Riverside 21: Older than Arkh

[Shadowcaller]

[MERC Office - Amalungak]

"'True loyalty', eh? I just get paid for what I do. Same as any job." Dena starts to collect her papers, putting them back into the folder. "I hope you put your faith in the right basket then. It's probably going to be clear in a few days." She pauses for a moment and looks at him again. "So... let's just pretend, purely hypotethical scenario here, that you're not saved, is there anyone that should be informed of your passing? Might be your last opportunity to tell anyone. Unless your superior takes care of that too of course."

[Morty]

[MERC Office - Amalungak]

"Anyone who will care about my passing will know about it." Seems Amalungak has nothing more to say for now.

[Purple Eagle]

Feast for the Eyes

Ugh, that's way too many bizzare and nonsensical coincidences for Seraphina's taste.

...
Just to prove that it is just a weird stalkerish coincidence, she decides to get it anyway.

Although she's pretty sure she knows how to survive random cults and giant crabs and Stepford situations, Seraphina ends up grabbing the survival book anyway. Might be useful, if weird things start keep on showing up at the same rate they have been.

Upon the recommendation, she starts looking for it, but also asks, "Oh, yeah? What's it about?"
Not all romance novels were created equal.

[Feast for the Eyes]

"Elf girl who's well-known for DIY home remedies meets guy, but her orcish best friend has a thing for her. Story is about who she chooses. Sounds cliche I know, but the execution's really great, trust me." Karasu at least has better taste than Iknika in romance novels, so Seraphina might be pleasantly surprised if she decided to trust Karasu.

By this time, Karasu's done processing her stuff and is currently trying to wrap two of the books in some giftwrap.

[5a Violista]

[Feast for the Eyes]

"Huh," Seraphina says. "Seems pretty decent." She finds the book, flips through it to check it out, and decides to chance it.

With the three books, she goes over to pay for them.
Although, chronologically after Riverside, she ends up fighting a giant robo-dinosaur, gets shot through her chest area in Skyside, and then meets a ghost, without having any books with her, it opens the question of what happens to the books between here and the robosaur.

Once everything's taken care of, Seraphina waits a bit for Karasu to finish giftwrapping the books.
"So you going straight off to give those books?" she asks.

[Morty]

[Xar'Cha Residence]

A visitor comes by to Ilpholin's home, though he doesn't seem to have actually crossed through the city first. A tall figure, slim and androgynous, wearing a tarnished breastplate over a tunic and knee-length skirt, which look decidedly ragged and worn. On his face is a mask of bleached wood, depicting a mysteriously smiling countenance. There's also a pair of curved ram's horns above the mask, which otherwise covers his whole head. His arms are bare and there are strange markings, like tattoos, covering them. They almost seem to move when no one is looking at them directly.

The mysterious visitor will walk up to the door and wait to be greeted by the AI guarding it, but Ilpholin is likely to feel his approach and recognize him regardless. After all, she and the King in Rags are closely entwined together in some way.

[Purple Eagle]

[Feast for the Eyes]

Once they're both done, Karasu waves to the woman and her daughter, and then in the direction of the machine room. She thinks it'd make another good birthday present, to bring Natalie here to walk in one of her favourite novel universes. Perhaps Narnia?

"Yep, meaning this is where we part ways. Nice meeting ya, Seph, let's meet again one day." Karasu waves and starts to walk off, then stops. "Actually... need any help with those books? Could drop them off for you or something, in case you aren't going straight home." She offers.

[5a Violista]

Feast for the Eyes

Seraphina does her best to ignore the impromptu nickname. "Yeah, same, nice to meet you," she says, giving a wave.

"No, thanks, it's fine," she says, shaking her head. She lifts geor book bag to show them. "I'm headed right back. Was only in Riverside to deliver some genealogy papers to somebody, so there's no reason for me to stick around."
(Little does she know, she's about to get hopelessly lost and probably won't see her shelter for months, if not longer, which reminds her player that she needs a new present-time scene sooner or later.)

[Purple Eagle]

[Feast for the Eyes]

"Suit yourself, then... see ya later!" With a final wave, Karasu heads off in the other direction to show Natalie her books, and have a less eventful time than Seraphina's about to have.

