Raril's 150th Birthday Bash

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin holds up her hand, eyes flashing with anger. Zee can stop right there. "Don't you dare to put words in my mouth. Or better yet, listen to the ones I actually say. I don't care that she's not a Thun demon. I don't give a flying Magtok about her home's cosmology because she lives here. The demonic essence suffusing her body and soul is what makes her a demon, not the supposed rules of a distant world claiming you have to kill a person every 187 days or your demon status is magically revoked. That kind of litigious red tape is exactly what demons use to stay harbored in society."

She brushes her hair back and turns to find someone more palatable to converse with. "And if you're so freaking special, then why don't you get out there and start KILLING DEMONS instead of ENABLING THEM." It would be a nice change of pace. If everyone so intent on making excuses for demons went out and killed even a handful...

The nymph storms off.

[Artemis97]

The front doors open and there's a bit of a commotion. In walks Raril, looking a bit confused, if pleased. Then Lillith unfurls a banner over the main stage.

Happy 150 Raril!

He sees it and staggers back a bit, laughing.

Calls of "Happy Birthday!" come from the gathered crowd.

Smiling, Raril makes his way through the guests, saying hello and receiving well wishes. He'll make his way towards his wife, Zee, first, before circulating.

[Morty]

Dipsnig turns to look at Electra just before Raril makes his appearance.

"No, I haven't seen him y- well, speak of the wolf." He doesn't move, since Raril has many more guests to greet and Electra just got here. His eyes flick to the guitar on her back. "Are you planning to perform this evening?"

[Nova_Eclipse]

Electra joins in on the chorus of "Happy Birthday"s before nodding at Dipsnig.

"I heard it was an open invite sort of dealie, so I figured I might give it a go a little later. I think I owe Raril a hug at least," she says, giving Dipsnig an incognito wink. Surely he remembers that business awhile ago where she brought his ghost to MERC. Speaking of it here in open company isn't the best idea, though. "Might do some singing; I guess I haven't really worked out much of a plan yet."

[Morty]

"I'm sure Raril will appreciate it." Dipsnig's ears twitch as he watches the crowd. "So will the guests. There sure is quite a few of them. Raril is both well-connected and has a larger family than I'm used to seeing among- well, not topsiders in his case, but you know what I mean."

[Nova_Eclipse]

Electra looks the crowd over for a minute, then looks back to Dipsnig, and raises an eyebrow.

"In my experience, bar owners to be well-connected just by virtue of providing a place for people to hang out and drown their sorrows," she says. She's not quite smiling, but there's an amused tone to her voice. "He does have a lot of family, though, both by blood and by choice. You're a part of that, you know."

[Morty]

"True. And the Den has been around a while. Not as long as Trog's, but a long time. Besides, the owner of Trog's is... I have no idea who that was, actually. Presumably someone named Trog. But now Zee is in charge." Dipsnig's ears twitch. "I suppose I am, in a way. Family can be many things."

[Nova_Eclipse]

Electra nods, and gives Dipsnig a warm smile.

"Yes, it can. Though I did want to ask, is there anything you think Raril would like to hear that I could play for him? I'm afraid I'm not overly well-versed in the sorts of music he enjoys."

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin's made her way to the musician area, well one of them, by the time Raril arrives, soaking in some of the musical vibes as the baby bops his head to the beat of the bass. The nymph joins in the chorus of 'Happy Birthday!'s a little louder than most. Nahlrae does as well. Sort of. Mostly Ilpholin just grabs his hand and waves it for him in the direction of his granddad.

[Morty]

Electra nods, and gives Dipsnig a warm smile.

"Yes, it can. Though I did want to ask, is there anything you think Raril would like to hear that I could play for him? I'm afraid I'm not overly well-versed in the sorts of music he enjoys."

Dipsnig's ears twitch. His taste in music is... non-existent. He just doesn't have much of an interest in it.

"I think I remember 'rock' and 'classical'. Not sure what they mean, exactly. But maybe it can help you."

[Nova_Eclipse]

Electra nods again, and watches Raril for a moment before speaking again.

"Rock, I can do. Classical, not so much, but I might be able to come up with something if I think about it for a bit."

[Rebonack]

Isn't the whole point that 'demonic essence' is kind of lacking in Lil? That's why she's good? Isn't that what Zee has been saying the whole time?

She heaves a sigh as Ilpholin storms off.

Yeah, Zee, why DON'T you just kill everyone that you believe could maybe potentially be a corruptive threat to the Nexus? You could start with phyrexians and finish with yourself. It would be great.

Except not.

Zee has had a pretty solid 'don't judge a book by its cover' rule for a while now. People get judged by what they do, not what the are. That isn't about to change.

She perks up a bit when Raril arrives, however, flashing him a smile.

"Happy birthday!" she calls out, embracing him in a hug. "I hope you enjoy it. We've got quite the shindig going down for you."

A kiss will be shared, then she'll scoot him toward the guests. "Go mingle! People want to congratulate you."

[Morty]

Electra nods again, and watches Raril for a moment before speaking again.

"Rock, I can do. Classical, not so much, but I might be able to come up with something if I think about it for a bit."

"I'm afraid I'd be of little help. My knowledge of music is..." He waves his hand. "It's not my field, let's just say. But it seems Raril has been sent by his wife to mingle, so we should get a chance to talk to him soon enough."

[Nova_Eclipse]

Electra nods, but looks around for a moment. Someone awfully familiar-looking at the bar catches her eye, but she stands for a moment, before giving a slight shrug and turns back to Dipsnig.

"Is music just not popular where you're from, boss? Or just something you're not really into?"

[Morty]

Dipsnig shrugs.

