Riverside 21: Older than Arkh

[Rebonack]

[Magdalene's Apartment]

"Oh you are in for a treat. Pizza is great. I haven't had a lousy one yet and I eat a lot of stuff," Magdalene admits. "I found this one all you can eat pizza buffet one time and I got through like four pizzas before they kicked me out wasn't that bad."

Usually she gets kicked out of all you can eat restaurants much faster.

"This place isn't all you can eat though. Their (rose) is pretty pricey but it is worth it, I think."

Magdalene doesn't really ever get full but she DOES taste everything she eats.

She can eat literal rotting carcasses, though, so maybe her taste in food isn't one hundred percent reliable.

"But first we gotta swing by my place and grab some money since no one takes straight emeralds."

Or iron bits.

"Right, yeah, so pizza is like this flat bread thing right? Then they put sauce on top of it and cheese and other things."

A beat.

"So, like, half a sandwich or something like that."

Magdalene is criminally underselling what pizza is.


[Beauty from Ashes]

Matilda heads off!

A were-bird-bear on a mission.

As she goes she'll see a few odd sights along the way. Or... maybe not odd... Just different.

To her senses beauty feels almost highlighted now, as if someone had underscored every pleasant sight and sound. Even beauty in small, humble things. It's striking, really. How was it that Matilda had never grasps just how awe-inspiring majestic the world was until now? Was it really just seeing that motif in every stroke of the painter's brush? Is that all it took to open her eyes to the glory of her surroundings?

The beauty is imperfect, though.

Marred.

Incomplete.

By ugliness. By pettiness. By violence.

It needs to be made whole.

[Reinholdt]

[Beauty From Ashes]

"Uhh... I wouldn't go back there. You got ripped off." For zero dollars! Truly an insidious crime.

Leah does perk up a little from her usual dour demeanor. "An original character? It's a character we created for fiction. For instance, my OC Hela is a world famous rock thrower who struggles with the indelicacies of an indecent world. However, by staying true to herself and her morals, she shows the people of Curtainside that there's another, better way to live. A more pure way. And her transformation of the city catches the eye of the chaste, virgin goddess Kynegetis, who inevitably starts to fall in love with Hela and for the first time in a thousand years, feels compelled to court her. Of course, they have to do it properly and Hela frequently has to protect her clothing and the goddess from the machinations of the evil lewd color Oil Meal. But when-"

Leah pauses for a moment and looks at the old man's face, only to blush and glance away. "Umm, what I meant to ask is, do you have any cameras that point towards that alley so I can at least see what the artist looks like and which direction he went?"

[Xar'cha Residence]

How'd Anika end up on the floor? Maybe they missed the bed. Questions we'll never have answers to.

"Child's play, I'm sure." Well it's not like Ilpholin herself didn't recently relieve a city of their captive pixie. She really can't say anything about Anika doing something similar if it comes to that.

The nymph slowly rolls out of bed, letting the sheets fall and not bothering to get dressed yet. "Alright, well, I won't hold you up. Show me this gift then."

[Rebonack]

[Beauty From Ashes]

The old man immediately regrets asking what an OC is.

"Yeah I got some cameras. Mostly for makin' sure the hooligans don't start dumpster fires. That artsy guy left a card, too. If I give it to ya will ya go away?"

He's hoping the answer is yes.

Desperately, desperately hoping the answer is yes.

Assuming it is (which seems fair) he'll slide the slot shut on the door and vanish from view for a time.

A minute passes.

Two.

Then the slider opens once again.

"Found it in the trash. Here, now scram."

He'll offer the card to Leah and once she takes it he'll slam the slider shut again. Whack!

Conversation over.

The card doesn't have anyone's name on it, just the name of a studio, contact information, and an address for said studio.

River's Bend? It isn't too far away. Maybe a half mile.

[Shadowcaller]

[Xar'cha Residence]

Anika ends up on the floor a lot, don't worry about it.

"Gif- oh! Right! Good thing you reminded me!" Anika will spring up and get the tree branch from the box and present it to Ilpholin. "Dunno what you want to do with it. 's cool and give off good vibes but... guess it could make a pretty awesome tree around here? Like a little grove."

[Ironsmith]

St. Leonard's Hospital

One of the fey's eyebrows raises at Fade's question and stares at him for a moment as if had said something astonishing.