[Reinholdt]

[Xar'Cha Residence]

The camera whirs and focuses, but the door itself doesn't ask any questions this time. In fact it opens quite readily for the King in Rags, despite its protests to Ilpholin that his face and form doesn't match its database.

Nothing greets or guides him this time. She already knows he'll be able to find his way to her, even if she doesn't know what circumstances bring him to her in physical form. Their training sessions at the cabin were relatively scheduled and other instances of contact usually involved dreams of some kind.

Ilpholin can be found, like she often is, in a training room. This time, the other residents are here as well. Ilpholin is crouched down beside a boy with olive skin and black curly hair. The toddler holds what appears to be some kind of weighted foam stick, almost a staff, and Ilpholin's doing her best to adjust his feet and hands. Mechasquiggles is just in front of them stacking, or restacking, some large foam blocks that could be considered training dummies. They are pretty tall.

When the king enters, Ilpholin stands, wearing a tight, bra-less tank top and equally clingy yoga pants. Nahlrae looks over and his black eyes lock with his father's. The child seems almost like a dream, a surreal child that has forgone emotions. "Dajentry," Nahlrae says before swinging his weapon at the base of the blocks and knocking them all down again. The form's a little sloppy, but surprisingly close to good. He stands over his fallen foes before looking back at the King in Rags. Does he seek approval? Perhaps he simply enjoys falling blocks? Or is it a promise of what he'll do to the King some day?

[Morty]

[Xar'Cha Residence]

The King does feel surreal when he looks at his son, but not in the same way as a mortal would. It starts with the word "son". He has created many beings in his time, to be sure. Willed fey into existence from the churning elemental chaos they all come from. He created at least some of the gol-kin from his blood. But this? A child, born out of intimacy with another being, through flesh and passion. An utterly alien concept to him. Is there an affection that he should feel for this little creature? He feels none. But there is a certain sense of curiosity, of pride. Nahlrae is proof that he broke the laws of the world itself and became the first fey to beget offspring. As a being for whom the legend is everything, it matters more than a little.

These musings distract him for some time from Ilpholin's form and the way it's clad. Yet another feeling he never thought he'd experience, yet here he is. The nymph won't have seen this body of his yet, but this close it seems to be... charged with energy of some kind, one she hasn't felt from the King before. A vitality and force.

"Ilpholin. Nahlrae," he greets his child and... mate? Lover? Hard to say. "I see the little one is becoming a warrior."

[Reinholdt]

[Xar'Cha Residence]

"He's learning the basics of survival," Ilpholin assures the King in Rags. Warrior is a long way off. Still, she pats Nahlrae on the head fondly and he looks up at her before looking back at the King and basically just watching them both quietly, foam staff in hand.

"I see you're... becoming a warrior yourself?" Ilpholin doesn't know how else to describe the new feeling of strength emanating from the fey reagent. "To what do I owe the honor of your visit?"

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

Ithzi nods eagerly. "Of course, of course. As far as I'm concerned that poor baby could be one of my own and I will do my uttermost to do her right. As will you two I'm sure. We might not be able to undo what has happened but at least we can try to save what we can."

"Uhu..." Irena doesn't exactly sound thrilled but as far as she was concerned this conversation was already over. Now they just needed to say goodbye like three times before this tiny woman was out of their hair.

[Suncrest Manor]

Nadia smiles and nods. "Of course. We'll do what we can. She'll be comfortable and happy here." Nadia is more willing than Irena to be patient with their guest.

[MERC Office]

Zhareen nods. "Yeah, uh, we haven't dealt with any being like that." She pauses as Korrina continues but once she's finished the merwoman speaks up again. "...but I'm going to call a quick tower meeting now. For members only." She nods in a grave manner before turning to Dena. "...so where's the bathroom?"

"Just... down the hall and then turn left." Dena replies as she gestures to the backwards.

"Alright, come on then, Korrina!" And so Zhareen will nod to Dena and Jaahlyn and then slither out the office. "We'll be back soon!" Is the last thing she tells them before disappearing completely out the door.

