Riverside 21: Older than Arkh

[Gullara]

Riverside, a smaller, modern city, sitting on top of the River Syde and found some ways away from the sprawl of Inside. The city has always been in a state of flux since it came to be a part of the Nexus. Powers have risen and fallen, disasters have struck, and the climate has always been unstable. Because of all this, the people of Riverside are a hardy lot. They know what it takes to survive, and it's not always pleasant. Riverside sits on the edge of the Nexus, so while it's still prone to the strangeness common there, it's far more stable than other parts of the Nexus. A city like this is not a safe and stable place, but for many it's home and for some it's even opportunity.

Welcome to Riverside.

Current Events

The Districts

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Northside

Northside is the most prosperous part of the city. Many of the city's wealthiest live there, especially toward the center of the district. There a castle floats in the sky, housing the government of most of the entire city, Malechenar. Northside benefits from the careful eye of its rulers. There have been great strides taken toward making it the safest and most attractive part of the city.

Eastside

Eastside is mostly a middle-to-lower class, densely populated area. It's fairly multicultural, even by Nexus standards, and inhabited by a wide range of species and cultures. It has been a poorer area for most of its existence, but fairly recently they have rallied under a democratic government and, as a result, their lot has improved.

Southside

Southside has fallen far behind the development of the rest of the city. First it was emptied by it's queen's parting, and then claimed by villains. Now, however, the remaining major powers of the city have begun to lay their claim to the once empty territory. New construction has sprung up and people are gradually moving back in. It isn't free from turmoil, but progress is being made.

Westside

Westside is unique compared to the rest of the districts because it is covered by a cloak of darkness. During the day the Light of Evolution, an artificial sun suspended in the sky, provides light. However, it is still home to a higher density of people that are adverse to the light for a number of reasons.

The district has fallen on hard times since its government was absorbed into Malechenar. While the peace is being maintained, to an extent, it isn't given the same level of attention that Northside is despite security being hired out to MERC. As a result, it can be quite unstable there at times.

Wildside

Though not a district in the traditional sense, Wildside is a distinct and relevant part of the city. Along the city's border, the cityscape gives way to forest. Sometimes it's a gradual blending, in other places it's a sharp cut separated by fences and small walls. Though roads and trails do cut through it, it's not recommended to travel through the trees at risk of provoking Wildside's guardian.

Previously there have been failed attempts to break through Wildside to allow the city proper to expand. They were largely unsuccessful. As a result, the city has been trending toward growing upward, rather than outward.

Places Within
Riverside is a very modern city, and thus a person can find most of the expected amenities. All manner of stores, a hospital, parks and playgrounds, churches, you name it. Most of these places are run and attended to by the residents of the city, regular people without players to guide them most of the time. Players are free to invent and discard these places and the people in them as suits the needs of their roleplaying. Some have been named already, Moth Park, the Golden Flagon Tavern, Sawyer's Inn, but many more are out there.

There are a number of places that have been defined by players, and can be observed and interacted with. Some of these have been listed below for reference.

Spoiler: Location List

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Northside

• Eventide Manor ^Shadowcaller
  
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  After the departure of Malechenar castle, the remaining leadership in Northside needed a new base of operations. An old noble mansion has been retrofitted for the task. It's an old and suitably grand structure, adorned with gargoyles very similar to their past home.
• Third Circle ^{LordDeathkeeper}
  
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  The Third Circle is a small, unassuming building, its sign over the door in bold red paint and its front window mostly kept clear to prevent the sunlight from fading any colors. It advertises all written words at affordable prices, and for adventurers to inquire within about jobs.
  
  The interior is a soft wooden-brown with reds, and smells like a library full of old books. Most of the furniture is as you'd expect, save for the counter, which is normal height but has only minimal space behind it, likely due to the fact that the clerk is a two-foot-tall imp. Next to the counter is a large bulletin board covered in paper slips.

Eastside

• New Hope Hospital ^Shadowcaller
  
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  The once abandoned hospital in Eastside is in the process of being refurbished. It's been recently acquired after the invasion, and it's been restored along with the rebuilding in the city. It's not ready to take patients yet, but it's only a matter of time.
• Cosiellio's Temple ^Halae
  
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  There's a small temple here that just finished construction last week. It's a fairly plain thing, more utilitarian than ostentatious, but it's made of marble and granite, giving it a glowing white appearance in the sun, with Cos' holy symbol in a large carved statue above the front door. It's a shield with feathered wings imposed along the front, giving it the impression of a heart. It's carved impeccably; it must have been done with magic.
  
  A few of Cos' faithful are here almost all the time - given the informal nature of the temple, everybody drifts in to say a few prayers whenever they're feeling like they should, or whenever they have the time. Cos himself regularly visits, of course, and answers prayers directly.
• Light's Heart ^Shadowcaller
  
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  The site that was once Light's Heart has been reduced to little more than a crater after the invasion.
• Lotus Gardens ^UncleWolf
  
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  The Lotus Gardens are a veritable Eden, a paradise in the middle of an otherwise fairly "normal" city. The entire section appears carved of white marble and smells of sweets, a hint of sweat, and exotic flowers, inviting all to come and stay in the Lotus Garden's Embrace.
  
  Home to the Slaanesh Cult "The Masks", the population is full of exotic and beautiful appearing people who are always welcoming. Though many just live around the area, actual cultists seem few and far between, wearing their Masks as they patrol the streets as guards.
  
  In the very center is the Mask Temple, a cathedral of white marble and stained glass windows, surrounded by paired statues of lovers locked in eternal embrace.
• Parliament Buildings ^UncleWolf
  
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  Converted from several buildings in the middle of the district, it serves as the seat of the administration. The Mayor resides there.
  