"No." She finally declares. "I will be me usual self. I'm not- I'm still me."

And with those words she lands on the floor and like when she turns into a goat her form folds into itself and what's left of the ten feet goat-monster is a much shorter and clothed satyr that looks like she just woke up. "Erm..." She slowly gets up from the floor and turns to DEATHKISS. "There was a whole bunch of demons that I accidentally released from the abyss. Since you're all in the same situation now, maybe you can find them and help them out a bit? You could always hire them for helping out carrying equipment and things like that." As they no doubt might need a moment to consider that proposition, Jaahlyn turns to Fade. "Also, sorry for being a jerk earlier, Fade. We still cool?"

[St. Leonard's Hospital]

"You did what?!" There's an audible groan on the other side of the phone, which is quickly echoed by the other three succubi present. "Do you have any idea how much trouble that's going to- you know what? One thing at a time. We'll get them sorted out later."

[Zefir]

[Xar'cha Residence]

"I don't see why it would be." Anika replies in relation to Ilpholin's question regarding the ritual. As Ilpholin seemed to think it would work too she looks quite excited to get to work and slaps her hands together while getting up from the floor.

So much so that the idea of the police stopping her doesn't seem to dissuade her. "I'll just explain the situation to them. It won't be a big deal at all!" She continues in her confident tone. "And if they don't let me, I- uh, grab her, perform the ritual and then turn her back to the guard. Easy." Very easy.

St. Leonard's Hospital

One of the fey's eyebrows raises at Fade's question and stares at him for a moment as if had said something astonishing.

"No." She finally declares. "I will be me usual self. I'm not- I'm still me."

And with those words she lands on the floor and like when she turns into a goat her form folds into itself and what's left of the ten feet goat-monster is a much shorter and clothed satyr that looks like she just woke up. "Erm..." She slowly gets up from the floor and turns to DEATHKISS. "There was a whole bunch of demons that I accidentally released from the abyss. Since you're all in the same situation now, maybe you can find them and help them out a bit? You could always hire them for helping out carrying equipment and things like that." As they no doubt might need a moment to consider that proposition, Jaahlyn turns to Fade. "Also, sorry for being a jerk earlier, Fade. We still cool?"

St. Leonard's Hospital

Fade for now nods at Jaahlyn as a sign that he listened but then turns up to the Dathkiss people.

"From what i heared today you shouldn't hire them now. People already declare you evil and if you openly gather other demons they might be more willing to hire someone to knock you out. It might be in your best intrest to keep things low.
As for your northside request you might try to ask them to meet you somewhere else. I recomand the Dancing Fox inn as this place has an aura to prevent fights and is outside of this city."

After that he turns to Jaahlyn.

"I say your affection to one of the groupe has led you to this behavior. I won't mind it since you have safed the job." It was a job to keep them alive, no mentions of temporary death experience or remain in the same body as befor.

[Earl of Purple]

Road Pirate Pitstop

The knife is dark grey flint, produced through the Levallois technique- in fact, three of the stone blades on the table seem to have been produced from the same flint pebble. They're sharp, too; whoever made them knew how to knap a stone properly. Rust better not cut himself on one; that'd... probably end up hurting.

"OK, black coffee. You take sugar, sweetener, honey?" Aizkora's got her back to Rust as she picks two mugs and sets up the coffee maker. Which is probably one of the ones with the big glass globe that Earl has never used, so... he should have given her an electric kettle.

Magdalene's Apartment

Cheese Harriet has eaten, although she's had artificial cheese which wasn't very nice. No livestock in the Vault, except some radroaches that got in the last time the Vault was opened. And they're mostly treated as pests rather than pets. "That sounds... really nice. I can't wait." Harry has some work-tokens, but nobody probably accepts those around here. They're barely accepted in the Vault, and even then only for certain things.

Beauty From Ashes

Matilda does spot the imperfections and the ugliness, and she's tempted to destroy it. But she refrains; this is not the time or the place, and it won't help anyone or anything if she's stopped. So she heads to where she's staying, a guest house that allows pets and doesn't ask many questions. She'll growl at anyone who gets too close, especially if they fail to meet her new standards, but she wants to create beauty now, in her leatherwork.