Assuming Korrina follows along Zhareen will close and lock the door once they're inside a bathroom which hadn't been designed for a merfolk and a pregnant woman to be inside at the same time. Zhareen makes do however and curls up around the toilet. "So, erm..." Zhareen nervously taps her fingers together. "There was a thing that happened back when we all still served Malechenar that might be connected to all this. I didn't think of it until now, it was a long time ago after all, but at the time we were to not tell anyone about it. Do you remember the time when AMEN unleashed a plague upon Riverside?"

[MERC Office]

Korrina tries to stand as comfortably as possible, but she has quite a sour look on her face. She has certain demands of external comforts, totally justifiably in her mind given her burden. "Yeees?" Korrina says, her tone prompting for more context. "I don't recall that having anything to do with rats."

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

Ithzi smiles widely. "Excellent, I feel safe leaving her in your care then. If there is anything then, uh- I'm not sure how we'll contact one another. Perhaps I will simply have to make the occasional visit. Or have someone else check up on her if I'm busy."

"Don't you people have phones?" Irena inquires as she holds up hers. Her attention had already started to drift towards it.

"Oh... ah, I'm afraid those don't work outside the land of sky. I believe the great father earth disrupts their energy somehow?"

It seems to take Irena a moment to parse just what Ithzi is saying. "Right, the signal." She glances at her wife. "But we're gonna be fine, honestly. Won't we Nadia?"

[MERC Office]

Zhareen isn't blind to her demands and pushes herself further back. As if trying to flatten herself against the bathroom wall.
Her expression gets unusually grave however as she starts explaining. "It wasn't the plague itself, Korrina. It's what we did to end it. You're one of our brightest students, so you should know better than anyone that we didn't pay nearly enough for what we caused."
Zhareen's tone suggests that she's entering lecturing mode now. "Remember Sade's principle, the greater the change, the greater the consequences."

Sade's principle demanded that the more someone asked of a patron the more research they should beforehand. Since the more a spirit was allowed to change in the physical world the more could go wrong. Consequences of something as simple as changing the color of a rock might be greater than even the spirit that was tasked with it realized.

"We managed to get around murdering sapient beings that just happened to be animals." Korrina likely recalls that the fourth tower had what was classified as 'demons' (one of the vaguest and most unhelpful of spirit categories) kill every animal in Riverside. "But we couldn't get around the cute ones." Zhareen's talking about her pet crabs of course, letting out a deep sigh at the mere mention of them before forcing herself to move on. "Or, more relevantly, the damage they did to the spiritual environment of the city. These demons submerge themselves in suffering-"

Submerging was a term most laymen would just call 'feeding' but within the fourth tower feeding meant producing a lack of something while submerging created an abundance by cultivating it.

"-meaning that whatever spiritual residue the animals left behind was just pure suffering. We feared that this was a way for them to prime whatever ghosts or yokai that were produced by all this to want to cause even more pain. After the invasion we tried to carefully observe the city's spiritual environment for such behavior but nothing seemed to come of it. I had hoped that it had simply petered out." Zhareen lets out yet another sigh. "Now, eh, this is just a theory, but as we surveyed the city afterwards I couldn't help but to notice that a lot of the suffering that had gathered here had come from rats specifically. Therefore, I think this rat-fey used that lingering pain to do all this and if it mentioned the fourth tower specifically..." She shrugs helplessly. "It might mean it has it out for us somehow. I can't be sure though but as our colleagues in the city don't want to get involved they probably think so too."

[Morty]

[Xar'Cha Residence]

"It has to do with the body you see before you," the King in Rags replies, looking between Nahlrae and Ilpholin, then resting his eyes on her. "It's an old body of mine that I had to use as a disguise to catch a wayward aspect. In doing so, I remembered more of what I did when I last wore it." He looks at his arms. "I fought the human god-kings of old and vast demon behemoths. It was far more of a warrior than my other titles." He pauses. The following admission is a little awkward. "I also absorbed a foreign influence along with it, however. That of another Gentry. It filled this form with a... vitality I find unfamiliar. As a warrior and a lover, I believe you could help with that."

