Trog's Tavern CLV

[bc56]

Dungeon of Doom.
And take that opportunity Orathius will, driving his blade into the back of the creature's neck. He sees no reason to let it survive. "There. Let's get moving." He goes to pick the lock on the next door.

[Morty]

Yeah.

That's more or less the reaction Zee is accustomed to.

There's a reason why the opening phrase is 'Do not be afraid'.

Which is why the meat pajamas are so important! That way she can chat with people without having to make proclamations. Most never even notice.

So!

Hm hm hm! A shadow with antlers, huh? That's more evidence piling up to support her suspicion.

"Sure thing, I'll get it started for you. Now, the important thing about a pizza are the toppings. The cheese and the sauce are basically a given. But for everything else? Sky's the limit! Meats are pretty common. Vegetables, too. And some absolute anarchists even like garnishing their pizza with fruit. So! What would you prefer? You want to pick your own toppings or should I surprise you?"

Are surprises from such a being really a wise thing to receive?

"Do surprise me, seeing how what you've just told me means little to me." A smile plays under the man's prodigious beard. "I've wandered into a strange land, but I'm sure it's something you hear often."

[Rebonack]

Zee puts on the most shocked and concerned expression she can muster.

"I really hope that reply doesn't mean you've never experienced cheese before. Because if so then I feel deep sympathy for whatever hellish realm you've escaped," she replies as she gets to work.

This will take a while.

Getting the dough ready, spreading the sauce, and of course cooking the pizza. The last part is, obviously, going to be the most time consuming.

But that just means there's some time to chat while everything is prepared!

"But yeah! Lots folks wandering into strange lands around here! All of them don't arrive here at Trog's, but plenty of them do! That's why I'm here, actually. I like having the opportunity to greet the newcomers and help get them on their feet. Just a kind face at the beginning of an exciting new adventure. It might not be the most glamorous job, but someone has to do it, right?"

Zee takes the dough and tosses it with a spin, the disc of bread slowly expanding into a thing sheet.

"So! Speaking of journeys, what brings someone like you to our humble little corner of the cosmos? Was this a happy little accident, or were you looking for a place like this?"


[Dungeons of Doom]

Nothing like a knife to the brain stem to shut off the lights.

Our heroes head into the next chamber to discover yet another lab! That isn't very shocking. What IS shocking, though, might be the contents.

There are several things of note in here. First?

There's a telescope. A really big one. And more of those strange blue crystals set up in jars.

Second?

There's a moose.

The moose appears to be drunk. It's crunching rather loudly on a bowl full of walnuts with a trough filled with beer nearby. It looks up at our heroes, blinking blurrily.

Two doors lead out of the occulorium slash moose room, one to the north and one to the south.

"I... ah. Hmm. I'm not sure what I was expecting to find in here but it certainly wasn't this," Fenris comments.

[bc56]

Dungeon of Doom
Orathius sniffs the air. "Is that moose drinking beer?" This is very strange. "We should probably dismantle this apparatus too. And I don't trust that moose." If there's a moose in here, it must be here for a reason. At least two werewolves should be able to bring it down if it attacks.

[5a Violista]

[Weird Bathroom]

With so many people in the crowd, June actually has difficulty noticing that there's supposed to be a fake Venus, even when having her pointed out. For all June knows, the caped guy could be pointing at a bouquet of flowers. It's not like June could tell the difference, anyway. (Which is weird because she just called her her sister, right? But that's just how it is.)

Fortunately, he's not pointing at a bouquet of flowers so at least she knows that she's supposed to be looking in a direction at a person. So, June looks in the pointed direction, and nods. Um. Yes, it does," she says as she tries to figure out hoe that's supposed to help. Oh, wait, is that supposed to be Venus? Okay, that probably helps somehow; she just needs to figure out how now.

She heads down the stairs to put the maid outfit on, on top of her other clothes in privacy.
Oh, right, also the cat ears and the cat tail.

Sadly, June didn't actually have any particular weapon in mind. So it takes her a while for a weapon to mysteriously show up.
And, then somehow, a rapier and a stafflike stick (with a metal cap, and a long metal wire) fall out of the outfit's pocket.
And a pistol, but she puts that back in the pocket.

She goes back up to look for the caped man, and hand the stafflike thing to him. "Okay, now what?"

