Riverside 21: Older than Arkh

[Meowmai]

[Skate Park]

"Sure, Let me show you how it's done." He winks and laughs as he turns away from them. On the flat surface next to the bowl he warms up. A shove-it, a kickflip, and then just like that he dips into the bowl. he rides along one wall around the curve, coming up to the lip, his momentum slowing on a grind. Then he's down inside again, moving back toward the girls. He pops a backside 180 in front of them, getting a few feet of air and grabbing his board before gravity takes him back down. On the far side he catches the edge of the board with his wheels, then pops off, rotating his board beneath his feet before coming back to their side again, locking his wheels again so he's standing in front of them. "How's that for a start?" He asks with a grin.

Skate Park

Ana is all too happy to watch Eliseo set off - he's certainly showed off a little before, and it's not like the kitsune isn't already familiar with just how unfairly good Eliseo can be at athletic activities, but this is definitely the first time she's even been to a skate park before. She's never seen just what he can do in an environment so suited for the activity.

Overall, she seems to reserve her excitement more this time. He has enough of a big head about himself as is. This doesn't stop her from stepping back and muttering a "Holy cow" when Eliseo catches air above the pair, however.

"Uh, yeah that was pretty good," Anastasia undersells with a nod, crossing her arms and suppressing a grin. It's pretty obvious just how cool she actually thought all of that was, though - Ana was never a very good liar when it came to Eliseo, especially when the tails wagging behind her give some of the game away.

[Skate Park]

Atsede folded her arms and stood in what she hoped was a casual but cool stance as she watched Eliseo skate. Honestly, she was more impressed by just how well-controlled his skating was than by his tricks. I mean, his tricks were cool, sure, but it was how he made things look so easy that stood out to her. Compared to him, even when she pulled off cool tricks her skating was jerkier, more off balance. Eliseo just made it look easy.

She gave a short whistle when Eliseo stopped before the two again, "that's some smooth moves you got there! If that's just a start I can't wait to see what your best is." She grinned, looking between the two. "No wonder you wanted to learn from him," she said with a glance at Ana. She gave fox-girl a playful elbow, jokingly adding, "so what rad moves have you got hidden up your sleeve, huh?" She hoped that her light elbowing and tone of voice would make it obvious that she was just teasing in a friendly manner, considering how new Ana seemed to skating- although then again, as they only just met, that might not come across as clearly as she intended.

[Ironsmith]

[Hell Bend]

"Oh, please." Chastity scoffs. "They're a metal band, not a bunch of goddamned martyrs. They're finished. Doneso. Exactly what happens when a demon sticks out their neck in this town." The succubus resumes her walk away from the group. "Come on, Vanny."

Vanny, on the other hand, doesn't move.

"...Vanny?"

"Gnash is just up the street here. Just under the casino. Tell them Vanity sent you and they shouldn't give you any problems." The smaller succubus smiles. "Put in a good word for me, okay?"

"Vanny, what the hell do you think you're doing? She's not going to give you anything for that."

"Yeah, well, we've bled them dry anyway, so what would even be the point?" Vanny turns and follows Chastity down the street. "Good luck, girls."

After a moment of silence, Siana turns to Jaahlyn, looking thoroughly befuddled. "...Am I nuts, or did that look weirdly like some kind of honor code to you?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Hell Bend]

Jaahlyn bows gracefully to Vanny. "My deepest gratitude to you."

Though once the two are gone, the satyr let's out a sigh. "I hate dealing with jaded people. They're so hard to talk to, remind me far too much about other psychopomps..." She turns to Siana. "Perhaps, she could have been anything in life. From what I could tell the courts in their world was hardly flawless in their effort to divide 'bad' from 'good'. That or there's honor among demons." Jaahlyn smiles to herself. "But let's go and find this Gnash fellow, shall we? Though I doubt he will be much easier to deal with. I bet he wants something in exchange to allow us to save him." And there were some prices that Jaahlyn wasn't intending to pay.

She will make her way towards the casino.

[Earl of Purple]

Beauty from Ashes

Matilda would have some choice words to say about Leah ranking nudists below, for example, slavers, loggers, poachers and people who talk in theatres. But she's an owlbear right now, and can't say anything that isn't a screeching roar like the one she's releasing now.