St. Leonard's Hospital

"I'd recommend th' same, Fade. But Malady didn't wish for 'er folks t' see 'er, wantin' t' peek on her family from afar. An' mayhaps find her obituary, too." Frigate thinks the safety of the Dancing Fox would be a great idea, but doesn't think it'd be practical for what Malady wants- which is to see from a distance that her family's OK, without letting them know she didn't get into the good place.

[Deathkeeper]

Road Pirate Pitstop

Rust knows how to handle knives, but he's never dealt with stone ones before. He nicks a finger just enough to lose a single drop of blood. He licks his finger and the bleeding stops pretty quickly. He sets the blade down and picks up the hatchet, moving into a basic practice routine. His father insisted that even if he never fought a battle, his son should know how to handle a knife and a tomahawk.
"Eh, I never go for that much sweeteners. A little bit of whatever you have." he calls, shrugging even though Aizkora's not looking at him.

[Meowmai]

[Skate Park]

Eliseo doesn't have long to try and parse what that was all about before they're interrupted. He reacts quite quickly, grabbing Ana's arm and giving her a sharp tug along with him as he steps back.

"Uh." it takes him a sec to recover from the shock. "Sorry, I thought we'd be visible."

[Skate Park]

"Eep!" Ana startles as Eliseo pulls her into safety at the same moment she realizes there's a danger at all, tails standing straight up behind her. She stumbles along with him as she turns back to face the new arrival - and those blue eyes of hers widen a little. Atsede may get the impression that her helmet has not, in fact, made her seem particularly uncool at this juncture.

"I, uh- yeah. Sorry, what he said." The kitsune rubs the back of her neck. She nods in response to Atsede. "Yeah, I just started learning this - I didn't realize we were in anyone's way. And like, we didn't see anyone else over here either."

[Skate Park]

"Yeah yeah, as I said, I realise it's my bad, don't worry about it. I guess I wasn't watching properly." She gives an apologetic grin. "Haven't seen you 'round here before, and I figured with the shiny new gear you probs were new at this." She decided against mentioning seeing her fall over too. While that was funny, it was probably a little mean to point out to someone you just met. Looking at Ana's fox features, she raised an eyebrow. "You a changeling like me too? Or something else?" Was that a weird question to ask someone here?

[Earl of Purple]

Road Pirate Pitstop

As blood touches the stone blade, the temperature seems to drop. Rust might start to feel as though he's being watched, though Aizkora still has her back to him. As Rust picks up the hatchet and swings, he might feel something breathing on the back of his neck, hot and wet and smelling of meat.

If Rust turns around, he's looking into the mouth of a very large feline with large teeth protruding from its upper jaw. He can see the door behind it, though it looks oddly far away to fit the whole of the smilodon in the room.

[Deathkeeper]

Road Pirate Pitstop

Rust turns and cringes in instinctive panic at the sight of a ludicrously large cat. He's reasonably sure that there wasn't a tiger twice the size of your average bear just chilling in Aizkora's room before. To his credit though, his grip on the hatchet instinctively gets tighter rather than him dropping it in fear.
"Uh, Aizkora? Who's your friend?" he asks hesitantly.

[Earl of Purple]

Road Pirate Pit Stop

"I have lots of friends, who do you-oh." Aizkora starts talking before turning around, having added half a teaspoon of demerara sugar to Rust's mug. "That is... less a friend, more a family. That is the mate to the one I host. He's never appeared to anyone else before, to my knowledge. His partner regularly shows itself." Since she's the one that comes out when Aizkora transforms. "What did you touch, besides that hatchet?" She's impressed at his reaction to the spirit-smilodon, though.

[Deathkeeper]

Road Pirate Pit Stop

"Oh, I was just testing the edge on your knives." Rust replies, slowly trying to edge around the massive beast.
"Well, he's very impressive. And I didn't know you were a host to a sabercat." He just assumed she was some kind of werebeast given the venue they met at.

[Earl of Purple]

Road Pirate Pitstop

"Yes, they were the... totems, I guess, of my bio-parent's tribe. I never knew them, so I don't know much. Just what I can parse out of the impressions and memories of the lioness- which doesn't include names. They bonded with the hunters to keep the group safe, but not safe enough. There were people with guns, they killed most of my family. I was found as a baby by some adventurers who adopted me." The last adult alive handed her to one of the adventurers, and said something which sounded like 'aizkora' as they did. "He might think you're like me, since you handled one my family's knives and are in my cave. Did you cut yourself on it?"

