Riverside 21: Older than Arkh

[Ironsmith]

[Wild Mike's]

About twelve hours before the concert, the various members of DEATHKISS meet up at Wild Mike's Topless Bar and Grill, the venue they had chosen for their performance. This is also where they expect to meet their bodyguards, the people they hired from MERC.

Newcomers will note that, despite the name, what staff are still here dress fairly modestly. If asked about this apparent contradiction, the waitresses and bartenders will casually point up and ask if there's a top on the bar (breezing by the follow-up question of why the building has no roof, in favor of cautioning against ordering the seven-alarm chili). The bar itself will be closing early today, so they can clear the floor for the concert.

Malady, the lead singer, will be mingling with the patrons, taking a little time to relax before concert preparations begin in earnest. She's wearing the same casual jeans-and-hoodie combination from earlier, and at first, it'll be hard to tell she's member of the band at all, with all of her demonic features hidden at present.

Ecstacy, the guitarist, is sitting up on stage, wearing an outfit that looks something like a teenager going through her goth years. She's got a magazine in her hands and is flicking through it idly, talking calmly with someone on the phone tucked into her shoulder. She's slightly less shy about letting people know she's a succubus, not bothering to cover her horns and with her spade-tipped tail flicking back and forth on the stage behind her.

Mania, the drummer, is going completely against her usual aesthetic and stands behind the bar, dressed in what could politely be described as business casual... being a succubus, she's put a lot more emphasis on "casual" than "business", with the only part of her outfit that could be construed as perfectly utilitarian being the small pair of glasses on her nose. She's gathering up a large stack of paperwork and appears to be deep in conversation with a tribble sitting on the bar. At least it looks like they're conversing. The discussion seems pretty one-sided.

Finally, Euphoria, the band's keyboardist, is standing at the back of the room, watching the door. She's still in her red, sideless dress, leaning against the wall with her wings unfurled but lowered, forming a sort of batty cloak around her. She nods to anyone who comes in, especially if they look to be MERC; apparently, the job of integrating them fell to her.

[Earl of Purple]

Wild Mike's

One of the bodyguards arrives, or possibly was already here. He's a bulky chap, over two metres tall and nearly one and a half wide. He's also artificial, resembling an articulated suit of armour of bronze and stone. His wide hands have four stubby fingers on each, and underneath the armour there's stones and brass cogs ticking away. His head is a large helmet with purple light underneath. A brass cutlass hangs at his waist, alongside a pair of flintlock pistols. He also carries a blunderbuss, with a leather strap dangling with trinkets and charms. His head rotates, his neck not having a hinge in it.

[Murkus]

[The Toy Tinker]

"Uhh... yeah! A very mysterious toy. Got it as a gift." Anika explains with a nod.

If the toy store owner opens the box he will find a branch of a tree. Mysterious indeed.
"It's magical." Anika adds helpfully(?).

"A... stick," says the man. "While I can... appreciate the irony here, I have to ask... are you sure you aren't in need of my other services?" Sticks adjusts his spectacles and smiles at her. "Maybe having more to do with the more mysterious qualities of the item in question?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Elf to the Manor- MERC Adventure]

The gambit succeeds and most of the critters are flung off the car, scattering like so many dry leaves. The ones that manage to stay inside the vehicle are bounced off the walls and dazed. The drivers and passengers will have a possibly temporary reprieve from their attacks, but the wood-spider is coming in fast. It will try to jump to the top of the car, if it can catch up.

Elf to the Manor- MERC Adventure

Mister Slash doesn't want to run all the way around to the back, not when he's in front of the vehicle. He wants to stop it, to make things easier to rescue his target. His ability to hide behind glass also means he's invisible through the windscreen, meaning the driver and front passenger probably have very little idea he's there. He's running to the driver's side door, dropping the glass shard- which hits the ground and shatters into tiny pieces- and tries to punch through that window and grab the driver and drag them out of the van. He's got an affinity to glass, making punching through the window easier and also ensuring he's unharmed by the move.

[Elf to the Manor- MERC Adventure]

Here Eir thought she was going to get a moment to breath after that manuver, but nope!

Slasher through windshield.

She's grabbed and tossed right out the same way he came.

Viitesha, the hobgoblin sitting right next to her, was not expecting this at all. Instead of a weapon she has a phone in her hand. One she screams into as the windshield is suddenly smashed in but an seemingly invisible man and her sister is dragged right out of.