[Reinholdt]

[Xar'Cha Residence]

Ilpholin stares at the King with only partial comprehension. His... titles and machinations always kind of flew over her head. How they were different and somehow made him different and he didn't even remember some things until he wore his own skin. All fey weirdness she could have embraced but never got in touch with.

"Behemoths, huh?" Her tone is skeptical. She's only ever known the King as supernaturally powerful, but physically lacking. Perhaps the Lord exaggerates. She can't deny the change in his demeanor admittedly. There was something there.

Ilpholin turns to Mecha Squiggles. "Have Nahlrae do thirty more of these and then a run through the cardboard maze." She smiles down at her kid and pats him on the head again before stepping away and motioning for the King to follow her out the door.

"Very well. I've had to deal with excess energy myself before." The nymph's hips sway purposefully as she moves down the hallway. "Though I guess I need full clarity first. Are you looking for a sparring partner or a sparring partner?"

[Morty]

[Xar'Cha Residence]

The King's eyes fall to Ilpholin's hips as they walk, just like she intended.

"I came seeking both," he says. "I wish to see how this body fares in battle and in passion. Especially with this strange vitality suffusing it. And yes, behemoths. Demons who shaped their bodies or consumed their kin until they grew massive. They carved a swath through the mortal world, caring little for the wars of fey, giants and mortals."

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

Ithzi smiles widely. "Excellent, I feel safe leaving her in your care then. If there is anything then, uh- I'm not sure how we'll contact one another. Perhaps I will simply have to make the occasional visit. Or have someone else check up on her if I'm busy."

"Don't you people have phones?" Irena inquires as she holds up hers. Her attention had already started to drift towards it.

"Oh... ah, I'm afraid those don't work outside the land of sky. I believe the great father earth disrupts their energy somehow?"

It seems to take Irena a moment to parse just what Ithzi is saying. "Right, the signal." She glances at her wife. "But we're gonna be fine, honestly. Won't we Nadia?"

[Suncrest Manor]

"Definitely." Nadia smiles at Irena. "But do feel free to stop by if you need to." She assures. Nadia guides the way to the front door and opens it up. "We'll do the best we can." She promises.

[MERC Office]

Zhareen isn't blind to her demands and pushes herself further back. As if trying to flatten herself against the bathroom wall.
Her expression gets unusually grave however as she starts explaining. "It wasn't the plague itself, Korrina. It's what we did to end it. You're one of our brightest students, so you should know better than anyone that we didn't pay nearly enough for what we caused."
Zhareen's tone suggests that she's entering lecturing mode now. "Remember Sade's principle, the greater the change, the greater the consequences."

Sade's principle demanded that the more someone asked of a patron the more research they should beforehand. Since the more a spirit was allowed to change in the physical world the more could go wrong. Consequences of something as simple as changing the color of a rock might be greater than even the spirit that was tasked with it realized.

"We managed to get around murdering sapient beings that just happened to be animals." Korrina likely recalls that the fourth tower had what was classified as 'demons' (one of the vaguest and most unhelpful of spirit categories) kill every animal in Riverside. "But we couldn't get around the cute ones." Zhareen's talking about her pet crabs of course, letting out a deep sigh at the mere mention of them before forcing herself to move on. "Or, more relevantly, the damage they did to the spiritual environment of the city. These demons submerge themselves in suffering-"

Submerging was a term most laymen would just call 'feeding' but within the fourth tower feeding meant producing a lack of something while submerging created an abundance by cultivating it.

"-meaning that whatever spiritual residue the animals left behind was just pure suffering. We feared that this was a way for them to prime whatever ghosts or yokai that were produced by all this to want to cause even more pain. After the invasion we tried to carefully observe the city's spiritual environment for such behavior but nothing seemed to come of it. I had hoped that it had simply petered out." Zhareen lets out yet another sigh. "Now, eh, this is just a theory, but as we surveyed the city afterwards I couldn't help but to notice that a lot of the suffering that had gathered here had come from rats specifically. Therefore, I think this rat-fey used that lingering pain to do all this and if it mentioned the fourth tower specifically..." She shrugs helplessly. "It might mean it has it out for us somehow. I can't be sure though but as our colleagues in the city don't want to get involved they probably think so too."