The spirit keeps its eyes on Rust, turning to face him. It sends an impression, of running on all fours through a forest and jumping onto... it looks like a llama, though taller, and biting its neck until they collapse.

[Deathkeeper]

Road Pirate Pitstop

"It was only a tiny nick." Rust says, trying to save face. Though it's true at least.
Rust nods at the tiger's vision.
"Very impressive. I'm sure you're a great hunter." He should be nice to Aizkora's nice totem. Even if it seems like he's pretty chill right now, for a giant predator?
"I'm sorry that happened to you." he adds to Aizkora.

[Reinholdt]

[Xar'cha Residence]

"It's... a stick?" Ilpholin asks with raw disbelief as she takes it from Anika. "Just... a stick? I mean, I have a lot of ideas about what Jezebel is, but I always thought classy was at least one of them." Some further context is required.

[Beauty From Ashes]

Leah's ears fold down and she mutters a yes. No one ever wants to hear about her OC...

"Tha-" No, that slider is shut.

Well maybe Leah should go home and get some rest, but she's just gotten a lot of rest! So she'll head straight for this studio instead.

A nice walk to clear her head.

Calling is faster, sure, but less satisfying and if this artist gets tipped off by the phone call and runs, she won't around to stop them.

[Shadowcaller]

St. Leonard's Hospital

"It was just attempting to go through the gateway Mixer had set up to save you and it provoked a prison escape somehow. It wasn't like I could stop them, nor did I really want to considering, y'know, the abyss." DEATHKISS could probably relate to that notion.

Then she turns to look at Fade, something about his deadpan tone provoking her. "Excuse me, what behavior? I've gone through life and death to keep them safe. To keep you safe. If I hadn't made that woman turn off the bomb at the club we might all have been dead right now. If I hadn't just gone through a freaking trial for Mania's soul she would have been mulch right now. Yet I still got back here, horribly traumatizing a poor sod in the process, just in time to prevent poor Carmen from getting stabbed. I've gone far beyond what I've been paid for and this is the attitude I'm getting?" The satyr looks like she's fuming with frustration and waves dismissively at Fade. "Whatever, I'm going to lay down somewhere and sleep. I'm done with this now."

Unless anyone has a desire to stop Jaahlyn, she's going to walk off.

[Xar'cha Residence]

((It's more of a stick which has been carved into an elegant rod according to Wolfy. Almost like a dowel but glowing with magical power. So feel free to change Ilpholin's reaction to it based on this new information as I gave it a poor description earlier.))

"Umm... it's magic. It could be carved into a magical weapon or a handle for one. Maybe a key or a wand? Or it could be used to bless arrows and stuff, which is supposedly especially effective against demons." Anika suggests.

[Rebonack]

[Magdalene's Apartment]

And so the swinging by at Magalene's place begins!

It's... actually relatively nice?

An apartment above a bakery that appears to have been subjected to some renovations and improvements. "When I first got this place it belonged to this shapeshifter lady who had tons of clothes. And she got attacked by some crazy guy who busted the place to (rose). But she lives somewhere called HALO now and gave it to me. Since people like emeralds so much I was able to help the folks downstairs pay for repairs and stuff."

They seem to have done a pretty good job on the repairs.

Can't even tell a crazed vigilante attacked the place!

"She had, like, a million different pairs of clothes so I'm going to change into something that isn't literal garbage I got off a dead monster."

Magdalene heads for the rather large dresser, pulls it open, and reveals-!


[Beauty from Ashes]

Destroy?

No no, that is not the Correct Path.

Things that are hideous can be made beautiful with care and effort. But maybe Matilda doesn't have the skills she needs to do such things on her own? If the doesn't then there are always others. With her work she can enlighten them to the true nature of beauty and they can begin where she finishes.

It will take time, of course, to work the motif into her leathers. And Matilda will find that each time she repeats the pattern it grows a little more pure. The image in her mind grows a little more sharp. Her ability to create wondrous things grows a little more pronounced. But when she finishes her works what shall she do? The nature of beauty is to share it with others, to allow them to gaze upon it in wonder and comprehend just what beauty is. Where will she go to allow her works to be appreciated?