---

Meanwhile, back at the transport, if Amalungak is still concious he will feel someone or something tug at him, trying to pull him up on his feet. "Get up." It's the uniformed woman's voice. Sounds like that manuver didn't exactly improve her mood.

[The Toy Tinker]

Anika nods. "Uh, yeah! I want to see if its magical. Or what kind of magical really. What sort of enchantments and stuff. I don't really know the person that I got it from that well so I just want to make absolutely sure that it's safe before I give it to my friend."

[Wild Mike's]

As Jaahlyn walks inside the bar it will be clear (especially to Mania whose watching the entrance) that she's brought along a cage that's covered by a thick black blanket.
It sits on a worn-down trolley which the satyr is pulling behind her.

As she enters she waves to the band members, partly as a greeting and partly as a way to just get their attention. Seems like she wants to ask something.

They might realize what's in that cage.

[MERC Office]

"Alright, good." Korrina nods and heads back to where Dena is waiting on them. She winces as she starts talking. Just that short time standing up has been hell on her feet. They're soar enough without carrying around all this weight.

[MERC Office]

"We've made our return!" Zhareen declares as she enters Dena's office, her arms spread wide.

She then moves around so Korrina doesn't have to walk over her tail and moves the chair so the acolyte doesn't have to walk as far to sit down in it.

"I can see that. So what's your verdict?" Dena inquires with a raised eyebrow.

Jaahlyn is still there though still haven't taken a seat. She looks to Korrina with some concern but doesn't remark on the trouble the young woman seems to be having.

"We're going to try to solve this on our own I'm afraid." There mere motion of Dena lowering her eyebrow seem to make Zhareen slightly nervous however. "Though, uh, we will consider hiring you in the future. The fact you've accepted us as guests here is something we deeply appriciate. If you have need of our services you can contact us too. People like us should stick together." She finishes with a nod, smiling awkwardly at Dena.

The gorgon returns it, though far more confidently. "Well then. Will you need assistance out of the city? As far as I can tell you're not a threat to Malechenar or the laws of the city so I don't see a reason having you causing chaos by being seen."

"Oh." Zhareen looks to Korrina. "Uh, yes, one of those... riderless carriages could help immensly I think."

"Of course. Let me just make a call and I will make the arrangement, it will just take a few minutes."

But should they trust MERC enough to let them drive them out of the city? Might drive them right to Malechenar and they couldn't do much about it. Of course, if they really wanted to do that they probably could do that anyway.

[Zefir]

[Wild Mike's]

Another member from MERC comes right in at that moment. He's slightly smaller then his coworker. He is around 5'11" in size. His black hair is cut short likly by himself. A grey scarf covers most of his face, but his eyes draw more attention with their shiny yellow color. Futher he seems to wear a coat that appears like layers of rags. These layers make it hard to determine his body, but two swordhilts can be seen, but those must be some daggers since the blades aren't visible. Otherwise he just got casual jeans and some grey sportboots.

After he enters he stands straight, observing the people in the area. His view only stops at Malady, Ecstacy and Mania as those are the clients from the description he got. Then he turns to Euphoria befor even looking at her.
"Are you the Contact Person?" he says with his emotionless voice.

[Ironsmith]

[Wild Mike's]

Wild Mike's

One of the bodyguards arrives, or possibly was already here. He's a bulky chap, over two metres tall and nearly one and a half wide. He's also artificial, resembling an articulated suit of armour of bronze and stone. His wide hands have four stubby fingers on each, and underneath the armour there's stones and brass cogs ticking away. His head is a large helmet with purple light underneath. A brass cutlass hangs at his waist, alongside a pair of flintlock pistols. He also carries a blunderbuss, with a leather strap dangling with trinkets and charms. His head rotates, his neck not having a hinge in it.

At first, Malady thinks Frigate is just another customer; she hasn't seen anything indicating that he was one of their bodyguards. But the more she looks at him, the more obvious it is that he's not here for the drinks, which doesn't leave many other possibilities. She takes a deep, calming breath and decides to voice her suspicions. "Hello, there." She greets, with a friendly little smile. "You wouldn't be with MERC by any chance, would you?"

[Wild Mike's]

As Jaahlyn walks inside the bar it will be clear (especially to Mania whose watching the entrance) that she's brought along a cage that's covered by a thick black blanket.
It sits on a worn-down trolley which the satyr is pulling behind her.