[Ironsmith]

[Weird Bathroom]

With so many people in the crowd, June actually has difficulty noticing that there's supposed to be a fake Venus, even when having her pointed out. For all June knows, the caped guy could be pointing at a bouquet of flowers. It's not like June could tell the difference, anyway. (Which is weird because she just called her her sister, right? But that's just how it is.)

Fortunately, he's not pointing at a bouquet of flowers so at least she knows that she's supposed to be looking in a direction at a person. So, June looks in the pointed direction, and nods. Um. Yes, it does," she says as she tries to figure out hoe that's supposed to help. Oh, wait, is that supposed to be Venus? Okay, that probably helps somehow; she just needs to figure out how now.

She heads down the stairs to put the maid outfit on, on top of her other clothes in privacy.
Oh, right, also the cat ears and the cat tail.

Sadly, June didn't actually have any particular weapon in mind. So it takes her a while for a weapon to mysteriously show up.
And, then somehow, a rapier and a stafflike stick (with a metal cap, and a long metal wire) fall out of the outfit's pocket.
And a pistol, but she puts that back in the pocket.

She goes back up to look for the caped man, and hand the stafflike thing to him. "Okay, now what?"

[Weird Bathroom]

"Now you go back down there and fight." The man replies with a little smile, his fingers drumming up against a tiny gong under his hand, which has definitely been there all this time. "Go on. You don't want to keep the crowd waiting."

By the way they're barking and hooting, they're certainly eager for the fight to begin. Fake Venus especially; she's raised her fist and is pumping it rhythmically, leading the crowd in a chant:

"JUNE! JUNE! JUNE! JUNE! JUNE!"

Well. Either they really believe in her, or they want to see her get smashed in record time. Either way, it doesn't look like June will be able to postpone fighting much more without some really clever trick up her sleeve.

[Morty]

Zee puts on the most shocked and concerned expression she can muster.

"I really hope that reply doesn't mean you've never experienced cheese before. Because if so then I feel deep sympathy for whatever hellish realm you've escaped," she replies as she gets to work.

This will take a while.

Getting the dough ready, spreading the sauce, and of course cooking the pizza. The last part is, obviously, going to be the most time consuming.

But that just means there's some time to chat while everything is prepared!

"But yeah! Lots folks wandering into strange lands around here! All of them don't arrive here at Trog's, but plenty of them do! That's why I'm here, actually. I like having the opportunity to greet the newcomers and help get them on their feet. Just a kind face at the beginning of an exciting new adventure. It might not be the most glamorous job, but someone has to do it, right?"

Zee takes the dough and tosses it with a spin, the disc of bread slowly expanding into a thing sheet.

"So! Speaking of journeys, what brings someone like you to our humble little corner of the cosmos? Was this a happy little accident, or were you looking for a place like this?"

"I know cheese. The rest of the ingredients are less familiar," the enormous man says in good humour. "I came here... because I needed to get away from something. And in search of new stories. This place looks like it has many."

[Rebonack]

"If you're looking for new stories then you've come to the right place! The Nexus has got gobs of them. Stories all over the place. Stories stuffed into every little nook and cranny you feel like digging into! I could even share a few of them myself, I've been through some crazy nonsense over the years," Zee laughs. "Like that one time with Magtok and the cactus."

What?

Well.

There's probably a story behind that.

Which is kind of the point.

Zee begins saucing up the dough and begins sprinkling shredded cheese over it.

"So running from trouble, huh? It wasn't super sentai monks, was it? If you're from where I think you're from I visited once. Wandered in through a desert made of fire. Real spicy place! Met some colorful monks who punched me a whole bunch, called me an anathema. Eventually one of 'em asked why I didn't have a banner despite the drag-out brawl and I had no idea what they were talking about so I told 'em I left all my flags at home. At that point they decided I wasn't an anathema and started asking questions while punching me and eventually told me to leave real politely. While also punching me. They seemed like nice people."


[Dungeons of Doom]

"That moose is drinking beer," Fenris confirms, also puzzled by the scene.

But why, though?

Why is the moose indoors?

Why is the moose eating walnuts and drinking beer?

In a chamber with sensitive equipment no less?

"Granted I don't believe it is ever wise to trust a moose," Fenris adds as she begins edging around the perimeter of the room, keeping an eye on the moose the whole time. "But I believe this one may be tame? Maybe a pet?"