  Not far from the Town Hall, the small circular new building serves as the meeting place for the People's Parliament. It includes a large hall for meetings as well as offices for all the members.
  
  The Hunter's hall once stood here, but it was destroyed in the invasion.

Southside

• DMside ^Zefir
  
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  DMside is a small district located in the east of Southside, close to the city's edge. It's main building is an iron cathedral of Deus Mechanicus. Around the cathedral are a number of factories, labs, and shops that work on robotics. A shield generator in front of the cathedral serves as its main defense against attacks.
• Xar'cha Residence ^Reinholdt
  
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  Home to the demon hunter Ilpholin Xar'cha, this large building appears more like a fortress than a residence. The entire thing being shaped like a spider where it expects you to enter through its mouth may be off-putting, but if one makes it up to the front door they will be warmly greeted by the local AI.
  
  The immediate inside is much more welcoming with carefully arranged furniture designed around receiving guests. The majority of the rooms past this point serve a variety of purposes as they stretch deeper and deeper underground.

Westside

• Bloodsong's Oasis ^{Ashen Lilies}
  
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  Located right on Westside’s bustling riverfront, the Oasis rises above its surrounding buildings like its namesake water feature, an elegant high-elven style manor house smack in the middle of its unassuming brownstone neighbors. Owned by an orc clan, the establishment was opened to cater mostly to orcs, goblins, lizardfolk, greenskins and beastfolk of all sorts that live and work the city's docks, providing an upscale alternative to the common dockside pub or Friday night chain-restaurant. The restaurant quickly gained buzz among the fine dining establishment, however, and now proudly serves all patrons, providing an island of glamour among the mostly downtrodden quarter.
  
  Ritzy and well-lit, the main dining room presents a spacious promise of jazzy splendour, populated by an array of elegantly furnished tables ringing a large stage at the far end, and a heavy, aged-wood bar at the flank. The bar is appropriately dressed up with real bullet holes and scored with injuries from knife, battle-axe, and arrows, befitting the speakeasy theme. At the stage, live music every night, typically from the house jazz band, fronted by their elegant ettin lead singer (contralto and mezzo-soprano) completes the room with appropriately sultry flair, though guest performances are showcased on occasion, featuring artists from across the Nexus.
  
  Other rooms include a large secondary floor for private events and pre-booked parties, as well as smaller, private dining rooms for rent, including balconies overlooking the main stage, and a larger speakeasy-style hidden bar behind the bookshelf, for VIP clients who want the utmost discretion to discuss certain... clandestine activities.
• Cathedral of the Sacred Order of Cunningham ^happyturtle
  
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  The Westside Cathedral is large enough to house people for emergency purposes, but in general, only the family of the pastor and the groundskeeper live there.
  
  Pastor Rockwell is the Pastor
  Sister Janice is the Pastor's wife, and a skilled hippiemancer.
  

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  [IMG][/IMG]
• Club Pulse ^Shadowcaller
  
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  The club is quite easily noticed by the huge neon sign outside, Pulse was easily recognized as Riversides largest nightclub. Beyond the line and the bouncer outside is a classic club layout with a large dance floor with loud music and flashing lights.
  
  In a slightly more calm area of the club is the bar run by an one-eyed bartender called Ryo.
  
  There are two stairs leading up to the upper floor where it's easier to talk and drink.
  
  The atmosphere is pretty heavy as you walk inside with techno music playing very loud.
• Evolution Industries ^Darkcomet
  
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  Three main buildings make up Evolution Industries' holdings in Riverside. The first is the main administrative building. A nondescript office building bearing the EI logo.
  
  Next there is the Evolution Industries power plant. It is a heavily reinforced building that houses a Class 3 MACE unit. It is an incredibly potent power source that provides power to most of Riverside.
  
  Lastly there is the Light of Evolution's control center. The artificial sun that lights up Westside's days is maintained by EI and powered by it's power plant. A bright blue beam of energy links the structure and the sun above.
  
  Posts for EI's property should occur in this thread.
• MagMart ^{Lord Magtok}
  
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  If the individual entering has any sort of familiarity with the other MagMart, back when it was its own building apart from Mallside, they'll probably notice that this Riverside one doesn't look anywhere near as glamorous as its predecessor. It's a modest purple brick building, the glass display windows aren't even properly bulletproof, and the smelly homeless people usually employed to wander around about the front of the store in a wacky MagMascot costume with an enormous cyborg head are mysteriously absent.
  
  That said, you can still find just about everything here that you can at the Mallside store. Curtains to carpets, macaroni to monkeys on motorcycles, groceries to zombies garlic. The staff is always happy to help (or else), and if you aren't entirely satisfied with your shopping experience, you can pay a small fee to watch the MagMart employee of your choosing get fired out the MagMart complimentary employee morale cannon. Except in this store, the 'morale cannon' is really more of a morale bazooka, and while it's still fun to watch, it's nowhere near as charming.
• Toy Tinker ^Murkus
  
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  Here stands the Toy Tinker, a rich, ancient wooden building styled after the sort of boardwalk shop you might've found on Earth in the early American twentieth century. It's a crude blocky affair dominated by sweeping, simple architecture, built in two stories with a basement beneath. The front of the shop is covered by two long, shiny windows, behind which waits a plethora of playthings. Mostly metal work, plus some plastic or wood worked in. The various creatures move about with a life of their own, eyes aglow by some strange inner light. Dragons with clockwork guts waddle alongside tin soldiers run on batteries and copper wire. You can find just about any sort of toy here.
  
  The Tinker supplies the most lifelike toys anywhere, guaranteed. Just don't ask how the proprietor makes them - unless you're looking for business of a different sort.

