have the right of it. Unfortunate that your associates didn't see it that way. I hope your people aren't mistreated and used in your absence."

Zee offers a kind smile. "Maybe a more formal introduction is in order since we're swapping stories? Most folks around here call me Zee. But if you're feeling fancy you can call me Yezekiel."

That name reverberates.

Bound Together in Strength

Meanwhile!

Lapis is exuberant about quests.

The content of the quests does matter. There are plenty of things she would be uncomfortable doing, which is why she declines those ones. And thankfully the quest tracker seems to take note of her preferences and stopped offering her mean quests after a little while.

But violence?

That doesn't bother her that much. She works at VIGIL. Sometimes violence is necessary when wills oppose. Sometimes a common meaning can't be reached.

Lapis waits for Selekhael to return, bouncing on her toes a bit and-

Oh!

Right!

She's a little too high-strung like this for Selekhael, isn't she? She learned that with the goblin pirate quest.

When Selekhael returns she'll find Sappeerel waiting for her, looking about the ophan's age and dressed in a suitably adventure-y getup.

"I picked out a good one, you'll love it," the half-elf says, holding out a hand by way of invitation.

[bc56]

Selekhael comes downstairs and ends up blinking in surprise. When did Sappeerel age from 9 to 17? "Uh, sure." She doesn't take the hand. That would be weird. But she will follow her friend (?) out the door.

[Reinholdt]

[Quiet Respite]

Reinholdt doesn't quite end up looping an arm around Reuma's to help her into the room. Both of his arms end up quite occupied bent under the hefty pack in order to lift and carry it up the stairs. It's a struggle. Especially around corners and through doorways where he has to careful turn it to take into account the staff. "What in the nine hells is in this thing? How does anyone dodge carrying this much... ridiculous... can't believe... way too heavy... Eve..."

He finally manages to get it inside and slump it down upon the small table within with a weary sigh and several moments to catch his breath and feel his arms again. "Ehhh..." Reinholdt gasps to reply to Maxson. "You're maybe... a six out of ten. No, five. Aside from the injuries and exhaustion, all your entrance drama seems interpersonal. Try being a time traveling falling angel hounded by killer robots next time." Rein grins a little, his foppish flair returning to him. One of two angels he's had to catch over the years. Catching things as they fall out of dimensions hurts by the way, Rein wants that on the record.

Grabbing a chair, it screeches along the floor as Rein forcibly pulls it out and spins it around to sit and relax, watching the pronghorn get emotional before settling into accepting the rest. He raises an eyebrow as Reuma asks an unexpected question, but doesn't think to question where she's heard of the venom. She was clearly an adventurer of some experience of her own, if that dead weight pack she carries around is any indication. Plus maybe she used to be in a mob. Rein could see it. "Mmm... only a little. I know it's rarer than manticore venom for obvious reasons and ironically less lethal, yet still favored by mage hunters that can get a hold of it. Don't know the specifics but I know it attacks magic as well as body. I encounter more sphinxes than manticores when exploring temples and tombs. Why do you ask?"

[Ironsmith]

[Totes Trog's, Trust Me Bro]

In that case, June is still wearing the maid outfit (complete with the cat tail and cat ears!) on top of her other clothes. She's not adverse to it, and her top was ruined earlier so it's a no-brainer.

June would probably ask Arthfael more and make sure he gets back home, but...
There's way too many people here. Seriously, with this many people here it's getting hard to even think straight.

Luckily! She hears Zee. Oh, good, Zee's here. She turns to look at the busy Zee(?) at the bar, and steps towards it. "Hey, um...." She waves her wrist back at Arthfael. "Make sure the kid gets home safe. Um, bathroom led to extradimensional space again. Um...psychic cockroaches, not sure if that lady's a ghost or not, um....cape...sword..."

She puts an elbow on the bar and her palm on her forehead, and closes her eyes, hoping that'll help enough to complete some more sentences. "Need to take care of that...um...that..." She waves a hand again, as if trying to grab the correct words out of the air. "...that thing I told you about." That one thing. Remember it? June can't think of the word for it with all these people around, though. "Gotta get out of here. Gonna take kitchen exit. Venus can tell you after warlock drugs. Make sure kid's safe, yeah?" she tells the Zee.

In order to get away from the crowd of cheering and future-drunk people, June starts walking (using the bar as half-support) back to the kitchen, so she can take the back exit out to the alley.

Nobody stops June from leaving the bar; in fact, nobody even seems to notice her going. They just kinda keep doing whatever they're doing; walking around, drinking, laughing, saying the same word over and over again, et cetera.

The strangeness continues when June finally steps out of the bar. Everything's all... fuzzy. Like a series of texture maps that haven't finished loading in properly. Just a bunch of blurs that sort of vaguely hint at what's going on; a mottled grey street under June's feet, red-and-brown splotches denoting a brick building next to Trog's, black humanoid blobs wandering the streets aimlessly, and a few rustling shapes that might be alley trash skittering in the wind. But nothing all that clear.

Well, except for Trog's itself. The one well-defined locale in a sea of vagueness. That, and the voice drifting through the aether:

"June, you aren't back in Trog's yet. Something isn't right. I'll try to help if I can."