As she enters she waves to the band members, partly as a greeting and partly as a way to just get their attention. Seems like she wants to ask something.

They might realize what's in that cage.

Ecstacy holds up a finger and quickly wraps up her business on the phone, before hopping down off the stage to greet Jaahlyn. "Hey! How's our favorite satyrette?" She smiles, going in for a hug. Whether it's reciprocated or not, her attention will then immediately fall on the cage and trolley, with them being both rather conspicuous and unusual. "Who's your friend?"

[Wild Mike's]

Another member from MERC comes right in at that moment. He's slightly smaller then his coworker. He is around 5'11" in size. His black hair is cut short likly by himself. A grey scarf covers most of his face, but his eyes draw more attention with their shiny yellow color. Futher he seems to wear a coat that appears like layers of rags. These layers make it hard to determine his body, but two swordhilts can be seen, but those must be some daggers since the blades aren't visible. Otherwise he just got casual jeans and some grey sportboots.

After he enters he stands straight, observing the people in the area. His view only stops at Malady, Ecstacy and Mania as those are the clients from the description he got. Then he turns to Euphoria befor even looking at her.
"Are you the Contact Person?" he says with his emotionless voice.

Euphoria, who stands at around six and a half feet, looks back down at him with a dour, unimpressed expression. "That's right." She drones, arms folded, barely bothering to move. "You must be one of the bodyguards we hired. Pleased to meet you."

She doesn't sound like she's been pleased in years.

Mania walks up to them, a load of paperwork in her arms and that tribble on her shoulder. "Wow. So this is where emotions come to die, huh?" She giggles, her tail flicking back and forth in amusement.

[Shadowcaller]

[Wild Mike's]

Jaahlyn sees no reason to not return it though let's out an small chuckle as she's called 'satyrette'. "Ahh, I'm fine. More than fine actually. Been excited for this concert." She turns to glance at the cage as Ecstasy mentions it. "Friends, actually. It would be the rats I mentioned to you before." She looks around the bar. "Probably shouldn't reveal them out here though, right?"

[Ironsmith]

[Wild Mike's]

"Eh, there are worse times." Ecstacy grins. "Like when the health inspector shows up, for instance." She giggles, suddenly realizing something; the entire lower half of Jaahlyn's body is covered in fur, so if she worked here, wouldn't she basically have to wear fishnets?

...Nah, probably just pants. That wasn't as funny, though.

Filing that image away, Ecstacy re-opens her magazine and pulls out a sheet of paper she'd wedged between the pages. "Hey, you want to see something cool?" She prompts, before shoving the paper into Jaahlyn's hands anyway.

Said paper depicts the design for a set of hoodies, featuring the band in silhouette with the text "NOT GOING HOME" under it.

"Good, huh? I'm getting some printed to sell tonight."

[Shadowcaller]

[Wild Mike's]

Jaahlyn is actually wearing shorts underneath her coat. Wearing fishnets sounds awfully uncomfortable for someone with fur.

"Health inspe- oh." She'd argue that but she realized it wasn't Ecstasy's argument and that few believed her when she said that skeletal rats were hygienic actually.

She holds up the sheet of paper and reads it aloud. "Not going home." A beat as the satyr looks up at Ecstasy. "...as in you're staying in Riverside? Wow, that is cool."

[Ironsmith]

[Wild Mike's]

"What? No. No, that's not..." Ecstacy clear her throat. "No, it's a little bit broader than that. A lot of mortals think of us succubi as living in one hell or another... including the 'artists' who went to town on our bus." She frowns. "Telling us to 'go home' is often a slight euphemism for 'go to hell'. Which, obviously, is just rude. But, more to the point... those people are absolutely right. The Abyss is our home, in one sense or another. But to those same people, we say:" She flicks out her middle finger. "'Screw you, bud, we're here to stay!' ...Here being a relative term, obviously." She shrugs. "Then I thought, 'hold on, how many other demons are there in Riverside right now, who feel the same way?' I asked Mania and she just got dollar signs in her eyes, so here I am."

[Shadowcaller]

[Wild Mike's]

"Oh." Jaahlyn remarks as if trying to comprehend all this for a moment.
Apparently she hadn't known as much about these demons as she had thought. They were all from the same place then? Made sense. Maybe it was just like the underworld in her own world? Since hell was also supposed to be below, right?