Wildside

• Underground Hive ^{Slii Arhem}
  
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  Beneath the massive network of roots that bind the trees together are deep, winding tunnels that serve as a home to the bee colonies being kept by the orchard's guardian. These megalithic hives have even extended slightly under the city limits, and complaints about deep, sonorous buzzing in those sections of the city have increased substantially.
• Riftline Station
  
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  Not in Wildside proper, but on the fringes of the city is the bustling Riftline station. This huge station facilitates a lot of transportation in and out of the city, making commutes to Inside and other locations very quick.

Archive

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Riverside 20: Another day, another disaster
Riverside 19
Riverside 18
Riverside 17
Riverside 16: Turn and face the strain
Riverside 15
Riverside 14
Riverside 13
Riverside 12
Riverside 11
Riverside X: Take a Walk on the Wildside
Riverside IX
Riverside VIII: A New Side
Riverside VII
Riverside VI
Riverside V
Riverside IV: Offside, 10 Yard Penalty
Riverside III
Riverside II
Riverside I: The Beginning

This thread is managed by Gulaghar. I will create the new thread when this one reached 50 pages. Please contact me for updates to the OP.

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[Recaiden]

Tao shoots it again, just above the mouth.
And then he steps back, slings his gun, and strikes it with a bolt of lightning that springs from his fingertips.

Now he'll believe that it's dead.
Awful bug.
Useful for cleaning up your shop full of weird magic though, certainly.

Then he has his dragons fly back and reform his other arm, which takes many seconds and some effort, with the magic devoured the way it was.
And then, finally, he can open the strongbox.

[Arkhosia]

The Empress' Estate

"From what I've heard, there's probably a couple places." The Empress says with a wry smile before getting up from her knee and gestures for one of the doors behind her throne. She speaks a Word, Orthay, and the door opens as commanded. "Go ahead, Glahr, take her and get her situated. I will see to it that this mess is cleaned up and cared for." She promises, putting her helm back on as she looks at the mess of dead bodies. "At least we've some new arms for the armory..." She mutters, nudging the Wretch's plasma pistol with a toe while Glahr smiles and all but drags Octavia towards the door and through it.

Unless stopped, Octavia finds herself rushed to a rather regal looking door, likely The Empress' own, and Glahr takes out a key to open it. She looks quite proud that this is the room she's staying in. Despite the regal entrance, the chamber itself is rather spartan aside from the incredibly large bed. An armoire, armor rack, weapon rack, and a vanity mirror. There's a closet as well, but the open door shows that it is mostly filled with Glahr's personal clothing.

The Empress's Estate

Octavia doesn't seem to pick up on what the Empress might mean there, but she doesn’t really get the chance to ask before Glahr pulls her eagerly away into the estate.

”W-whoa, Glahr!” Octavia stumbles to keep up with her kinswoman, a laughter like chiming bells spilling from her lips as her bare feet pad upon the stately marble and she pulls on the furs to keep them in place. To Glahr’s ears, it might sound almost enchanting.

Her expression shifts to wonder and a bit of reverence as they reach their destination, grasping just whose chambers they stand before and looking over at Glahr in surprise as the woman leads her in. “Am I- am I to be staying here with you?” She squeezes the handmaiden’s hand, a slight, flattered blush rising in her cheeks.

[Gullara]

Moth Park

”Heh, yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Unless you were thinking of heading somewhere else?” Anastasia takes a seat next to Eliseo as she looks at him inquisitively. She was plenty happy to chill out here, but hey, if he has anything else he wanted to do, she was just as happy there.

Moth Park

"WHERE?!" A voice calls out next to Ana as a white-haired figure suddenly jumps out next to her, seemingly appearing from nowhere.

Hekta's hair is unusually clean suggesting that she have actually cleaned herself recently. Wherever by accident or intentionally is up for debate though as all parts of her aren't equally as clean.

The young demon is grinning, all her pointy teeth at full display, and her hands are raised into the air as if just about to grab Ana. Her red eyes staring right at the kumiho.

[Moth Park]

"Nah, not really. I didn't have any big plans." Eliseo puts his arm along the back of the bench behind Ana. Oh yes, very smooth. Or so Eliseo thinks so. Too bad Hekta ruins it.

The boy flinches, his eyes go wide. "Hekta?" It's been a while since he last saw the demon girl. Where the hell did she come from?

[Abandoned Village] Archera

Archera can see that the rats and the mutants are all moving in the direction of the passage that they entered the village through, seemingly chasing someone judging by the angry sounds they're making.
The baby is still making soft crying sounds against her chest but it seems it can't be heard over the chaos.

At least not by the minions.

"We can hear you." Archera can suddenly hear a voice call out. The voice of a child.
One of the girls of the nine children they've been following is walking in her general direction. Seemingly following the sound of the baby's cries.
"Reveal yourself and perhaps we can discuss this? You want to save the life you hold, don't you?" The child is looking around as to determine which direction the sound is coming from and it looks like the other children are joining in.

[Abandoned Village] Archera

Archera freezes. She made a mistake. She got too close without knowing where everyone was. She starts to backtrack, but there's little she can do to quiet the child but try to whisper reassurances. At the same time she pulls water from the nearby well she can feel. She quietly draws it close to her. That also means she can't move it quickly, though, to avoid the sound of rushing water.

While all this is happening, Irena (fine, I admit it) will feel Archera's alarm keenly as their link is opened up.

[Recaiden]

[Ratty Tunnels]

The passage leading out of the chamber goes in one direction until it splits into two. Though if they listen closely Fade and Ruby can hear sounds of movement from the left passage.
Then a lone woman (who Earl of Purple can describe) suddenly emerges from the left tunnel in full sprint, appearing to be fleeing from someone or something.