The moose belches loudly, spraying walnut crumbs everywhere.

[bc56]

Dungeon of Doom
"Why?" Orathius keeps an eye on the moose as he starts to messily dismantle the astronomical equipment. Hopefully it really is just a moose and not some kind of weird threat.
It's weird. Too weird.

[5a Violista]

June, who is totally a snakeperson and not whatever the other June is, walks into the tavern.

Except, like, having no legs makes it hard to walk. Instead, the redhead has a long scaly snakebody. And six arms, since apparently snakes have arms. And is somehow still has red hair even though non-mammals usually don't have thinks like hair. And has a tube-top dress, since there's really not many options for clothes when you have more arms than usual but fewer legs than usual.

So June heads towards –

June stops and decides against that, because snektail wouldn't fit under that table.
Okay, June heads to –
Oh.
That wouldn't work either.

Finally, June goes towards thr bar and. . .decides maybe a barstool might work, with some coiling and wrapping around the stool.


[Weird Bathroom]

June goes down.
She doesn't really see much point in trying to drag it out any longer. Maybe if Venus wasn't on warlockdrugs then buying time might help, but at the present June would need to buy at least five or six hours and that seems unlikely.

June thinks through her superpowers that might be helpful, as she goes down. In general, she has...well, superhuman strength and speed and such, supernatural flirting, the interesting ability to receive sensory input from basically everything around, a natural resistance to low-level mind control, and martial arts that she was told not to use yet because she's not ready for it except for really basic blocking-out-sensory-input breathing and stuff.
. . .
Okay, that's not much.

Oh.
She just realizes.
She should've asked what happens if she wins, and what happens if she doesn't, and other things like that.

Well, too late.
Up close, she decides that now is actually a good time to size up her opponent.

[Ironsmith]

[Weird Bathroom]

June might recall that she has asked that... or at least, she's been told. When the fight's over, they all go free. If she wins, freedom. If she loses... well, the caped man didn't really say much about what constitutes ending the fight, so it may very well be to the death, in which case what happens after a loss won't be too relevant to June.

Her opponent seems to have a couple of feet on her in terms of height, and several tons in terms of weight. The man looks to be wearing a suit of armor cleft from solid stone, several inches thick. One arm has a massive slab of a shield bound to it with thick iron chains, and the other holds a metal pole with a sharp-edged ring on it. The figure watches her stoically as she enters the arena, seeming unfazed by the circumstances of their meeting.

That superhuman strength in agility is going to come in handy almost immediately, though. When the caped man rings the gong, the stone behemoth June's facing will come out with a heavy attack, leaping into the air and thrusting his ring-pole into the ground- directly in the path of June's waist. Which means she probably doesn't want to still be standing there in a moment.

Despite this, the crowd still gives her their support. "JUNE! JUNE! JUNE! JUNE!"

[Aurora Alchemi]

[New Beginning]

Reuma pointedly ignores the sip from the flask, having played this game far too often before with Signe. It was attention seeking, and the healer knew better than to feed into that. Besides, if she really needed him sober, there were other options. Cold water, slaps, a bit of weaving. As it was, it was easier just to hook and bait the lush in by offending him a little, at least just to get him to stick around... Such an easy trick to use on Signe too. Dang it, stop thinking about Signe! Now Maxson's got you doing it too! There is a gentle shower of fuscia sparks, a feeling of warmth combined with fluster and melancholy spreading for a moment from where ever the sparks land, be it table, Maxson, or Rein. "Yeah, I had... I think I had gotten used to that idea just a little bit ago... Makes it a shock for my bon-... S-some version of a lover I had to show up. It was... complicated between the three of us, but it was nice, and I do miss it some. I don't think anyone else gave me both the courage and the freedom to explore and love as freely as you and Signe, Maxson. You... h-he never once questioned if I came home with a new friend or whatever, and that was nice."