Matilda grunts when she's hit, staggering to one side before lashing out again with her massive paws and equally large eviscerating claws. She's not aiming for the hammer, this time; she's aiming for the wielder. She doesn't have anything against Leah- besides what she has against every irritating city-licker who gets in Matilda's way and winds her up, anyway. But that hurt, quite a lot, and she can't destroy it whilst it's being waved about so vigorously. So if that means killing Leah, so be it.

[Ironsmith]

[Hell Bend]

"...By Absum, I hope not. If we're seriously charged for doing a good deed..." Siana shakes her head. "...I can't even wrap my head around that. It's not just vile, it's... it's idiotic."

Following Vanny's directions will, indeed, take Jaahlyn and Siana to a casino. However, as is evident from the desolate cityscape around them, this is not a high-income neighborhood, and the casino is... rather unimpressive. Here, it takes the form of a partially-restored storage facility, the entrance marked with a simple wooden sign:

FREE DRINKS!
LOOSE GIRLS!
BIG $$$$$!!!
CRIMP'S CASINO AND BAR
OPEN ALL HOURS
CREDIT WELCOME

In a surprising bout of responsibility, the entrance is guarded by a bouncer, who stops the two of them when they get to the door. "No minors." The skull-faced incubus rumbles, standing in front of Siana, holding out his hand to Jaahlyn. "And there's a minimum ante before you're allowed in. Can't let you through if you don't intend to play."

[Reinholdt]

[Beauty from Ashes]

Slavers are sometimes worse than nudists cause they often force other people to go nude. But there's a very clear ranking system and nudists are trash tier!

"Whoa!" Leah pulls back just in time, though the red line on her cheek drip drip dripping her blood would suggest just how close she was to it being much worse. One hand touches the wound and winces at the pain. This owlbear was seriously trying to kill her. Leah narrows her eyes. This is exactly proof that nudists really were the worst.

Leah is much less interested now in closing with the killing machine for another hammer swing, so falls back on raw earthbending, grunting with effort as she slams the ground and raises her hands. Pillars of earth rise up around Matilda, looking to squeeze, capture and pin the owlbear in an earthen cage that still leaves the owlbear's head above the cage so that she may breathe, but trap everything else below the neck.

[Shadowcaller]

[Hell Bend]

"She's no minor, she's a vampire." Jaahlyn attempts to explain since surely he couldn't discriminate against a vampire right? The fact they didn't allows minors at all was something of a surprise really.

"But we're actually here to talk business with a mister Gnash. It's of great importance to his enterprise."

[Deathkeeper]

[The Toy Tinker]

"It sounds as though you at least know the territory," Sticks observes. "Although I too have never heard of such odd beasts..."

[The Toy Tinker]

The satyr raises her hand and glances back at the customers, hoping all this talk hadn't scared them away. "Let me explain." She remarks once she's sure she wasn't blocking sales by standing here.

"To these sovereigns of the sea their territory is more than just space they consider as theirs. It's like a part of them as they don't control the water, they are the water." Jaahlyn looks between Jim and Sticks. "Think about it, the sheer displacement of water that something mountain-sized would cause while it moved around would cause disasters whenever it went. But leviathans are more like gigantic water elementals which can manifest anywhere within water that they consider a part of their territory without as much as causing a wave. This includes tiny things such as jars, glasses and yes, underground lakes too. Thankfully the one we met down there wasn't much of a fan of the fey which controlled the rats so it actually helped us out in the end."

She then nods to Jim. "Uh, yeah its bizarre. Morsels are like this big-" Jaahlyn holds up her hand over the counter displaying something that while standing on the counter would be about two feet tall. "-and the things that eat them swallow them whole. Just to give you some perspective."

The Toy Tinker

Jim considers. Sure, that makes sense. Well, it doesn't but he can tell she's not making it up at least.
"Okay. But how did all of these creatures get down there? I didn't see any of this when I was down there a few years ago." he asks her.

[Ironsmith]

[Hell Bend]

"I'm sure it is." The bouncer replies, unmoved. "But the rules are the rules. If you don't pay the ante, I can't let you in."

Siana rocks back and forth on her cane. "So... what do you do if we, um... don't have any money, exactly?" She winces.