"Yeah, that- mm, that's-" She took a deep breath. "-******* rude." Yes, she said it!
She gestures at the drawing. "Could I get one of those too? Since I'm kind of- hell is like the underworld, right? Or the abyss... the place people go where they die. I'm from there." Sort of.

[Morty]

[Elf to the Manor- MERC Adventure]

Inside the van, Amalungak complies but smiles.

"Things aren't looking up for your people. Are you sure this is worth dying for?"

The wood spider perches on the roof of the van, waiting. It makes no aggressive moves just yet.

[Ironsmith]

[Wild Mike's]

"Oh." Jaahlyn remarks as if trying to comprehend all this for a moment.
Apparently she hadn't known as much about these demons as she had thought. They were all from the same place then? Made sense. Maybe it was just like the underworld in her own world? Since hell was also supposed to be below, right?

"Yeah, that- mm, that's-" She took a deep breath. "-******* rude." Yes, she said it!
She gestures at the drawing. "Could I get one of those too? Since I'm kind of- hell is like the underworld, right? Or the abyss... the place people go where they die. I'm from there." Sort of.

[Wild Mike's]

"You know, I'm glad you asked." Ecstacy grins. "I'm going to be heading back out to pick these up from the shop here in about..." She glances down at her wrist, clearly expecting there to be a watch there, frowning when there isn't. "...Just a moment." She mumbles, her wings flicking out to dismiss her current wardrobe (all of it) before wrapping back around her to restore it, plus a watch. "...Thirty minutes from now, give or take." She concludes with a smile. "You can come with me and get one off the top of the box."

[Shadowcaller]

[Wild Mike's]

Jaahlyn considers this proposition for a moment. Did Ecstasy meant going there physically...? And what about her-

Then the succubus casually flashed her.

Huh.

Well, Jaahlyn had hanged out with satyrs for a long time so Ecstasy would have to do a lot more than that to even get a raised eyebrow out of here at this point which she was quite glad for.
Whatever the others feelings regarding the bands casual dismissiveness of decency, they were still far better than other satyrs in her book.

"...yeah, sure. Then I get to see your home to I guess, if you still consider it to be that of course...?" She didn't exactly consider the underworld her home. She rather sleep in an abandoned factory (which she did) than spending any amount of time there.

[Ironsmith]

[Wild Mike's]

Ecstacy stares at Jaahlyn uncomprehendingly for a moment, before her expression lights up and she shakes her head vigorously. "What? No! I meant the shop here in town." She says emphatically. "You thought... noooooo, no no no, no, no. We are not going back to the Abyss. You couldn't pay me enough to go back to that literal hellhole." She lets out a little sigh and flicks her hair back off her shoulders. "...And even if I did want to, I'm not entirely sure how we'd do that short of dying again, which I don't think is what you had in mind." She gives Jaahlyn an apologetic little smile. "So... yeah. A little more mundane an errand than that. Come to think of it, I should probably bring someone with me anyway, just for safety... which, again, would be you, if you want."

[Shadowcaller]

[Wild Mike's]

Whoops!

"...that makes more sense. Sorry, I got confused." In retrospect she wasn't even sure why she believed she was going to this abyss. Maybe it was just wishful thinking since she was curious to see what it looked like?
"But y-yeah, let's check out the store. Since like you said, I am supposed to be protecting you so it's probably a good idea if I tag along."
She gestures at the cage. "But what do I do with this?"

[Zefir]

Euphoria, who stands at around six and a half feet, looks back down at him with a dour, unimpressed expression. "That's right." She drones, arms folded, barely bothering to move. "You must be one of the bodyguards we hired. Pleased to meet you."

She doesn't sound like she's been pleased in years.

Mania walks up to them, a load of paperwork in her arms and that tribble on her shoulder. "Wow. So this is where emotions come to die, huh?" She giggles, her tail flicking back and forth in amusement.

[Wild Mike's]

"Yes. I was asked to attend here. Pleased to meet you" Fade says in his emotionless voice. Then he turns to Mania. "You are also part of groupe who hired us? I don t think emotions are needed for the task." Then he looks up at the open roof. "This will make things a bit harder. Have you seen anything irregular so far, especially about that figure?"