As Flicker runs through the narrow tunnel with the rat minions in hot pursuit she can see what seems to be the beam of a flashlight as she is about to reach the end of it.
As she emerges she can see a woman (who Recaiden can describe) holding a gun with some form of flashlight attached to it.

The rat-minions are still about a dozen meters behind her.

When Fade hears the sound of someone coming he falls back a bit, leaving the light circle to hide in the shadows. He holds his sword ready to swing in case it is an enemy or the target they seeked. Should the woman try to run pass them Fade will try to block her path.

"Who's there?" Ruby challenges. She's in the uniformed armor of Southside's military, adorned with various patches of rank and service. Admittedly, the uniform is quite filthy after the rats and the spider-squid and the water fey and the muck of the tunnels. She's a sort of dragon-person, with red scales, horns, a tail, and a pair of near-skeletal wings that are useless for flying.
And she is pointing her gun at Flicker.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tracking Rats] Amalungak and Irena

"Bull****, creep. Let's see how-" But then his assailant suddenly pauses. "****. If you have even moved an inch when I get back, I'm going to push this sword so far up your butt that you will never walk again, capish?" They give him another shove before suddenly disappearing into the darkness.
Had they left? Was hard to tell as Amalungak will now barely be able to see anything without any sources of light.

[Abandoned Village] Archera

The children keep moving in her general direction and don't seem to notice the well-water being pulled into the air. But that first child keeps talking to her however. "We are reasonable. We have done enough for your city and now we simply wish to move elsewhere. So if we all stop right now we pull back what's ours and you pull back what's yours and we all return to where we belong."

The children all stop moving and the speaker even takes a step backwards. "Fair? Take that life and get out of this place, that's the only confirmation we need."

Then Irena shadow jumps right next to her and looks around wildly for potential threats. She still have that glowing flame in her palm to light her way. She seems to spot the baby Archera is holding which makes her pause, but then they can hear the child again. "Just leave for all our sake."

[Buffet Dungeon]

"Don't people like, make new blood all the time? Can't these dudes just not donate some of their own blood every few week and recruit members to do the same? I tell you what Magda, it isn't blood they're obsessed with, it's killing stuff. Just like every other darn cultist out there." It was like her uncle had always said, all cult-roads lead to killing.

Then Anika stops as her companion pointed out the large seal. "If so, why haven't they already activated it? Do they seriously need us to do it? Geez, they're not only lame, they're lazy too!" She crosses her arms while continuing forward, keeping herself not far behind Magda.

So as soon as she stops, so does Anika and immediately goes into fight-mode. Keeping her arms to the side and keeping her eyes on everything else within the chamber. She trusted Magda kept an eye on the blood trap and both of them probably didn't need to stare at it.

Then... her eyes are glued to the seal as much as Magda's once something raises from it.
An actual blood seal. Finally!
"Don't worry, Magda. I just happen to have the perfect tool to deal with this." Anika reaches into her satchel and pulls out... a beach ball that definitely shouldn't have fit inside of it.
Then she throws the beach ball at the seal. "Hua!"

This beach ball is actually made completely out of leather thus a lot heavier than the modern variant but is otherwise no different from a regular one. "Okay, you go left and I go right, that way it can't chase both of us!" Then she takes off running.
She was going to focus on its butt once Magda had distracted it.

[Finding Rats] Jaahlyn and Holly

Jaahlyn doesn't answer right away, the snappiness of Holly's reply seemingly not lost on her.

...

"It's not a child." The satyr eventually remarks as Holly seems hesitant. "The sovereign considers children clean." Her turn is more somber than before but her expression remains neutral.

Jaahlyn doesn't seem to want to elaborate more than that however as she just looks away once Holly starts with the first injection and nods once she tells her to leave. "If you need assistance, just shout."

Then she turns to walk away, leaving Holly alone with the creatures.
And soon she will be even more alone as the injection seem to end the pregnant one remarkably quickly. Holly will through the biological link tell that it was as if it wasn't meant to last long in the first place. Like the rats themselves something seems to have broken them and then reassembled them in a new way that wasn't particularly sturdy. Almost as soon as the the cocktail of poison and venom is injected the creature just stops moving and breathing altogether. It's life snuffed out like a candle, bringing a strange silence.

But the remaining three creatures soon make their presence known with their groaning and movements. They almost seem like giant bloated babies themselves the way they're only able to feebly wiggle their arms and legs.

The Ms. J Investigation

Lady Anika? Psh!
How did this dude even know her name? He didn't seem to know her last name and the only times she had been addressed as 'lady' they had always used her last name, Sunfletcher. Jezebel must have just shared her first name for some reason. A suspicious reason perhaps?

But it sounded like her first theory was correct, or so this guy claimed at least. Considering he was a servant of Jezebel he probably wasn't that trustworthy.

"Don't prostitutes usually go for people that'd pay for sex? Since do I look like the kind of person that would have to do that?" Her long eyebrows raise as she found this explanation suspicious too! "But who're you? I am Anika Sunfletcher and I'm supposed to deliver these VIGIL communicators to Jezebel TV and her, uh, closest people." She gestures towards the box she's carrying in her satchel.

[Earl of Purple]

Ratty Tunnels

"I'm Flicker, I'm running from rat mutants. I recommend you join me. Ooh, do you know the way out? I think I took a wrong turning somewhere." Since she's stopped to talk, Flicker double-checks her shotgun. She's a supervillain, wearing a single-piece skintight outfit, like a leotard, in purple and yellow diamond cheques, with a hood up over her head and a jester mask with an exaggerated red-tipped nose. She's also wearing a bandoleer of shotgun shells and carries a revolver-chambered shotgun.