"As it happens, we have a solution for that." The bouncer rolls up his sleeve and pulls on a fingerless leather glove, with little spikes sprouting from the knuckles, running parallel to his fingers. "Everything is worth something in this neighborhood. If you can't pay with money, we lend you some while taking a possession as collateral. If you lose the money, you lose the collateral. Simple as that."

"...I, um, guess that isn't so bad." Siana reaches into her satchel, only to be stopped by the bouncer.

"I guarantee you haven't got enough in there to make the ante." The bouncer replies smoothly. "Now, in there, on the other hand..." A clawed finger points up at Siana's chest.

"...Oh. Oh! Oh, no, absolutely not!" Siana backs away, putting a hand over her sternum. "I'm not putting my heart up for collateral! Forget it!"

"Then you aren't getting in." The bouncer says with a note of finality, tilting his head toward Jaahlyn.

[Gullara]

Skate Park

Ana is all too happy to watch Eliseo set off - he's certainly showed off a little before, and it's not like the kitsune isn't already familiar with just how unfairly good Eliseo can be at athletic activities, but this is definitely the first time she's even been to a skate park before. She's never seen just what he can do in an environment so suited for the activity.

Overall, she seems to reserve her excitement more this time. He has enough of a big head about himself as is. This doesn't stop her from stepping back and muttering a "Holy cow" when Eliseo catches air above the pair, however.

"Uh, yeah that was pretty good," Anastasia undersells with a nod, crossing her arms and suppressing a grin. It's pretty obvious just how cool she actually thought all of that was, though - Ana was never a very good liar when it came to Eliseo, especially when the tails wagging behind her give some of the game away.

[Skate Park]

Atsede folded her arms and stood in what she hoped was a casual but cool stance as she watched Eliseo skate. Honestly, she was more impressed by just how well-controlled his skating was than by his tricks. I mean, his tricks were cool, sure, but it was how he made things look so easy that stood out to her. Compared to him, even when she pulled off cool tricks her skating was jerkier, more off balance. Eliseo just made it look easy.

She gave a short whistle when Eliseo stopped before the two again, "that's some smooth moves you got there! If that's just a start I can't wait to see what your best is." She grinned, looking between the two. "No wonder you wanted to learn from him," she said with a glance at Ana. She gave fox-girl a playful elbow, jokingly adding, "so what rad moves have you got hidden up your sleeve, huh?" She hoped that her light elbowing and tone of voice would make it obvious that she was just teasing in a friendly manner, considering how new Ana seemed to skating- although then again, as they only just met, that might not come across as clearly as she intended.

[Skate Park]

"Pretty good, huh?" He gives Ana a little smirk before looking back at Atsede. "Well if you wanna see the rest we have to go to the big ramp." He jerks his thumb at the ramp in question. It's off to the side of the park since it's not part of the bowls. It's a separate structure that's been built next to the rest. "Come on." He drops his board and starts to skate over that way.

[Arkhosia]

Skate Park

Spoiler

Show

[Skate Park]

Atsede folded her arms and stood in what she hoped was a casual but cool stance as she watched Eliseo skate. Honestly, she was more impressed by just how well-controlled his skating was than by his tricks. I mean, his tricks were cool, sure, but it was how he made things look so easy that stood out to her. Compared to him, even when she pulled off cool tricks her skating was jerkier, more off balance. Eliseo just made it look easy.

She gave a short whistle when Eliseo stopped before the two again, "that's some smooth moves you got there! If that's just a start I can't wait to see what your best is." She grinned, looking between the two. "No wonder you wanted to learn from him," she said with a glance at Ana. She gave fox-girl a playful elbow, jokingly adding, "so what rad moves have you got hidden up your sleeve, huh?" She hoped that her light elbowing and tone of voice would make it obvious that she was just teasing in a friendly manner, considering how new Ana seemed to skating- although then again, as they only just met, that might not come across as clearly as she intended.

[Skate Park]

"Pretty good, huh?" He gives Ana a little smirk before looking back at Atsede. "Well if you wanna see the rest we have to go to the big ramp." He jerks his thumb at the ramp in question. It's off to the side of the park since it's not part of the bowls. It's a separate structure that's been built next to the rest. "Come on." He drops his board and starts to skate over that way.