Meanwhile!

I'm sure there's someone out there who would like to hear more about your OC, Leah. Maybe someone else who likes writing? There must be SOMEONE who appreciates your work! The definitely not alien voice in your mind likes it! She definitely thinks Oil Meal was a clever play on words and a worthy antagonist for the talented, chase, and inspiring Hela.

Everything is just fine, definitely.

So yes!

Walking.

To clear her head. Walking with that hammer definitely helps. It's like walking with a weight! Except this one is both a physical weight and a metaphorical weight. The weight of responsibility. Just like the responsibility Hela has toward the people of Curtainside and showing them a better way, so too does Leah have a responsibility to prevent Paarel from awakening and inflicting its concept of what beauty is on the world. No doubt it would be something lewd. That can't happen, it mustn't! And while Leah may not meet any virgin goddesses on her quest this quest is none the less vital!

As she moves toward the art studio she may spy something troubling. A hooligan tagging a wall! Now that isn't terribly unusual, especially in the wee hours of the morning, but this particular hooligan? His tag carries the motif of Paarel! THe image nettles at Leah's mind, but between the hammer and the definitely not nefarious colour shard it is unable to take root.

What shall she do?

Confront this intransigent vandal about his crimes? Or continue to the art studio to more quickly reach the root of the problem?

[Vahnavoi]

[Magdalene's apartment]

A sword.

There is a sound akin to shattering glass and a sword is suddenly thrust out of the opened dresser.

It's rapidly followed by the arm holding it, and the hundred plus kilos of man suddenly crashing through the veil of reality. If Magdalene doesn't dodge, he'll slam into her.

[Rebonack]

[Magdalene's Apartment]

There isn't supposed to be a sword in her closet.

Or a hand holding it.

Or some guy attached to the hand.

Magdalene is not, however, the sort of person who dodges.

Her targe comes out in a blink as she takes a defensive stance, aiming to shove the incoming swordsman away and very possibly onto the floor.

She recognizes him pretty quickly, too.

It's that guy.

"You! You're that jerk that cut my ghost out!" she loudly accuses him. "What the (flower) were you doing in my closet?"

This is a fine question.

It may strike Harry that there doesn't appear to be any immediate danger, but this situation IS very strange.

[Ironsmith]

St. Leonard's Hospital

"It was just attempting to go through the gateway Mixer had set up to save you and it provoked a prison escape somehow. It wasn't like I could stop them, nor did I really want to considering, y'know, the abyss." DEATHKISS could probably relate to that notion.

Then she turns to look at Fade, something about his deadpan tone provoking her. "Excuse me, what behavior? I've gone through life and death to keep them safe. To keep you safe. If I hadn't made that woman turn off the bomb at the club we might all have been dead right now. If I hadn't just gone through a freaking trial for Mania's soul she would have been mulch right now. Yet I still got back here, horribly traumatizing a poor sod in the process, just in time to prevent poor Carmen from getting stabbed. I've gone far beyond what I've been paid for and this is the attitude I'm getting?" The satyr looks like she's fuming with frustration and waves dismissively at Fade. "Whatever, I'm going to lay down somewhere and sleep. I'm done with this now."

Unless anyone has a desire to stop Jaahlyn, she's going to walk off.

[St. Leonard's Hospital]

If Jaahlyn was expecting the succubi to be sympathetic to the freshly-released demons, she's going to find that they have something of the opposite reaction. Concern, mostly. Malady's the one that finally gives voice to the sentiment.

"I mean... most of the people back in the Abyss are jerks." She points out.

"Yeah." Ecstacy adds, sort of piggybacking off that response. "I mean, sure, they're not all bad. Certainly not everyone that's there deserves to be."

"But a lot of them do. Letting a few hundred of them over here no questions asked is... kind of not a good thing?"

"Not that we don't feel for them."

"Oh, absolutely. But..."

"Ouch."

Euphoria crosses her arms. "To borrow a phrase... where the Abyss is concerned, 'hell is other people'. You may well have done as much to bring hell here as you did to free them from it."

"Yes!" "That's it exactly!"