[bc56]

Carter's Curious Collection

The bug is shot and zapped. It doesn't move. Finally.

...

Tao can now safely open that strongbox. Inside are a few sheets of parchment, a faceless rag doll, and a vial of a strange, oily fluid which glows with a faint, sickly light. The pages appear to diagram different rituals that could be performed. Maybe the one the cult was doing is in here?

[Rebonack]

[Buffet Dungeon]

"Cultists are really (flowering) stupid," Magdalene points out. "If they weren't so dumb they wouldn't be cultists. Everyone knows the Old Gods are just going to kill everyone eventually, anyway. What kind of (flowering) idiot would want to speed that up?"

She's dealt with these cultists for several years now. The cultists, the zombies, the monsters. It's all a huge pain. But someone has to go out there and take the worst of it, right? People like Magdalene can take the punishment and really smash through to the heart of the cults. She kind of wishes so much didn't hinge on her but... well. When you become a conduit for the power of an Old God without going completely bonkers you should probably use that to accomplish something. Great power and great responsibility and all that.

And then SEAL!

"The (flower) are you doing?" she asks when the ball is thrown.

...

The seal just caught the ball on its... face? It doesn't really have a nose. More like a toothy rip where a face ought to be. But now it's just sitting there balancing the ball on its face.

Maybe it's some sort of magical anti-seal weapon? Magdalene honestly has no idea.

Ah well fight time. Magdalene clutches her fingers and makes a lifting motion with one hand, a rot lash totem growing out of the ground! It begins sending streamers of eldritch magic ripping into the seal's foul flesh.

"Ourt ourt! You will know the way of PAIN!" the seal says as it begins wobbling slowly toward Magdalene.

Also?

With a loud OURT! it releases a rippling shockwave of fire and boiling chaos magic. Ouch.

[Recaiden]

Okay, not a great this to find. But maybe the ritual diagrams will explain what exactly they were doing here.
Tao spends a few moments looking them over. After that, he'd say he can figure them out just as well from a safer place, and put everything into his pack.

There was another door, after all.

[bc56]

Carter's Curious Collection

That looks unfamiliar, that couldn't be it... Oh, there it is. That's bad.
The ritual they were performing was one to bind a soul into a prepared object and use it as a conduit to a powerful evil entity. That's really worrying. Both because it requires a human sacrifice to prepare the object and because any entity it could contact would be very very bad news.

[Arkhosia]

Moth Park

Not as smooth as Eliseo might believe, for Anastasia certainly notices - although she seems very receptive to the gesture, shifting closer to Eliseo in a manner that is totally very subtle and surely will not be noticed by any keen-eyed demigods.

This does mean, however, that Ana may end up jostling up against his side when Hekta suddenly materializes.

"Ah!" Anastasia startles, tail bristling as she jumps in her seat. She leans away from the strange imp, totally heedless of how she pushes up against Eliseo in the process even as she glances between the two in confusion. "W-who? Y-you know each other?"

[Morty]

[Tracking Rats] Amalungak and Irena

Those don't sound like empty threats, so Amalungak won't move. He will, however, whisper a simple incantation under his breath, to expand his senses and let him perceive his surroundings. It's not quite sight, more like being acutely aware of the relative positioning of everything around him. This way he might at least know where his attacker is.

[Recaiden]

Hmm. Was he supposed to have been the sacrifice? Or did it happen before he arrived?
More distressingly, this implies they were trying to get something worse than Carter, who was casually killing people and putting others in bottles. And worse than that blood mist demon, even?
Tao hopes for a moment that the other customers got out okay.

Well, his immediate concern is the other door.

[bc56]

Carter's Curious Collection

The other room is a prison cell. Manacles are bolted to the wall, a chamber pot and a small ceramic bowl sit in one corner, and someone has scratched the traditional tally marks into one of the walls with a piece of rock. There's no one here and no other exits.

[Recaiden]

Well, that answers a lot of questions about the human sacrifice that Tao hadn't actually bothered asking yet.
He turns right around, trying to get up out of this underground segment and honestly out of the whole burnt out shop. Hanging around here won't do any good.

Probably he should look into this. But it isn't as though he has a lot of contacts who know about the occult.

[Gullara]

[Abandoned Village] Archera

The children keep moving in her general direction and don't seem to notice the well-water being pulled into the air. But that first child keeps talking to her however. "We are reasonable. We have done enough for your city and now we simply wish to move elsewhere. So if we all stop right now we pull back what's ours and you pull back what's yours and we all return to where we belong."

The children all stop moving and the speaker even takes a step backwards. "Fair? Take that life and get out of this place, that's the only confirmation we need."

Then Irena shadow jumps right next to her and looks around wildly for potential threats. She still have that glowing flame in her palm to light her way. She seems to spot the baby Archera is holding which makes her pause, but then they can hear the child again. "Just leave for all our sake."

[Abandoned Village] Archera

Archera holds the baby out of Irena to take. "Take the baby and hold back. I'm going to handle this." Assuming Irena has no strenuous complaints. Archera turns away, now without the vulnerable baby, and starts walking towards the 'children'. "I want you to tell me what you were doing here." She demands in an uncompromising tone. She might still be hard to see given the darkness, but she's not hiding anymore.

[5a Violista]

[Finding Rats] Jaahlyn and Holly

"At least this sovereign's doing something right," Holly says to herself. Do whatever you want, just leave the children out of it.
Once again, she pushes her hair back. While, yes, this does mean that she gets gross stuff in her hair, that's fine. Hair being kept out of the face is important.