"We like music as much as anyone else... mostly. My people are pretty prudish, so anything too cheerful is considered... unseemly." He makes air-quotes with his fingers. "But aside from that, I never took an interest."

[Nova_Eclipse]

Electra's eyes sparkle for a moment, and a big grin plasters itself on her face.

"Ah, I see. Well, as far as music goes, you'll probably feel at home listening to the sort of rock I tend to play."

[Morty]

Dipsnig's ears tilt upwards a little bit and he smiles.

"Will I? I was born under tons of rock, so I'll feel at home listening to rock music?"

[Nova_Eclipse]

Electra chuckles.

"Not exactly. Most of what I play isn't what I'd describe as 'cheerful'. High energy, maybe, but not exactly cheerful. Aggressive, maybe."

[Artemis97]

"This is amazing!" Raril replies to his wife. He'll allow himself to be pushed on, though. He spots Ilpholin and his grandson in the crowd, and starts making his way over there, but could very easily be waylaid by another guest.

((Sorry for not posting for so long, holidays, right? I should be posting a little more regularly now.))

[Reinholdt]

"Congratulations!" Ilpholin says as Raril approaches, a small grin on her face. "I can't even imagine living as long as you have." For numerous reasons, including the fact that it's actually a difficult concept to wrap one's head around outside of the abstract.

"Say hi," She tells Nahlrae, who moves his arms about excitedly, no doubt hyped up by all the energy. "Do you want to hold him?" He was understandably bigger than the last time Raril babysat him. They always are.

[Artemis97]

Raril grins at his daughter. "Oh you'll get there some day, I'm sure." He reaches for Nahlrae and lifts him up holding him in the air for a moment. "And maybe this one will give you grandbabies by then!" He laughs and cuddles the boy close, cradling him in one arm, and waving his fingers in the baby's face to entertain him.

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin runs her hand through her hair, looking for a second, exceptionally exhausted. The kind only a single mother can look. "I can't even start to imagine that."

Nahlrae giggles, reaching for grandpa's fingers, as he makes noises and says "Yawgmoth!" Ilpholin tenses up for a second, an uncertain chill running through her body accompanied only with a creeping dread in her mind. She then forces a laugh, brushing off her baby's first word as no more than incomprehensible baby babble. After all, yawgmoth was no word she's ever heard of. So there would be nowhere for him to learn such a word to begin with! Clearly not a word.

"How many of my siblings did you end personally raising?" She asks, curious as to Raril's sum experiences in the matter.

[Artemis97]

"Yawgmoth indeed." Raril chuckles at his grandson. Then Ilpholin asks about her siblings. The elder drow frowns. "I had not a small hand in raising Erelae and Sornnolu until I ran to the surface." Their mother had tried to kill him in a lycanthropic rage. "I didn't know about Aly'ithra until she came to the Nexus." He thought her mother had died in battle. He'd never even known she was pregnant. "I didn't really get into being fatherly until I got here, myself. The chimeras, I tried raising as best I could alongside, Zee. They all grew up so fast, very independent from the get go. Then there's you and Nadas. I had to send you away, for fear you may be killed." By Zee, he doesn't say. "And now I've adopted Kara and Navvy, since last year." And who knows how many more 'children' Zee has made since then.

Raril looks thoughtful, and sighs. "I don't know how great of a father I am, Ilpholin. By numbers alone, I've done alright, but... by any other measure? I'm not so sure."

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin gives a small smile, awkwardly in the position of needing to cheer her dad up. "Well... I don't think you could have done that badly. Otherwise, they wouldn't all be here today." He must have done something right! Probably a lot of things. There are much worse fathers out there.

"Besides, think about the strength you've lent to the family name. I'll need half as many kids just to keep up." That might not be a good competition to enter into.

[Artemis97]

"Don't you worry about the family name." Raril grumbles. "It's not worth it."

"And don't worry about keeping up with me. I'm male, I'm supposed to be prolific. You have to be choosey. Choose a partner who makes you happy or, at the very least, will watch your back." He speaks to Nahlrae. "And your mommy made a very powerful alliance when she made you, yes she did!" He says, grinning at the baby.

[Reinholdt]

"Hmm... Yeah, I suppose." Even if Ilpholin did go for a lot of babies, she'd be quite picky about which powerhouse was allowed to sire them. Better to swing for quality.

The baby, a hundred percent, has nothing important to add to a conversation about family and politics. He contributes a gurgle instead.

Having little else to add and reaching for some way to change the subject, Ilpholin asks, "Do you think you'll play for us tonight? I betcha Nahlrae would love it. Wouldn't you?" Nahlrae exhibits no strong opinion at the moment, though he does look around at the musicians a lot when Raril doesn't have his attention, which isn't often.

[Artemis97]

Raril looks up at his daughter. "I suppose I could be persuaded to play something." He smirks. Of course he was going to play! "Did you have a request?"

[Nova_Eclipse]

Electra nods at Dipsnig, then smiles.

"I'll catch up a little later, Boss," she says, before starting to move through the crowd with practiced ease. She manages to get up to Raril just in time to her Ilpholin's question, and then Raril's response.

"Now, it's your party, Raril, but perhaps you'd have something you'd rather hear being played instead?" She says with a smile, and then gives a polite nod to Ilpholin. "Or perhaps you'd like some accompaniment?"

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin raises an eyebrow as Electra approaches, but nods back. The nymph looks far more cybernetic than she did when last they met, but that was admittedly a long time ago. She also sincerely doubts anything could keep Raril from playing today.

It takes a fair bit of thought, however, to come up with a request. Ilpholin hadn't prepared anything like that. Hmm... those are good, but too sad for a celebration. That one definitely works better with a female singer, even if Raril could possibly hit that voice range. What about...

"Oh. How about, Angel With A Shotgun?"