"All right, you three." Marianne interrupts. "Like I said, we can handle it later." They certainly can't do a lot about it now. "Jaahlyn, before you go... I just want to say thank you again. You've done a lot for us, and I'm not sure money's enough to express just how much. If there's anything you need, and I do mean anything... you know where to find me."

click

Malady nods. "She's right about that. Thanks, Jaahlyn. And Frigate and Fade, too."

"Thank you." Ecstacy smile and pulls Jaahlyn into a quick hug.

Which is promptly superceded by a bigger, more awkward one from Euphoria.

[Earl of Purple]

Road Pirate Pitstop

"I was raised by great people. I might not know much of who they were, but my tribe were stone age. They made those knives. I grew up with modern conveniences, y'know? Telephones, food shops, electricity, central heating." Which she wouldn't have done, if she'd been raised by her biological family.

The smilodon opens its mouth and tries to lick Rust's face. Despite having no mass, its tongue has pressure behind it- and it's wet.

Magdalene's Apartment

"This is amazing. All I had was a room in the Vault, no carpet or... uh, sky-holes." Harriet gestures at the window. "At least it was heated, and someone had painted a tree on one of the walls at some point." It wasn't a very good painting, but as nobody had paint any more it didn't really matter.

Then, Magdalene pulls a man out of her wardrobe and starts shouting! Harriet reacts quite slowly, but pulls her pistol out of its holster- or tries to, it gets stuck on something and she has to pull a few more times before her gun is free.

Beauty from Ashes

Destruction not Correct? That's... that's new. And something that Matilda notices, being as violent as she is. She can't help it, but she's got the instincts of a gigantic avian/mammal hybrid in her mind, one that doesn't know fear, only rage. She puts it from her mind for now, though she's thinking of it still, and gets to work on her leathers. The first new pair of trousers are bad enough that she hurls them against the wall and tries again, on another pair, which is better, but... every time she gets better. When she's finished making a set for herself, with new leather trousers and a top that held together by buttons so they're easy to put back on again, she'll go have another look at her first try.

[Deathkeeper]

Road Pirates Pitstop

"Yeah. I mean, if given the choice I'd certainly rather have those things than not have them. Without the tragedy of course, but-oof." Rust is prevented from putting his foot in his mouth as he's suddenly licked by the sandpaper tongue of an extremely large cat.
Not sure how to respond to this, he hesitantly raises a hand and tries to stroke the neck of the spirit smilodon.

[Vahnavoi]

[Magdalene's Apartment]

There isn't supposed to be a sword in her closet.

Or a hand holding it.

Or some guy attached to the hand.

Magdalene is not, however, the sort of person who dodges.

Her targe comes out in a blink as she takes a defensive stance, aiming to shove the incoming swordsman away and very possibly onto the floor.

She recognizes him pretty quickly, too.

It's that guy.

"You! You're that jerk that cut my ghost out!" she loudly accuses him. "What the (flower) were you doing in my closet?"

This is a fine question.

It may strike Harry that there doesn't appear to be any immediate danger, but this situation IS very strange.

Magdalene's Apartment

"This is amazing. All I had was a room in the Vault, no carpet or... uh, sky-holes." Harriet gestures at the window. "At least it was heated, and someone had painted a tree on one of the walls at some point." It wasn't a very good painting, but as nobody had paint any more it didn't really matter.

Then, Magdalene pulls a man out of her wardrobe and starts shouting! Harriet reacts quite slowly, but pulls her pistol out of its holster- or tries to, it gets stuck on something and she has to pull a few more times before her gun is free.

The man from the closet slams against Magdalene's shield and bounces back, almost knocking over the dresser. Harriet can see he's wearing loose black and white clothes and there is bright, shining halo over his head. His face, on the other hand, is anything but angeling, scarred and with sharp features, his head covered in black, mane-like hair.

When Harriet points a gun at him, he lifts his arms up, one hand still holding what appears to be a katana. He is tall enough that he hits the apartment ceiling when he does. "Don't shoot! I mean no harm! Just passing through!"

There is a brief, tense silence, during which Magdalene and Harriet can wonder about how exactly does someone "just pass through" someone's closet.

Then, it hits him Magdalene asked him a question. He looks down at her. "Errr, could you repeat that? I did what to you and when? For that matter, who are you? And where am I?"