"Y-yeah, pretty good," Anastasia restates casually, trying to hold the facade - but she can't quite keep a gentle blush off her face. That knowing smirk really gets her every time. Eliseo should really know the power he has and restrain himself from throwing it around so casually. It's also the perfect distraction for Atsede to catch Ana off-guard, making her jump a little.

"Eheh, I think you'd be uh, a little disappointed. Far as like, skating goes at least." She smiles awkwardly but not unkindly, caught off-guard but still able to appreciate the humor intended here. She turns to Eliseo and follows his gaze before glancing back at Atsede, shrugging, dropping her board and starting to follow. "Yeah, c'mon - like, I'll need help carrying him if he breaks something." She grins.

[Shadowcaller]

[Hell Bend]

Jaahlyn eyebrows raises as the bouncer gestures at Siana's chest, confused as to what he meant. Not quite following until Siana seems to confirm what he meant.

She had thought he meant Siana herself, perhaps needing her services considering she was a 'vampire', but her heart? Was he under the impression that she could live without it? Why not just demand her entire body to harvest at that point? Since she'd be dead either way.

Well, she couldn't even trade her life away. Sort of an impossibility really. But she might have something much better.

"Would a service token do? The exact nature of the service agreed upon its exchange. Not limited to getting to speak to dead relatives, getting brought back to life after death, learning the secrets of the dead..." She holds out her hand in a gesture of offering.

[Ironsmith]

[Hell Bend]

The bouncer frowns as he considers that offer. Most of the people in Hell Bend are already dead, and returning to life would be less than ideal for them, as it put them on the far end of a long-odds gamble that they'd be able to die a second time (eventually) and not get mulched. But Jaahlyn might have other uses, being a psychopomp. Or, failing that, the nature of her service was left ambiguous...

The demon cracks a grin and accepts the offer. "Very good. That'll be enough of an ante for you, personally." He leans in and mutters, "Though just between us, you're going to want much more than the regular ante if you intend to win here. You need room to move your wagers up, you see."

[Shadowcaller]

[Hell Bend]

The bouncer frowns as he considers that offer. Most of the people in Hell Bend are already dead, and returning to life would be less than ideal for them, as it put them on the far end of a long-odds gamble that they'd be able to die a second time (eventually) and not get mulched. But Jaahlyn might have other uses, being a psychopomp. Or, failing that, the nature of her service was left ambiguous...

The demon cracks a grin and accepts the offer. "Very good. That'll be enough of an ante for you, personally." He leans in and mutters, "Though just between us, you're going to want much more than the regular ante if you intend to win here. You need room to move your wagers up, you see."

[Hell Bend]

Jaahlyn gives the bouncer a deadpan look. Really? ”Again, I’m not here to gamble. I just want to talk to the owner, sir. The fact I need to do all this simply to help him is somewhat frustrating. In fact, how would I even get back the ante if I don’t gamble anything? Since I’m not leaving this meeting up to chance.” Since if she was expected to gamble to meet him she’d rather try to ambush him when he left or something as this was getting a tad ridiculous.

[Ironsmith]

[Hell Bend]

"That's easy enough." The bouncer produces a set of poker chips and quickly scrawls out a reciept. "You cash out like anyone else, but show this at the door to get your collateral back." He shrugs. "Or don't, and take the money instead. No great loss to us." He steps aside to let Jaahlyn in. "Have a good evening, miss."

Siana's still barred from coming in, of course. Jaahlyn won't be given enough to pay for both of them.

If Jaahlyn is willing to enter the casino under these terms, she's going to find the interior nearly as unimpressive as the outside. None of the glitzy, glittery slot machines or roulette wheels she might expect; rather, there's just a set of dusty old tables, attended by various demons, set up for a number of card games; poker, blackjack, rummy, hearts, and so on. A few have chess or checker sets instead, which appear to have wagering rules spliced into them to increase the stakes of the associated games. In the very back, there are a couple of billiards tables that seem to fill out a similar purpose. Waitstaff patrol the floor, offering drinks to anyone who doesn't already have a glass next to them... including Jaahlyn, naturally.

Regardless of whether she goes in or not, Jaahlyn might realize she's run into another problem... Vanity and Chastity didn't actually tell her what Gnash looked like. "Incubus" was all the description given, and there are at least two dozen of those among the patrons and another half dozen among the staff. They didn't even say he owned the place, just that he hung out here. How is she going to find him?

[Gullara]

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