[Earl of Purple]

Elf to the Manor- MERC Adventure

Mister Slash becomes visible once the window is no longer present, since his ability only works through glass. The vehicle's not going anywhere, now, at least in theory. Mister Slash pulls a jagged shard of broken glass from the pocket of his jacket and lunges at the other hobgoblin. He's aiming the improvised dagger at the hand she's using to hold her phone, trying to stop her from calling for help or at least prevent her getting too many details out about the attackers and Mister Slash.

Wild Mike's

"Aye, I be with MERC. Here t' keep ye fine damsels safe an' stuff. I've not been t' one o' these afore, so if'n ye could say what t' expect I would be grateful." Frigate might need to bend slightly to look down at Malady, but he doesn't react much no matter what she's apparently wearing.

[Ironsmith]

[Wild Mike's]

[Wild Mike's]

Whoops!

"...that makes more sense. Sorry, I got confused." In retrospect she wasn't even sure why she believed she was going to this abyss. Maybe it was just wishful thinking since she was curious to see what it looked like?
"But y-yeah, let's check out the store. Since like you said, I am supposed to be protecting you so it's probably a good idea if I tag along."
She gestures at the cage. "But what do I do with this?"

"Well, we do still have some time yet." Ecstacy points out. "You could leave them with someone here, maybe. Or bring them with u- actually that'd be kind of pointless, forget that." She shrugs. "If you'd rather wait, the shop does have a rather generous pick-up window. I just wanted to see them as quickly as possible." She gives Jaahlyn a playful nudge. "I'm sure you get that."

[Wild Mike's]

"Yes. I was asked to attend here. Pleased to meet you" Fade says in his emotionless voice. Then he turns to Mania. "You are also part of groupe who hired us? I don t think emotions are needed for the task." Then he looks up at the open roof. "This will make things a bit harder. Have you seen anything irregular so far, especially about that figure?"

"Preacher, choir." Mania snarks, gesturing from Fade to Euphoria.

The taller succubus gives her an annoyed look, but says nothing.

"Ah, yeah, in all seriousness, freakshow's been a no-show thus far." Mania replies, adjusting her glasses. "Which isn't surprising, given he's tended to show up after our concerts are over. That's when you should expect to see him." She gives Fade a little pat on the shoulder. "Come on. Would it kill you to take a little joy in your work?"

"Mania. Drop it." Euphoria grumbles.

"I'm just saying, it's important to-"

"Marianne." The succubus gives her a glare that could freeze a campfire. "Drop. It."

"Wow. Okay, fine, consider it dropped."

Wild Mike's

"Aye, I be with MERC. Here t' keep ye fine damsels safe an' stuff. I've not been t' one o' these afore, so if'n ye could say what t' expect I would be grateful." Frigate might need to bend slightly to look down at Malady, but he doesn't react much no matter what she's apparently wearing.

"Fine damsels".

Well, that was a more generous description than she was expecting.

"Well, okay, then." Malady gives the warforged a small smile and runs through the event in her head, trying to decide how best to describe it to him. "So. We'll be gathering a bunch of people here and playing music for them. Twenty-four songs in total. Figure four minutes or so per song, and that comes out to about an hour and three quarters, give or take. It'll be loud; we have to play at a high-ish volume because the fans get pretty rowdy. It'd be like... hm." She runs through some quick numbers in her head. "Like standing on the other end of a galley while the cannons go off, only they don't stop going off." That was a relatable analogy, right?

"And for us specifically, it'll be dirty. And I mean dirty. In a few hours, I'm going to be up on that stage dressed like a... like a..." Ugh, she hated saying it out loud. "...like a lady of the evening and singing about all sorts of things decent people don't do or even mention in public. So... mentally brace yourself for that."

Malady certainly doesn't look the type. She's dressed casually, but perhaps as important, modestly. She's wearing a grey, featureless hoodie and a set of new-looking blue jeans. If Frigate didn't know she was part of the band, he might assume she's just here for a quiet drink in the corner.

[Shadowcaller]

[Wild Mike's]

Pick-up as in... dating?
Jaahlyn felt pretty dumb for not picking up all this. She really had avoided casual interaction with people for far too long.
Still, she chuckles at Ecstasy as if she had really got that joke. "I was planning to put them aside as soon as possible anyway and it will take time to, eh, set things up so I'll just haul this behind the stage somewhere and we'll run your errand first. You said it wouldn't take much time anyway, right?"