[Reinholdt]

[Xar'cha Residence]

Oops.

"The glow gave that away," Ilpholin says with a little laugh. It is indeed magic. "I'm no archer and I doubt I need a keyblade, but I'll... find a use for this some how I suppose. Never considered having a garden before, what with most of the building underground." The nymph looks over the quality rod one more time, torn how to feel about such a gift. It had... uses, which was definitely the first thing Ilpholin is interested in when talking about anything. Cessie may have suggested as much to Jezebel or the proclaimed demigod figured it out on her own. She was certainly savvy enough.

"Well, thank you for bringing this to me." Ilpholin closes the box again, her thoughts undecided as she focuses back upon Anika.

[Beauty from Ashes]

Leah likes her writing, since that must be the voice in her head, and that's the most important person. She's her own biggest supporter and fan and that's what matters.

Leah may not have met any virgin goddesses yet on this quest. There's still time. It'd certainly be a nice reward for taking on this world saving quest no one else is ever going to know about. Leah's not going to hold her breath though. Sometimes you just do what has to be done simply because it has to be done and no other reason.

She'd like to just go to the art studio, but she must confront this vandal first! While it's unlikely that he is the artist in question, he may hold valuable information about the artist. She won't know until she asks!

"You there! Where did you learn to paint this?" She says after walking up on him with a remarkable amount of stealth for a heavily dressed girl holding a heavy hammer. She must be getting catgirl hereditary stealth benefits. Or maybe she's earthbending her footsteps to make them silent? Seems excessive if she is.

[Shadowcaller]

[St. Leonard's Hospital]

From Jaahlyn's perspective it seemed like around 50 % of people ended up in the abyss when they died. Probably less, but as there just seemed to be two places a soul could end up in it seemed reasonable to assume a lot of people ended up in the abyss.

Clearly a lot more people than deserved it judging by how easily Marianne ended up there.

She stops and turns to them as they address her. "I don't claim to be able to judge a soul. I just ferry them. But what I've learned from that is that life is more merciless and cruel than any being. Kill or be killed are the rules of nature and life makes the beings who takes those rules to heart thrive. Regardless if they're man or beast and you are exactly what life makes you into. That's why hell is other people, since it turns a lot of them into jerks." She appears rather caught up in this argument judging by how focused her gaze is. In particular at Euphoria right now.

"But those angels and demons in that courtroom... they all claim right to judge the people living under those rules while they don't even abide by them themselves. If they created life then they done a pretty ****ed up job and if they didn't then why the **** have they the right to make that claim?" She's breathing heavily after saying all that and has to take a moment to catch her breath.

"There... there might be plenty of bad people that escaped but there was probably very few that deserved what you got. Nor do I think the slimy self-important *******s in charge even have the right to make that judgement." That seems to be where she stops arguing though as she closes her eyes and steps back. "But... you don't have anything to do with that of course. It just seems like the persons in charge are usually either incompetent or just plain bad people themselves." Certainly one way to view that.

If they still are going for hugs she seems rather tired at this point but will nonetheless return them. "I hope I can see you guys again at some point..."

[Xar'cha Residence]

Anika smiles at her response. "Hey, no problem. I wanna help you as much as possible, Ilphy. Which, uh, you wanna go to the hospital with me now or are you preoccupied with stuff around here? Since I can probably do it by myself if you're busy." She spares a glance for her clothes, they should be around here somewhere...

[Rebonack]

[Magdalene's Apartment]

Ugh.

This guy.

Where did he get that stupid floating hat? Magdalene hates it. Reminds her of the stupidly flashy legendary gear you can get from REALLY strong monsters but also occasionally underneath rocks.

"I'm Magdalene and you cut my (flowering) ghost out. Was supposed to make it so my body doesn't get back up when I eat it. Dunno if it did or not because I was busy being dead on account of getting my ghost cut out."

Technically there were other things involved by Magdalene's tentative connection to her body didn't help.

"I've been stuck in Sylvanas for who the (flower) knows how long and I get home and find YOU in my (flowering) closet!"

She's pretty aggravated right now, all things considered. Which means she isn't feeling terribly cooperative right now. She hasn't even mentioned that the swordsman is in Riverside! Maybe Harriet would like to tell him? She could definitely do that if she wanted to! Or she could keep pointing that gun at him.