If only she knew what, exactly, had been done to them and had the time to plan out the steps. She's confident that if she knew more and if she were stronger, then she could reverse it. Unfortunately, she has neither of those. Clearly, the reason why these creatures are dying is because she's not strong enough and she's not prepared enough. Holly bites her own lip hard enough to pierce it, to keep herself focused.

The half-human woman looks and hears the others. After moving quickly towards the next-closest, she runs through the same plan again. Almost ready, Holly positions her hand in the same place. With her other hand, she reaches up towards the creature's: "Don't worry, you'll see your family soon." And then she follows the exact same procedure.

[Shadowcaller]

Spoiler: Quotes

Show

[Buffet Dungeon]

"Cultists are really (flowering) stupid," Magdalene points out. "If they weren't so dumb they wouldn't be cultists. Everyone knows the Old Gods are just going to kill everyone eventually, anyway. What kind of (flowering) idiot would want to speed that up?"

She's dealt with these cultists for several years now. The cultists, the zombies, the monsters. It's all a huge pain. But someone has to go out there and take the worst of it, right? People like Magdalene can take the punishment and really smash through to the heart of the cults. She kind of wishes so much didn't hinge on her but... well. When you become a conduit for the power of an Old God without going completely bonkers you should probably use that to accomplish something. Great power and great responsibility and all that.

And then SEAL!

"The (flower) are you doing?" she asks when the ball is thrown.

...

The seal just caught the ball on its... face? It doesn't really have a nose. More like a toothy rip where a face ought to be. But now it's just sitting there balancing the ball on its face.

Maybe it's some sort of magical anti-seal weapon? Magdalene honestly has no idea.

Ah well fight time. Magdalene clutches her fingers and makes a lifting motion with one hand, a rot lash totem growing out of the ground! It begins sending streamers of eldritch magic ripping into the seal's foul flesh.

"Ourt ourt! You will know the way of PAIN!" the seal says as it begins wobbling slowly toward Magdalene.

Also?

With a loud OURT! it releases a rippling shockwave of fire and boiling chaos magic. Ouch.

[Moth Park]

"Nah, not really. I didn't have any big plans." Eliseo puts his arm along the back of the bench behind Ana. Oh yes, very smooth. Or so Eliseo thinks so. Too bad Hekta ruins it.

The boy flinches, his eyes go wide. "Hekta?" It's been a while since he last saw the demon girl. Where the hell did she come from?

Moth Park

Not as smooth as Eliseo might believe, for Anastasia certainly notices - although she seems very receptive to the gesture, shifting closer to Eliseo in a manner that is totally very subtle and surely will not be noticed by any keen-eyed demigods.

This does mean, however, that Ana may end up jostling up against his side when Hekta suddenly materializes.

"Ah!" Anastasia startles, tail bristling as she jumps in her seat. She leans away from the strange imp, totally heedless of how she pushes up against Eliseo in the process even as she glances between the two in confusion. "W-who? Y-you know each other?"

[Tracking Rats] Amalungak and Irena

Those don't sound like empty threats, so Amalungak won't move. He will, however, whisper a simple incantation under his breath, to expand his senses and let him perceive his surroundings. It's not quite sight, more like being acutely aware of the relative positioning of everything around him. This way he might at least know where his attacker is.

[Abandoned Village] Archera

Archera holds the baby out of Irena to take. "Take the baby and hold back. I'm going to handle this." Assuming Irena has no strenuous complaints. Archera turns away, now without the vulnerable baby, and starts walking towards the 'children'. "I want you to tell me what you were doing here." She demands in an uncompromising tone. She might still be hard to see given the darkness, but she's not hiding anymore.

[Finding Rats] Jaahlyn and Holly

"At least this sovereign's doing something right," Holly says to herself. Do whatever you want, just leave the children out of it.
Once again, she pushes her hair back. While, yes, this does mean that she gets gross stuff in her hair, that's fine. Hair being kept out of the face is important.

If only she knew what, exactly, had been done to them and had the time to plan out the steps. She's confident that if she knew more and if she were stronger, then she could reverse it. Unfortunately, she has neither of those. Clearly, the reason why these creatures are dying is because she's not strong enough and she's not prepared enough. Holly bites her own lip hard enough to pierce it, to keep herself focused.

The half-human woman looks and hears the others. After moving quickly towards the next-closest, she runs through the same plan again. Almost ready, Holly positions her hand in the same place. With her other hand, she reaches up towards the creature's: "Don't worry, you'll see your family soon." And then she follows the exact same procedure.

[Finding Rats] Jaahlyn and Holly

The next creature is put to sleep just like the first one, without any resistance or complications. It's eyes have just enough time to close before its heart stops being and it's no more.

The remaining two will be the same without much in the way of variation. They were in a sense reanimated corpses that were too weary to do much else than the new purpose they had been given along with their second life. Their personality and other mental faculties were simply unnecessary. Holly could detect brain activity but it was a chaotic mess. Like a person that hadn't slept for weeks and been forced to work that entire time.

Finally though, their work has been put to an end and they all lay still along with what would have been their rat 'children'.

Moth Park

Hekta throws back her head and laughs until she eventually decides to answer their question with one of her own. "Who're you? Ei am Hekta and Eiliseo belongs to mine crew. Ya' will have to negotiate with Ei for him." She remarks with a mirthful grin as she gestures at herself.

[Abandoned Village] Archera

While Archera can't actually see her expression, she can tell that Irena is anything but pleased by having the baby being pressed into her arms. She had hoped to never having to care of another of these ever again but now she's being forced to take care of one that Archera had just found laying around in a dungeon apparently.
Since when had it come to being her that was the designated baby-caretaker? Life was truly unfair and she had lost the control of her's. All she can do is letting out a deep sigh instead of any actual objections as Archera steps out towards the town center.