[MERC Office]

Oh joy. As an adept, she was not directly involved in that ritual. Such a large and dangerous ritual was left to the most experienced of members. Of course, that doesn't actually help Korrina now. "It could be the being that orchestrated this was a consequence of that suffering, but it also didn't actually directly target the Fourth Tower. Another option is that an unrelated being decided to take advantage of the fallout and direct the energy for its own purposes." She proposes.

[Reinholdt]

[Xar'Cha Residence]

"Oh," Ilpholin says, having to shift corridors suddenly to a different direction. "Well don't blame me when I beat you so bad you can't fulfill the second part of your mission." A door slides open as she approaches and she steps inside.

It seems to be a pretty basic gym, but with a huge mat already laid out.

"Do you need a weapon?"

[Morty]

[Xar'Cha Residence]

"You and I are resilient both. It would be hard for us to be rendered incapable of it." There seems to be an presence of a predatory smile under the Prince's mask. "We're more likely to only be encouraged, aren't we? And a simple staff will do for me, if you have one."

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

"Thank you again, you've both been all too accommodating. I will return in a... um..." Ithzi pauses as she seems to be counting something on her fingers. "...seven days?"

"...so a week?" Irena inquires as she crosses her arms over her chest impatiently.

"Yes! A 'week', thank you! I apologize, we don't measure time by your sun. Would be very hard to." Ithzi shakes her head as she starts heading out the door. "But regardless, I will see you two again soon. Assuming I manage to keep track- ah, if I don't show up, don't fret. I've probably just lost track of time."

"Uh-huh." Irena sounds more than a little skeptical.

"But farewell for now. Bye!" Ithzi waves as she heads out through the gate.

She's scarcely out of their sight before Irena turns to Nadia. "Well that was freaking weird. Do you really think we can trust that one?"

[MERC Office]

Zhareen nods. "Good suggestions Korrina, you should write those down since we're going to have to turn all this in to Vax now. Anything that could possible threaten the compound must be taken with uttermost... seriousness." She raises her finger in the air as if to signify this.

"So we have two tasks now. First we need to find out everything we can about this entity to evaluate if it poses any threat to us and how much if that's the case. Secondly, we need to find out how or if this entity is connected to the prophecy we're pursuing. If this entity had an agenda against the fourth tower it might have bargained for it with the fey lord we came here to research."

[Reinholdt]

[Xar'Cha Residence]

"You're cocky for someone who has been sitting in a swamp for a thousand years." She heads over to a wall panel which opens up to a cache of melee weapons held against cool blue lights. She pries a staff loose and tosses it to the Prince in Rags.

Closing the panel, she saunters back onto the mats, one hand becoming longer and thinner, glowing a purple energy until the tendril reaches the floor. She cracks it once, the energy whip loud and fierce. "Prove your 'staff' skills," Ilpholin demands before violently lunging at him.

[Morty]

[Xar'Cha Residence]

The Prince catches the staff deftly and does manage to raise it quickly enough to intercept Ilpholin's lunge. Instead of aiming for the whip, he tries to block the part of her arm that didn't become it, knowing that to do otherwise would just let her wrench the weapon out of his hands. She has him on the back foot, but he's still quicker than she might have expected him to be. Especially given the close attention he's paying to parts of her body that aren't her hands.

"A Prince must not back down from a challenge," he quips as he does so. "Whether it involves a staff or other... tools." It's safe to say it won't take much longer before the fight ends up behind a curtain.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

"Thank you again, you've both been all too accommodating. I will return in a... um..." Ithzi pauses as she seems to be counting something on her fingers. "...seven days?"

"...so a week?" Irena inquires as she crosses her arms over her chest impatiently.

"Yes! A 'week', thank you! I apologize, we don't measure time by your sun. Would be very hard to." Ithzi shakes her head as she starts heading out the door. "But regardless, I will see you two again soon. Assuming I manage to keep track- ah, if I don't show up, don't fret. I've probably just lost track of time."