Probably the strangest thing here is that Magdalene has relatively little issue with the idea of someone disembarking from a rift right in front of her. She gets around that way all the time. She just wants to know why that rift was in her closet of all places.


[Beauty from Ashes]

As Matilda works, as she grows more skilled at weaving the motif into her art, ideas flow through her mind.

Destruction itself is necessary. Without violence the world does not spin.

To impose one's will upon the world through force.

It is a sublime thing. It is violence that slays the beast, violence that boils its hide, violence that draws needle and thread, violence that coerces matter into new, more beautiful forms.

Do no shy from destruction, but destruction upon the ugly for destruction's sake alone? No. That is not Correct. Merely destroying the ugly is insufficient. But if destruction is required to make that thing into something beautiful? Then that is the Correct Path.

Are these Matilda's thoughts? Or the thoughts of another? It's difficult to tell.

Meanwhile!

Leah calls out to the tagger from behind, causing him to start and nearly drop his spray can!

"H-hey I'm not doing nothin' wrong!" he objects to exactly what she didn't say to him. Maybe he's used to people criticizing his work? Or at least assuming the worst of things. "I'm just layin' the groundwork you know? Just because I'm a guy with a spray can don't mean I'm up to no good."

Yep.

Definitely used to people assuming the worst because of the medium.

"Uh... There's this guy? Ferdinand I think? He's got a studio not that far. Real inspiring stuff. I asked him if I could use some of his ideas in my work and he seemed cool with it. He said he didn't come up with it himself, saw it burned on a wall from a dumpster fire. Crazy, right?"

[Zefir]

[St. Leonard's Hospital]

Fade doesn't seem to be bothered by Jaahlyn's outburst. In fact this is the first time he hears of half of the stuff she did amd for him nothing sounds like a big deal. After all she said herself she is dealing with souls regular so shifting between the afterlife and this one is daily business for her. On top she is wrong in some points or in one case her action prevented other actions. But Fade learned that correcting people wouldn't be a good choice right now.

He is a bit suprised that the DEATHKISS members don't jump on that, maybe the whole release of demons is a bigger deal then he expects.

"3/4 of what you said couldn't be observed by most of us." he just comments Jaahlyn, but leaves it with that, not holding her back from going.

Fade just nods at the band. "I will wait here until the transport arrives ." Which will be around this time that a MERC armed vehicle apears outside to pick the band and the members up.

[Earl of Purple]

Road Pirate Pit Stop

The smilodon's fur is surprisingly soft, and thick. And then the smilodon starts to disappear, though Rust will still be able to feel it. In fact, he should be able to feel its fur all over his body, head to toe and inside his clothes, before he can't feel any of it any more and there's no evidence of the sabre-toothed cat ever being here- except a tingle where he'd cut himself on the knife, a small scar forming shaped like a smilodon's tusk.

Magdalene's Apartment

"You're 'just passing through' somebody else's rooms? Why shouldn't we alert security or whatever passes for it around here and get you tried for trespass?" 'Breaking and entering' wasn't really a crime back in the Vault, since most of the doors were opened by the same keys everyone had. The only doors which needed forcing would have caused bigger issues to anyone caught- the jail cells, the Overseer's office and quarters, the administrative offices, the armoury, and the reactor room.

Although Harriet would have also gotten in trouble if she'd tried this in the Vault, because she wasn't supposed to have a gun. She's hoping things here are a little more lax about it than back home was.

Beauty from Ashes

Sometimes, Matilda thinks, destruction is its own kind of beauty. Why not destroy the ugly, to achieve that beauty in violence?

She worries at the thought as she continues to work on her outfit, eventually embroidering it on most of her clothes. She'll stand up after, and go to that first, failed pair of trousers, looking at the poor reproductions of the pattern there and screaming as she holds the trousers and rips them apart.

[Deathkeeper]

Road Pirate Pit Stop

Thick certainly makes sense. Anything built to withstand the cold climates smilodons would have endured must have had a pretty thick coat and/or a fat layer.
Rust shudders, running a hand over the opposite arm at the phantom feeling of fur.
Then it passes.
"That was weird." he informs Aizkora flatly.