There are tones of sadness there, as if Reuma is worried she's lost something forever, but at the same time there is a little bit of joy in it. Enough that maybe Reuma was oversharing, a point which dawned on her as she looked over to Rein once more, a slight red hue of blush crossing the faun's face for a moment, and a crackle of pink embarrassment. The pronghorn made an attempt to redirect the conversation to cover her own fluster. "Died and gone to a better place, huh? I'll take that as a compliment, but If you and that Reuma were still soulbonded, I'm sure you would have felt if she was truly missing from you... I know my Maxson would have known." The faun gently takes the axe away, moving a spoonful of broth into Maxson's hand instead. "Start by having a bit more food, and do try to enjoy it. I'll share some of my stew when it gets here. So... Reinholdt? I've been able to scrape by doing healing and medical stuff here and there, but I'm sure you must know of some areas more closely related to what I used to do... Maybe like, adventurers or heros or something? I could try working in one of the hospitals, but I think it'd pin me down in one location too long. Makes my bones itch for travel and whatnot. Any suggestions from our seasoned traveler of the nexus?" Reuma lays the compliment on thick, but not so thick that it's easy to tell if the healer intended the comment as a true compliment or as sarcasm.

[Morty]

"If you're looking for new stories then you've come to the right place! The Nexus has got gobs of them. Stories all over the place. Stories stuffed into every little nook and cranny you feel like digging into! I could even share a few of them myself, I've been through some crazy nonsense over the years," Zee laughs. "Like that one time with Magtok and the cactus."

What?

Well.

There's probably a story behind that.

Which is kind of the point.

Zee begins saucing up the dough and begins sprinkling shredded cheese over it.

"So running from trouble, huh? It wasn't super sentai monks, was it? If you're from where I think you're from I visited once. Wandered in through a desert made of fire. Real spicy place! Met some colorful monks who punched me a whole bunch, called me an anathema. Eventually one of 'em asked why I didn't have a banner despite the drag-out brawl and I had no idea what they were talking about so I told 'em I left all my flags at home. At that point they decided I wasn't an anathema and started asking questions while punching me and eventually told me to leave real politely. While also punching me. They seemed like nice people."

The enormous man raises an eyebrow. This has got to be the strangest description of the Immaculate monks he's ever heard, but it's not inaccurate. Even if he has no notion of what "sentai" means.

"I am familiar with the monks you speak of. I have encountered them. But unfortunately, I am not here because of them. I'm here because of people I trusted. Ones I believed shouldn't have acted the way they did. Leaving felt like a better solution than continuing the conflict. Though I admit that traversing the Wyld to find myself here is an extreme solution."

[Rebonack]

[Dungeons of Doom]

"The fact that it hasn't attempted to trample us to death, for example," Fenris points out as Orathius begins dismantling the equipment.

The moose doesn't seem to like all the noise but it isn't really reacting all that much to it.

"I don't know if you've ever hunted moose before but they aren't exactly gentle animals. There's a reason why even a pack of wolves are leerying about trying to take down a healthy adult moose," Fenris explains as she cautiously approaches the animal, one hand held out in front of her in a 'I'm not a threat' sort of way.

The moose must be REALLY drunk because it isn't reacting with hostility to the wolf-smell on our two heroes.

Instead?

It chews on walnuts.

Then slowly blinks one eye.

Followed by the other.

Then it vomits on Fenris. She seems pretty shocked by this development.


[Meanwhile!]

Zee waves cheerfully at the snake-y person coiling around the bar stool.

"Hiya! Welcome back to Trog's Tavern, June! How are you doing today?" the barmaid asks, somehow completely managing to miss the fact that this June is distinct from all the other Junes. "Is there anything I can get you?"

What a helpful person Zee is.

Then back over to the moose-guy.

"Teams of color-coded martial artists with themed abilities," Zee explains.

Then blinks.

Oh.

No, wait, had he said that out loud? Or was that narration? Her read on things is feeling kind of fuzzy. Ever since June slithered in? Wait, slithered? Does she do that normally? Zee does her best here to focus. Something weird is up, but she can't quite put a feather on it. Hmm. Probably best to just pretend she knows what's going on and roll with it. That usually works out.

"Wow, that must have been some argument if swimming through primordial chaos seemed like a good way to put some distance and cool some heads. But hey! It brought you here so now you get to enjoy what our little corner of the cosmos offers. And todaaaaaay it's offering-!"

With a deft flourish Zee pulls the finished food out of the over and present the sizzling meal!

"-pizza! Pepperoni, Italian sausage, caramelized onions, sun-dried tomatoes, and diced mushrooms! Let me slice it for you real quick and you'll be good to go. You want anything to drink with it?"