"Uh-huh." Irena sounds more than a little skeptical.

"But farewell for now. Bye!" Ithzi waves as she heads out through the gate.

She's scarcely out of their sight before Irena turns to Nadia. "Well that was freaking weird. Do you really think we can trust that one?"

[Suncrest Manor]

"That sounds great. See you then." Nadia bids their guest farewell, closes the door, then turns to Irena. "Well, I'm not sure. She seems nice enough, though." Nadia looks at the baby. Quite a lot to take in, honestly.

[MERC Office]

Zhareen nods. "Good suggestions Korrina, you should write those down since we're going to have to turn all this in to Vax now. Anything that could possible threaten the compound must be taken with uttermost... seriousness." She raises her finger in the air as if to signify this.

"So we have two tasks now. First we need to find out everything we can about this entity to evaluate if it poses any threat to us and how much if that's the case. Secondly, we need to find out how or if this entity is connected to the prophecy we're pursuing. If this entity had an agenda against the fourth tower it might have bargained for it with the fey lord we came here to research."

[MERC Office]

"Right, fair enough." Korrina pulls out a small notebook and jots a couple notes. "What about this Jaahlyn character. You know her. How?" She seems like the best source of info, but she's also a mystery to Korrina.

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

"Everyone can seem nice initially. I'm just saying that we probably should try to double-check all her claims to see if they check out. We can't just take care of a baby for a stranger, it might be... I dunno, cursed or something." Irena argues as she too looks at the baby.

[MERC Office]

"Oh. She's a psychopomp serving under a number of laws that makes her an ideal helper. It makes me feel bad at times but apparently she pays off whatever debt that put her under those laws by helping out so I guess we're helping her out too in a way." Zhareen frowns however. "Of course, she ends up serving a lot of other people, like that fey, so she's often busy. Which is why you never seen her. I'm always afraid one of her employers are abusing her or something. The number of laws she's under..." She shakes her head. "It's quite unusual." A pause as she suddenly seems to remember something. "And surely you can tell me why it's unusual, Korrina? One of the defining features of a psychopomp..." Zhareen couldn't resist quizzing her even now, could she?

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

Nadia frowns. "Don't be ridiculous, Irena. Cursed? Really?" She shakes her head. "We will look into it, but for the kid's sake. We'll need to make sure her intentions are good."

[MERC Office]

Korrina gives Zhareen an exasperated look as soon as she identifies her switch into 'teacher mode'. "Typically psychopomps have more individual freedom than other varieties of fey, as they're not bound by the laws of their clade." She rattles off quickly. "But yes, I understand. It is very strange. You've never seen anything else like this before?" Admitting she hasn't, but where would she? Most things Korrina knows, Zhareen also knows she'd have to admit.

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

"I was just making up ridicolous scenarios." Irena claims, immediately backing down as soon as Nadia raises her voice. "But, uh, my point was that-" She gestures at her wife. "Yeah, for the baby's sake."

[MERC Office]

Zhareen smiles and nods. "Very good, Korrina!" She raises her finger. "But no, never to this degree. Not that it's completely unpreecedented of course. We've speculated, it was Vax's idea really, that it was a fey-punishment of sort but she's never confirmed anything. Likely due to the same kind of compulsion. If it is though it should give us some more insight into fey society. While a lot of fey are more than eager to tell us things it seems like there are things all of them like to hide. Like some sort of overreaching superstructure above even their courts..." Zhareen pauses, looking at the door of the bathroom like one might look at the horizon in quiet contemplation before abruptly turning to Korrina. "-what were we talking about again?"

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

Nadia nods. "Good. Now I need to you go up to the attic and pull out Eliseo's old baby stuff. We have to figure out what we have and what we need. Just get everything you find up there."

[MERC Office]

Korrina rubs her forehead. "I think we should get back to the job at hand. The rat king and whatever it has to do with the spread of the story we were investigating. Do you think Jaahlyn can give us much more info?"

[Zefir]

[Looking for Jo -Wildside]

Fade will lead Carmen here for the quest at hand.

"There used a place were nymphs and your kind met. The god has disapeared for now but I think they still stay here for there stuff they do."