The children all immediately turns towards her and this time all nine of them are talking. Each one taking turns, starting with the child furthest away as they all walk closer.
"An order?"

"A demand?"

"A hero's arrogance is so often confused with bravery."

"Since that is what you see yourself as, yes? A hero coming to slay the beast."

"We've seen you through their eyes, what do you seek, mortal? Justice? Vengeance?"

"But since you asked so nicely we will tell even if we don't expect you to understand."

"We fill your dens with filth, expecting nothing in return."

"Like the rats, the beggars and those that live underneath you. We take care of you by making you see the cancer that you've hidden away within you and make you turn away from it."

"You had ignored the rats, the street people and this place beneath your feet. Swept it all under the rug where it was allowed to grow. We took it and sent it all back to you as a favor. To give you a chance to deal with it all." The last girl explains.

[Tracking Rats] Amalungak and Irena

Amalungak will find that he's now inside one of the hutts, which he probably already figured out as it was darker her and that he can just make out two window openings within the circular structure.
The walls are decorated with simple patterns carved into the hardened mud but otherwise the interior is fairly simple, with a group of colorful blankets functioning as a bed and what seems to be a chamber pot and various belongings such as wooden cutlery and little idols laying strewn across the rock floor.

This seems to have once have been a very simple home for someone or someone's quite short considering he almost bumps his head into the ceiling as he looks around.

[Buffet Dungeon]

"Don't worry about it!" Anika clearly knew what she was doing, basing all of it one the seal her friend had tamed once. That didn't last very long for some reason.

Now it looked like she would have to avoid a wave of... magic that looked pretty bad.
In her experience shockwaves were usually pretty landbound. People punched or stomped the ground and then everything nearby just went flying. Thus the solution was to go flying before the shockwave could even reach her!

That is, she's going to turn into a bird.

With how big this boss arena was she wouldn't have any difficulty flying around in here and her plan is to fly over the shockwave and then towards the tail of the seal while it was being distracted by Magda.
She's going to try to try to time it so she can land on it while it wasn't moving and then turn into a giant snake and wrap around it!

Then... well, honestly wouldn't have expected to even go that far without encountering a bunch of problems so she hadn't planned that far either.

[5a Violista]

[Finding Rats]
Jaahlyn is probably still here (?) and Holly

Now that she's finished, Holly really just wants to go home and take a long shower. (Unfortunately, her neighbor's family is still living with her because their house still isn't completely rebuilt yet from that demon attack way back when (as of when this plot started. It actually finished getting built the day she met Reinholdt, which I now remember to have happened shortly after this plot started). Almost, but not quite finished.) And then go to sleep. Maybe she can just wash off in a river and then go to some park bench or to HALO or something, since it's too noisy at her place. And call in to her secretary and have her just pretend to be her for the next couple days.

And she supposes that she can just leave everything else to everybody else. She already did what she came down here for: to find the source of the rats and put a stop to it.

"Well," she says to herself, "if there's others of them around then I should probably handle it."
The half-human woman walks away from the pools of blood.
If she waits around long enough, then she'll be able to see if more rats show up and where they came from.

About how long was the gestation period? She thinks back to the tracking-machines that MERC made, to see if she can deduce the time period out. Based on the location of one wave of rats and the next wave...
She lies back against the ground, hoping there's no more because then that means she can just go home and shower or whatever. Maybe take a dip in the river.

Probably should report back to MERC eventually, too. Maybe she could break her arm or something first so that she doesn't have to do any paperwork.

[Rebonack]

[Buffet Dungeon]

Magdalene seems to have the same idea, though she can't turn into a bird. Instead a vine zips out of her arm and latches onto the ceiling, pulling her clear of the shockwave.

Because she's a very mature person she also blows a raspberry at the seal. For good measure she also causes a hungering totem to sprout from the ceiling, which begins causing the seal's flesh to rot as it feeds on the monster's vitality and feeds it to Magdalene and Anika! Should either of them be injured the totem will cause them to heal at a highly accelerated rate.

The seal, of course, doesn't like this at all.

It decides to show off its displeasure by lobbing a wave of boiling blood bombs at Magdalene! They begin exploding all around her as she does her best to dodge and block with her shield. Thankfully the disgusting scalded wounds begin healing right away. And as soon as Magdalene is injured? That results in a blast of frostbite to detonate right on top of the seal, freezing its flesh and leaving it slowed, brittle, and vulnerable!

Vulnerable, for example, to snek hugs.

So!

Anika is squeezing the seal now. It smells really terrible. The rot-lash totem continues blasting away at the huge shambling mountain of blubber.

[Morty]

[Tracking Rats] Amalungak

Details such as colors and adornments on the walls escape Amalungak's senses. The enchantment lets him perceive distance and dimensions, but little beyond that. It does confirm that his attacker is gone. But is she far away enough for him to try anything? The handcuffs limit his options considerably. Only his simplest rituals can be attempted with his hands bound like this. For now, he tries to focus on the existing ritual, expanding the sense to try and find out where the closest other person is. But the further it extends, the less precise it becomes.

[Zefir]

Ratty Tunnels

"I'm Flicker, I'm running from rat mutants. I recommend you join me. Ooh, do you know the way out? I think I took a wrong turning somewhere." Since she's stopped to talk, Flicker double-checks her shotgun. She's a supervillain, wearing a single-piece skintight outfit, like a leotard, in purple and yellow diamond cheques, with a hood up over her head and a jester mask with an exaggerated red-tipped nose. She's also wearing a bandoleer of shotgun shells and carries a revolver-chambered shotgun.