[bc56]

Dungeons of Doom

Orathius shakes his head. "I've killed moose before, but never up close..." Then Fenris gets barfed on. "... That is one drunk moose." He'll finish up the dismantlement unless the moose does something more violent.

[Reinholdt]

Spoiler

Show

[New beginning]

Maxson's eyes widened at Reuma flashing her Navel, there was a flash of colour across his face as stray memories of lost nights played in his mind. He casually looked away hoping she didn't recognise that look on him. As she mentioned grabbing food he slowly swung his legs down off the booth seat and let his feet slowly rest on the ground. After picking up his vest and other discarded pieces of gear, he sat back and checked every piece over. His rifle was filthy but otherwise seemed functional, same for his side arm. The Optic on top was smashed however, at least his two axes were still intact.

As Reuma was away getting food, he looked at Rein "Suppose it was pretty stupid of me... thinking I was dead" He said aloud before checking the edge of one of his axe blades. "No way I'd be fortunate enough to end up in the same place as her" He chuckled before clipping the axe back into its holster. "No going back though... suppose there's nothing really left there for me anyway, she's gone... Signe... might as well make the most of this place" He seemed to accept what was going on but there was clearly a guilt or something eating away at him.

[New Beginning]

Reuma pointedly ignores the sip from the flask, having played this game far too often before with Signe. It was attention seeking, and the healer knew better than to feed into that. Besides, if she really needed him sober, there were other options. Cold water, slaps, a bit of weaving. As it was, it was easier just to hook and bait the lush in by offending him a little, at least just to get him to stick around... Such an easy trick to use on Signe too. Dang it, stop thinking about Signe! Now Maxson's got you doing it too! There is a gentle shower of fuscia sparks, a feeling of warmth combined with fluster and melancholy spreading for a moment from where ever the sparks land, be it table, Maxson, or Rein. "Yeah, I had... I think I had gotten used to that idea just a little bit ago... Makes it a shock for my bon-... S-some version of a lover I had to show up. It was... complicated between the three of us, but it was nice, and I do miss it some. I don't think anyone else gave me both the courage and the freedom to explore and love as freely as you and Signe, Maxson. You... h-he never once questioned if I came home with a new friend or whatever, and that was nice."

There are tones of sadness there, as if Reuma is worried she's lost something forever, but at the same time there is a little bit of joy in it. Enough that maybe Reuma was oversharing, a point which dawned on her as she looked over to Rein once more, a slight red hue of blush crossing the faun's face for a moment, and a crackle of pink embarrassment. The pronghorn made an attempt to redirect the conversation to cover her own fluster. "Died and gone to a better place, huh? I'll take that as a compliment, but If you and that Reuma were still soulbonded, I'm sure you would have felt if she was truly missing from you... I know my Maxson would have known." The faun gently takes the axe away, moving a spoonful of broth into Maxson's hand instead. "Start by having a bit more food, and do try to enjoy it. I'll share some of my stew when it gets here. So... Reinholdt? I've been able to scrape by doing healing and medical stuff here and there, but I'm sure you must know of some areas more closely related to what I used to do... Maybe like, adventurers or heros or something? I could try working in one of the hospitals, but I think it'd pin me down in one location too long. Makes my bones itch for travel and whatnot. Any suggestions from our seasoned traveler of the nexus?" Reuma lays the compliment on thick, but not so thick that it's easy to tell if the healer intended the comment as a true compliment or as sarcasm.

[New Beginning]

"Not stupid at all. A lot of people think that when they- oh. Self depreciation. Got it." Reinholdt averts his gaze away from Maxson to focus upon his rifle for a long time, thinking back to a darker time. His own rifle has long since faded away into some weird legendary weapon status, collect all three pieces nonsense... but he still missed it occasionally. He doesn't miss what it represents though.

Fuscia sparks recapture his attention quickly as one lands on his leg and he nearly panics as he feels a warmth spread from it. The melancholy was familiar, but there was something more... and most unexpectedly it didn't catch him on fire or anything. "H-hey! Careful!" Rein's attention falls upon Reuma's horns, the source of the colorful special effects. "Do you often leak explosives like that or what?" He's never seen a living organic person that did that. Some elementals perhaps, but this was new. And now it was glowing pink and... Rein thinks he may have missed something important in the conversation, Reuma seemed a little red. And she hasn't even been drinking! Still, the closeness between her and Maxson, even if they were alt-verses of each other was something he hadn't missed and suspects she was just crushing on Maxson all over again. Happens in the Nexus. Look she was even talking about soulbonds! Wait... did they literally get their soul bonded together or was it a romantic and metaphorical notion?