[Shadowcaller]

[MERC Office]

"Oh. Yeah, you're absolutely right. Though while Jaahlyn might have more information it might be best if we, eh, extract it from her back at the compound. The gorgon lady is listening in to everything we say and I don't think Vax would like that." She taps her chin. "...speaking of Vax. How mad do you think she would be if we invited in our former compound here in the city to a visit to ours? Since I feel like they might have some information on this too."

[UncleWolf]

Spoiler

Show

[Lotus Gardens]

Wenomir's expression goes blank as Jezebel transforms. It's a familiar expression he puts on when he has no idea how to internalize something in front of him. Why did Jezebel do it? Does she feel more comfortable this way? Is she trying to lighten the mood? After grasping about for something to say on the subject, he comes up with nothing. Thus he says nothing and continues as if Jezebel had done nothing more noteworthy than taking off her shoes or changing her hat.

"She wants to work with us to bring order to Skyside." He pauses to let that sink in. "Defeat the corporations that hold control of it before they melt together into one... massive entity that squeezes the city dry. She believes our strength at arms and her political acumen can accomplish it together."

[Lotus Gardens]

"Televised? Is that really nessecary?" Cessie first inquires, but that seems quickly forgotten once Jezebel changes form.
Wenomir can likely tell that this is the first time she's seen it as well the way she's staring.
"Why- you-" She starts before glancing at the warrior. "Excuse me a moment, Wenomir but... care to explain this?" She gestures to Jezebel.


Ms. J Investigation

"Uh-huh." Anika remarks as she looks in the direction Jezebel is pointing, still not sure how to feel about all this. Perhaps she needed someone else's perspective on this?
"Embracing, eh? Just be careful. In my experience, embracing anything magic-y can be pretty bad in the long run. Makes you too dependant on it when someone, y'know, pulls the plug on the magic tub." She makes a pulling motion with her hand. "Always a good idea to keep at least one feet on the ground and all that."

Ms. J Investigation

"A magic tub? It sounds as if you're speaking from experience." Jezebel points out before shaking her head a bit and heading back to a chair to take a seat. "Perhaps embrace is the wrong way to put it, but I won't turn from it. I've learned the hard way that dependency on power or substances can be a downfall." She lets out a breath, looking out towards the Gardens. "And it's exactly why I backed off from the Gardens itself to a degree. I likely can't do so completely, but that's part of what I want to tell everyone soon." The lavender noble looks tired for a moment, but she shrugs it off with a literal shrug of her shoulders to get rid of figurative weight from them. "But that aside, would you give me that chance to tell everyone about...me before word spreads through some other means? Even if you yourself don't feel as if you owe me such, this place as a whole deserves it. If you're unsure, feel free to wander through the mansion or Gardens yourself. Either with me as a guide to answer everything in full truth or I can simply give you access." She offers, pulling a signet ring off her hand and holding it up. "Choice is yours. The ring will get you through whatever door you wish in the Gardens. Or, you know, could impress those who'd been catcalling you."

Lotus Gardens

Impzebel immediately freezes at the tone, caught with her mouth open as she's about to say something more. She looked like she had been having fun with the sudden reveal but she immediately looks more serious and straightens herself up while clearing her throat. "This, is, uh, experimenting. I figured I would try out multiple shapes, you know?" She tries to explain casually. There's hesitation for a moment but then she sighs and talks more about it. "Well, this is the only other successful one so far. It's been a pain in the neck and seems to only fall into certain parameters. It's not dangerous, but it has certainly been a real trial to do. I figured, well, this was always going to be awkward and given the seriousness of the situation I wanted to at least alleviate things a little bit. It is the first thing in the morning and I personally always at least try to find an excuse to enjoy the day." She glances over at Wenomir, giving an apologetic shrug. "Not that I'm blaming you of course, the news is indeed important. It is the start of the morning though. But I will say that bringing order to Skyside is not going to be something even I could help with too much. I've little in the way of influence there, unless she's meaning to provide me with such. I'd honestly say we'd need to bring in MERC since they've a small foothold there the last I'd known."