Ratty Tunnels

"Have you met anyone else on your way?" Fade asks. He still hides, which should work since Flicker got a light pointed at her , but she could say in what direction the owner of the voice is. Fade is still ready for combat especially now that it might be close

[Recaiden]

"I'm Flicker, I'm running from rat mutants. I recommend you join me. Ooh, do you know the way out? I think I took a wrong turning somewhere." Since she's stopped to talk, Flicker double-checks her shotgun. She's a supervillain, wearing a single-piece skintight outfit, like a leotard, in purple and yellow diamond cheques, with a hood up over her head and a jester mask with an exaggerated red-tipped nose. She's also wearing a bandoleer of shotgun shells and carries a revolver-chambered shotgun.

"Have you met anyone else on your way?" Fade asks. He still hides, which should work since Flicker got a light pointed at her , but she could say in what direction the owner of the voice is. Fade is still ready for combat especially now that it might be close

"I'm Commandant Ruby, from Southside. The rats' main nest is behind us. It's impossible to get out that way now." With that lake and enchanted maze too?

"You'll be better off turning around and getting ready for a fight."

[Shadowcaller]

[Ratty Tunnels]

Sure enough, a horde of rats soon follows coming sprinting out of the tunnel after Flicker but abruptly stop once they see that their prey isn't alone anymore. Some kind of intelligence suddenly holding them back.

Then they turn around to try to flee back the way they came.

If they should follow them it can be assumed that they arrive at the abandoned village as the rats and the mutants are heading back to the children. The Rat King.

[Buffet Dungeon]

Anika just makes sure to keep her snakey tongue in her mouth so she doesn't have to smell the seal when she starts to give it the greatest and tightest hug possible. Since blood was so important to it she figured that preventing it from flowing freely through its big body would be pretty darn effective.

Of course, Magda making it brittle probably helped too.

[Finding Rats]
Jaahlyn is probably still here (?) and Holly

Holly will find that her MERC communicator isn't picking up signals which is odd as they should work even so far underground. It's as if something is interfering with the signal.

However, whatever that is seems to be weakening as while she wait the communicator starts to be able to pick up a weak signal and eventually she can see that she have nearly two dozen unread messages. Mostly from Dena but also other MERC members. It appears they haven't been able to reach her either.

No more rats thankfully show up. It seems that all, or at least most, of them have retreated back further into the tunnels.

[Earl of Purple]

Ratty Tunnels

"Uh, sort of? Not since I started running from the mob I distracted. There's a local superhero named Archera down here, and we bumped into a shadow-lady as well. She seems to know Archera, I think. Archera left me and the shadow-lady alone, and the shadow-lady wanted me to distract them to abduct the head honcho." Or who they thought was the head honcho, anyway. Flicker, Irena and Archera may have been mistaken in this.

She watches hte mob arrive, and return. "I'm gonna go see if I can stop them. They'll find the shadow-lady and her captive if not." She'll start back down the way she came, though she's walking at the moment rather than teleporting. She doesn't want to startle the Commandant of Southside. That sounds an awfully militaristic title, so she's probably got an itchy trigger-finger.

[Zefir]

Ratty Tunnels

Fade watches the strange reaction of the hive and listen to Flicker. Befor she can walk Fade speaks up again but he obviously speaks to Ruby .

"Let's follow them. They appear to flee. At best they either retreat to another breeding point or the source of this." his voice then turns to Flicker. "Don't go to far ahead. They act a bit odd and might just wait for a chance were you are alone again."

Fade steps out of the shadow and follows up. ((I don't think i need to describe him. He didn't change in all the years ))

[Rebonack]

[Buffet Dungeon]

That's a good plan, Anika.

The seal probably smells SUPER gross.

Magdalene conjures another rot totem and now the seal has TWO of the things blasting away at it! It really doesn't seem to like this. It likes Anika's snek hug even less. Unsurprisingly, it decides to do something about both of these problems at once.

How, you ask?

By summoning adds of course!

A half dozen deep crimson riftgates split the air as twice that many awful things that are basically nothing but bruised purple tentacle flesh and one HUGE toothy mouth are disgorged. They're each about the size of a sheep and support themselves on four spidery looking limbs. The chthonic gnashes immediately skitter toward our heroes to bite them a whole bunch! Considering how gross their mouths look (they probably haven't brushed their teeth EVER) it is likely inadvisable to allow them to bit you.

[5a Violista]

[Finding Rats]
Jaahlyn is probably still here (?) and Holly

Holly looks at the communicator once it starts working, and then turns it away for a little longer, so that she can ignore it.

Eventually, she gets curious enough to wonder why so many people tried messaging her. She scans through the messages while still lying on the ground. She yawns. Maybe she could actually get away with a quick nap here. Or...Oh! That's a better idea: instead of breaking her own arm to get out of paperwork or whatever she'll probably need to do for this, she can just claim to be too exhausted. Didn't really get much sleep yesterday, anyway.

Then, she holds it up - presumably to get a slightly better signal, and uses it to message...whoever, really. Probably Dena, since she send the most messages out of everyone. "Hello, this is Holly."

[Recaiden]

[Ratty Tunnels]

"Well, if the mutants are coming this way, I guess you were a good distraction."
That's a very good thought, Flicker. It is a military title, and as a matter of fact, Ruby has already flicked her light towards the rats and started shooting at them. as soon as they were visible to her night vision.
"Exactly right, Fade. Let's go!"
Flicker may be walking, but Ruby is running. That 'head honcho' could be whatever had just left the King's chamber. Time is of the essence.