Reinholdt ends up squinting at Reuma though as she calls him seasoned. It wasn't inaccurate but the tone suggested more. He knows wasn't getting pepper in his hair yet, he's checked, so it might just be a deference. Or... argh. He couldn't read her at all. Not surprising, they just met. "Right, hmm. Well Trog's is as good a place as any to encounter adventures and join a team. You'd be looking at more classic adventures here, but also more sparse adventures than there used to be. Sometimes you have to prod people yourself to get an adventure going, but they'll happen. Not that you stay in Trog's in most circumstances, but it's an option. There used to be two places that were guaranteed adventure spots, the Weald and the Hunting Grounds. I think they've faded away, especially the Weald, but sometimes just talking about something is enough to bring it back for an adventure or two."

There's a pause in his explanation for a sip of his drink. "The parks in any of the cities are dangerous and prime to explore, but I think overall Riverside has more things happen in general if you're more interested in urban excitement. Finally you have the Organizations. They're like guilds I guess. VIGIL is dedicated to seeking out perceived threats to the Nexus and stopping those, but I don't know how they determine what counts. They have a lack of oversight and a lot of reach, but... they've also proven themselves effective, so there's that. MERC takes on most of the other jobs and they do it for coin. They're pretty active as far as I know, so if you don't mind them taking a cut from you, you're probably always going to be doing something. HALO's a research organization and they do have adventures from time to time when some demon or virus needs to be studied but it's usually quite specific in scope and they spend more of their time looking for technological and magical breakthroughs. GLoG used to be a place for redemption but that's kinda disappeared as all the evil organizations disappeared as well and now they're pretty much just daycare and charity and therapy. You won't find any adventures there, unless you consider personal growth an adventure." Rein takes another sip. "Take it from me, it's not."

He puts the flask down to take up a knife and fork instead. The fish won't eat itself. "I... think that's it? Lessee... yeah, just those four orgs are left. I personally think Merc's the better choice, but if you're looking for hard heroing for heroing's sake, then Vigil's probably the option for you. I personally prefer going rogue and just doing adventures on my own time." There's a light, ambivalent shrug.

[5a Violista]

June waves back.
It's always right to wave back when someone 'Hi's you, right? Especially when it's pretty clear that they know you: it's quite likely the barmaid is a friend-of-a-friend. Well, either they've met and June forgot, or friend-of-a-friend. Either way, same thing, doesn't matter.

"Hi, I'm doing pretty well, I suppose. How about you?" How is Zee doing, June asks, having given up on trying to place Zee's face.

If there's a benefit to having six arms, it's that you can lean on the counter and still have a hand to spare to hold the menu with.
"Um, can I order a lemonade? And a gyro?" Seems like a reasonable request.


[Weird Bathroom]

Well, if they go free when the fight ends, then it doesn't particularly matter if she wins or loses, so long as she's still alive at the end, right?
Which...means asking what constitutes a win or loss would have been the thing to ask.

June closes her eyes, so that she can focus on the person in front of her better. She wishes she had some way to drown out the crowd, too, but there's not really anything she can do with that.

With her eyes closed, June sees the attack coming and starts backpedaling. First priority, if she wants to win, is to figure out her opponent's range. So she moves back a bit more than she expects.

Oh!
Right, the next-most-important thing, the witty banter. She also needs to do that if she wants to win.
"Hey, so how long have you been fighting?"

[Ironsmith]

[Weird Bathroom]

His range, as it turns out, is roughly "holy bazalls" meters. The stone gaint must have leapt half the distance of the arena to get to where June is now... or at least, where she was two seconds ago. She's close enough that the cloud of dust and dirt from his landing will spray all over her, coating the maid outfit in debris. Gross.

Upon being asked how long he's been fighting, the figure kneels and scrawls a pair of symbols in the dirt, which the Nexus will helpfully translate:

"Be wary of foot."