Do you mind? We're filming over here! You can't just- just barge in whenever you like and feed information to our contestants! There are rules!

Oh dear. It sounds like Zee might have annoyed someone. That could cause a problem or twelve, depending on how she chooses to handle it.

[5a Violista]

Maid outfit again? Why? And why cat ears? June starts to wonder. There's no actual cat-June somewhere out there, is there...? "Well, that proves it. I would nev-" The snakelike June was about to say she would never voluntarily wear a maid outfit, cat ears or no, but.
Shoot.
Now she's imagining herself in it and it feels a lot more plausible now than it did before. Absolutely something she would do just to tease someone.

Oh, look, a Dungeons of Doom trapdoor. What a great distraction from imagining herself in a catgirl maid outfit. Combine it with a snake body and too many arms and it probably wouldn't look that good anyway.

"If stepping in would break something from time travel, why wouldn't just talking or whatever you just did also break something?" Like, if you can talk into the past, couldn't you easily find ways to break stuff?

Speaking of speaking. June shakes her head and winces a little. "By the way, that voice-thing you do feels a little weird." Zee's using the Voice Of Truth (or whatever it is) and saying June's not in Trog's yet, but this one clearly is here, so...it just feels weird. Even though she knows she's talking to someone else.


[Not? Trog's]

If there's a benefit of June not being in focus, not loading in, and being weird blurs, it's that it gives June less of a headache than being in the tavern with everything going on.

In fact, there is a nonzero chance that she's not even noticing how unloaded everything appears.
That's the problem with not being dependant on sight: it's a little hard to tell when something looks off.

"Just need to...just going somewhere I can think clearly," she answers. She moves away from the well-defined locale into the less-defined area, trying to get far enough away from the crowded tavern so that it doesn't affect her as much.
"Ugh, why does this always happen to her?" June says entirely to herself.

[Morty]

"Ah, politics," Zee replies to Askeladd, heaving a wistful sigh. "I can't stand it. The scraping and clawing after temporal power. They, what, want to overthrow the Empire and its monks? Set up something more to their liking? Usher back in the halcyon days of old when the champions of the heavens were crowned with glory and authority?"

She isn't sure if that's actually what they're after.

But it has the taste of a story she's well familiar with.

It is, almost always, a story about hubris.

"I think you have the right of it. Unfortunate that your associates didn't see it that way. I hope your people aren't mistreated and used in your absence."

Zee offers a kind smile. "Maybe a more formal introduction is in order since we're swapping stories? Most folks around here call me Zee. But if you're feeling fancy you can call me Yezekiel."

That name reverberates.

Bound Together in Strength

"I believe Zee will do just fine for now," the Lunar says, smiling under his beard. "As will the name I gave you. It is my name, that I wore as a mortal man as well. I've worn many names and faces since, but the ones before you are mine. I've been a hooded old man offering riddles, a foolish youth teaching other youngsters a lesson, a wild mare that no one may tame..." Askeladd shakes his head. "I know some Lunars have become lost in their myriad identities. I try not to do the same." He doesn't return to the topic of his erstwhile allies.

[Rebonack]

"It usually dos. Does? Something," Zee replies, waving the something away like an annoying fly with one hand. "I'm not really one for formalities."

Then?

She listens.

And gives a low whistle.

"Wow that's quite a portfolio of mysterious sage business. I've done the horse disguise thing before, but that was mostly just because there was a pretty serious threat to the City lurking in our equestrian quarter and I was trying to blend in since the jerks had already spotted me once."

Also shot her in the face with a sniper rifle.

That was really unpleasant.

"One of those rare things I get involved with directly. Though even then I needed to keep a lid on whatever actions I took. But! It worked out! Which you can tell because everyone in the City hasn't been devoured and replaced with chaos-fueled nightmares."

Which would have been pretty bad.

"So what about you? You ever find yourself having to get involved in a story a little more directly?"

Meanwhile!

"The answer is really weird and complicated but it basically comes down to how much paradox an action will create. That speaking trick is pretty low key, I can handle the timeline trying to break me back a little bit. The other June has no way of knowing that it's future-me and not present-me reaching out to them. Though I suppose with what I've learned I could venture into the bathroom myself but it would have to be the me from last July and not me right now, which is doable. That story is still active and I could still plausibly intervene since I would obviously be worried about two people being stuck in the Non-Euclidean Bathroom for so long," Zee rambles.

Then she gives an "Ugh," and rubs her forehead. "I hate timeline shinanagins. I'm not an ophanim; I'm not made for this nonsense."

It's at this point something starts getting lippy with Zee. She isn't totally sure what it is, though. Zee manages to avoid the impulse to snark back that they're only rules if you can't break them, otherwise they're just suggestions. She already got her message to Other June and now she just needs to decide if mobilizing herself in that much older storyline is a good idea. At the time she had considered moving in to help right away, but it seemed pretty tame and she figured June and Arthfael could handle it. But it has gone on for a long time and has gotten REALLY weird.

"Huh? Yeah, I guess. The voice thing IS pretty weird. I mostly try to avoid doing it if I can get away with it. Sorry if it bothered you," Zee apologizes.