If the succubus agrees, Jaahlyn will tow the trolley and the cage somewhere off-stage and they can go to the shop and pick up those t-shirts.

[Zefir]

[Wild Mike's]

"Preacher, choir." Mania snarks, gesturing from Fade to Euphoria.

The taller succubus gives her an annoyed look, but says nothing.

"Ah, yeah, in all seriousness, freakshow's been a no-show thus far." Mania replies, adjusting her glasses. "Which isn't surprising, given he's tended to show up after our concerts are over. That's when you should expect to see him." She gives Fade a little pat on the shoulder. "Come on. Would it kill you to take a little joy in your work?"

"Mania. Drop it." Euphoria grumbles.

"I'm just saying, it's important to-"

"Marianne." The succubus gives her a glare that could freeze a campfire. "Drop. It."

"Wow. Okay, fine, consider it dropped."

[Wild Mike's]

"This might be true, but since you took action by hireing us, it is possible that he changes his behavior. It is for your best intrested if I keep that in mind." Fade says in his emotionless voice. Which I should say he enver drops.
He let's the Succubus pat his shoulder and she might feel that they are well trained. As they start to get into a disagreement about his behavior he holds up a hand at Euphoria to interrupt her from lecture the other succubus.

"There is no need to drop it." he then looks at Marianne. "This is no unfamiliar situation for me. My kind lacks emotions in general due to our world and livestyle. I can go into further details, if we have time and completed all nessesary preperations."

[Ironsmith]

[Wild Mike's]

[Wild Mike's]

Pick-up as in... dating?
Jaahlyn felt pretty dumb for not picking up all this. She really had avoided casual interaction with people for far too long.
Still, she chuckles at Ecstasy as if she had really got that joke. "I was planning to put them aside as soon as possible anyway and it will take time to, eh, set things up so I'll just haul this behind the stage somewhere and we'll run your errand first. You said it wouldn't take much time anyway, right?"

If the succubus agrees, Jaahlyn will tow the trolley and the cage somewhere off-stage and they can go to the shop and pick up those t-shirts.

[==> Riverside Streets]

Ecstacy does, of course, agree to this. In a few minutes, she and Jaahlyn are out the door, walking to the aforementioned shirt shop (unless Jaahlyn has a better mode of transportation). Jaahlyn will note that, despite the risks associated with exposure, Ecstacy hasn't bothered to re-up her mortal disguise, proudly displaying her horns and tail as they go down the street. Predictably, this is met with a few angry stares.

"So, Jaahlyn..." The succubus prompts. "What got you into music in the first place?"

[Wild Mike's]

"This might be true, but since you took action by hireing us, it is possible that he changes his behavior. It is for your best intrested if I keep that in mind." Fade says in his emotionless voice. Which I should say he enver drops.
He let's the Succubus pat his shoulder and she might feel that they are well trained. As they start to get into a disagreement about his behavior he holds up a hand at Euphoria to interrupt her from lecture the other succubus.

"There is no need to drop it." he then looks at Marianne. "This is no unfamiliar situation for me. My kind lacks emotions in general due to our world and livestyle. I can go into further details, if we have time and completed all nessesary preperations."

"Unfortunately, I don't." Mania quips, staggering a little under her stack of paperwork. "I've got lots of John Hancocks to write... heh, heh... ...so I'm off to the back office to get some of that done now. You kids have fun!"

And with that, she's off.

Euphoria gives her an annoyed glare as she skips off, papers in hand. "Kids". Hmph. Like there wasn't a five-hundred year age differnece between them, in her favor.

...It looks like all the mercs who were going to be here, were. Good. She can get up now.

"You come with me." She says bluntly, moving toward the alley where their tour bus was parked. "We have some supplies to unload." She pauses, then, "If you must, tell me that story while we're working."

[Shadowcaller]

[==> Riverside Streets]

Jaahlyn had seen those stares before, that's why she went with her goat form while moving around the city. In Ecstasy's company it seemed pointless though. Wings was always going to draw more attention than hooves.
"Good question." The satyr chuckles. "My memories are vague at best but I recall that my uncle played this wonderful music on an ocarina. It might be the only thing that make me recall anything about my relatives in fact which is why music always seemed to hold such incredible power to me. No matter how much time that passes that music will always be my mind so of course it made me want to make some of my own."

[Ironsmith]

[Riverside Streets]

"...No way." Ecstacy gives Jaahlyn a look of shock, followed by a delighted grin. "It was like that for me, too. Not an ocarina, I don't think... I want to say it was a recorder, maybe a flute? And it was my mom, not my uncle. She died when I was little." She gives Jaahlyn an excited little squeel. "Oooh, maybe we're related! Do you remember the tune itself well enough to play it?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Riverside Streets]

Related? Jaahlyn certain that wasn't the case but maybe Ecstasy was just kidding around. She had a hard time telling when the succubus was being serious or silly.
Which is why she was just going to answer Ecstasy's question. "Ah, of course. I've made several covers of it in fact as its melody I remember better than anything else." There seem to be a certain pride it that by the sound of the satyr's voice. "Why? You want me to play it?" She looks around. "Shouldn't we, ah, get to the store first?"

[Ironsmith]

[Riverside Streets]

Ecstacy gives her a playful boop on the nose. "Jaahlyn. A few hours ago I watched you perform the most energetic display I've seen since Mania walked into an electric fence. You really don't think you can walk and whistle at the same time?" She jokes. "Unless you'd rather wait for better acoustics or something. That I'd get."

As with most things, Ecstacy wasn't being entirely silly or serious. She was a different sort of person back when she was mortal, and a lot of her memories of her mortal life were sort of hazy. There was a chance Jaahlyn had met and/or been related to Anastacia Aritti, with neither recalling it, especially given the possibility that they wouldn't necessarily be related by blood. And it would explain a lot about the succubus if she had a satyr in her family tree.

But on the other hand, a shared song would be a tenuous connection at best, and any demonstration on Jaahlyn's part would still be a far cry from proof. It was an entertaining possibility, nothing more.

[Shadowcaller]

[Riverside Streets]

Jaahlyn had figured that Ecstasy was born as a succubus which is why she didn't think they could be related. Furthermore...

"Oh you mean-" The satyr quickly recovers from being bopped on the nose and giggles. "I thought you meant a song. Since that would leave me distracted enough to not keep an eye on you." She winks and then pulls up a ocarina from her belt. "It's not long so listen closely."

And so she puts her lips to the instrument and starts to play.

[Ironsmith]

[Riverside Streets]

Ecstacy listens to the placid melody, looking on ahead as she tries to place where she heard it before. She knew she had; the song sounded very familiar. But at the same time, she knew it wasn't her song.

Oh, well.

She gives Jaahlyn a small, sad smile. "Well, it's not the same one." She concludes. "But it certainly is pretty. I know I've said it before, but you've got some real talent there." She internally debates whether to give Jaahlyn's hair a good-natured ruffling before deciding, screw it, she probably wouldn't mind. Ruffle, ruffle!

"Too bad. I kind of liked the idea that we might've been long-lost cousins or something." She jokes.

[Shadowcaller]

[Riverside Streets]

"I figured." Jaahlyn agrees with a nod as she puts down the ocarina from her mouth.
It looks like she's about to add something but as Ecstasy ruffles her hair what instead comes out of her mouth is more akin to a goat's bleat.

"Maaahh~"

Jaahlyn instantly covers her mouth for a moment, but then starts laughing. "...sorry, that happens sometimes." She scratches the back of her head. "But, ah, I am a satyr and most of those don't even have relatives. I figured it was the same for succubi."

[Ironsmith]

[Riverside Streets]

"You're not... entirely wrong." Ecstacy replies. "It's stupid rare for a succubus to have a relative that's another demon, because... you know what? Let me start from the beginning." She clears her throat. "I was human at one point. Not too long ago at all, actually. I want to say... two years, give or take a month? But I was a pretty stupid human, did something I shouldn't have, and I bit the big one. Joined the choir invisible. Pushed up daisies. This." She makes a face, putting a finger gun to her temple for emphasis. "Is an ex-Stacy. Ended up in a hell. I don't know if they all work like this, but for this one in particular, they had this sort of spin-the-wheel schtick going on. For nine hundred and ninety-nine souls out of a thousand, that's as far as they get; wheel spins, lands on red, and they get mulched. Don't pass Go, don't collect two hundred dollars. Soul completely irretrievable, cuz it's in pieces. But!" She holds up a finger. "I lucked out hard. Got to be that one in a thousand that got made into a demon instead." She shrugs. "So, long story short; nope, no demonic relatives, but my old family is probably still around here somewhere."