Three seconds later, juuuuust long enough for June to stoop and read it if she's so inclined, the giant will lash out with a short kick, intended to shove June back against the arena wall; more of a humiliation than combat maneuver.

[Morty]

Zee waves cheerfully at the snake-y person coiling around the bar stool.

"Hiya! Welcome back to Trog's Tavern, June! How are you doing today?" the barmaid asks, somehow completely managing to miss the fact that this June is distinct from all the other Junes. "Is there anything I can get you?"

What a helpful person Zee is.

Then back over to the moose-guy.

"Teams of color-coded martial artists with themed abilities," Zee explains.

Then blinks.

Oh.

No, wait, had he said that out loud? Or was that narration? Her read on things is feeling kind of fuzzy. Ever since June slithered in? Wait, slithered? Does she do that normally? Zee does her best here to focus. Something weird is up, but she can't quite put a feather on it. Hmm. Probably best to just pretend she knows what's going on and roll with it. That usually works out.

"Wow, that must have been some argument if swimming through primordial chaos seemed like a good way to put some distance and cool some heads. But hey! It brought you here so now you get to enjoy what our little corner of the cosmos offers. And todaaaaaay it's offering-!"

With a deft flourish Zee pulls the finished food out of the over and present the sizzling meal!

"-pizza! Pepperoni, Italian sausage, caramelized onions, sun-dried tomatoes, and diced mushrooms! Let me slice it for you real quick and you'll be good to go. You want anything to drink with it?"

June waves back.
It's always right to wave back when someone 'Hi's you, right? Especially when it's pretty clear that they know you: it's quite likely the barmaid is a friend-of-a-friend. Well, either they've met and June forgot, or friend-of-a-friend. Either way, same thing, doesn't matter.

"Hi, I'm doing pretty well, I suppose. How about you?" How is Zee doing, June asks, having given up on trying to place Zee's face.

If there's a benefit to having six arms, it's that you can lean on the counter and still have a hand to spare to hold the menu with.
"Um, can I order a lemonade? And a gyro?" Seems like a reasonable request.

A snake-person with six arms. Not a usual sight. But clearly nothing too out of the ordinary here. Interesting... but something else Zee said captures Askeladd's attention.

"Some mead would do fine. But you appear to have answered a question I did not ask... out loud, that is."

[ResidentScribe]

New Beginning

Maxson blinked as Reuma mentioned the bond, he looked down at his broth before lightly sturring it. "Bonded... Your Maxson was a lucky guy, My Signe was the one who was bonded, I just got to watch a happy couple" He took a spoonful and blew on it before swallowing. "I didn't want to get in the way and... I always figured I'd be the one to bite it first, I was just happy to be around them" He stirred his soup again before gently setting the spoon down. "I always did the dangerous stuff, drank too much and pretended not to care" He sat back again as he looked over himself as Reuma asked about things to do around the Nexus. He smiled to himself as he remembered listening to Reuma talk about her love for travel.

Rein explained the factions in play. HALO sounded noble but it was probably a little over his head in reguards to requirements. That really left him with VIGIL and MERC, especially with how depressing GLoG sounded. "MERC and VIGIL seem like good starts, especially if I'm going to be here a while" He replied as he pulled out a small notepad tucked into one of his chest pouches to take a couple of notes. Anyone paying attention may have noticed a few worn photographs tucked into the notebook too. "Thanks" He replied with a nod to Rein. "You ever need muscle or just... someone to carry bags on your next adventure, let me know" He added before tucking the little book away. "So uh, everyone here, in this place was brought here?" He asked as he looked around the room, now noticing all the different people, species and races that were sat in this one little tavern alone.

[Aurora Alchemi]

[New Beginning]

Reuma blinks in confusion, then looks to where Reinholdt points out the magic. "Oh, that! No, no, it's not volatile at all. It's.... a little bit of magic, a little bit of emotion. Satyrlyrri Like myself have innate connection to the weave, and sometimes those of us with stronger connection can have a bit of our emotions converted to magic... It's slightly embarrassing, honestly, but it can help strengthen my magics." Reuma intentionally leaves out the part where it can also fowl them in times of distress. She does, however, concentrate some for a moment, a little roiling ball of green and blue flickering to life in her fingertips, fed by sparks and glow from her pronged horns. She smiles and plays with it for a little, weaving it distractingly between her fingers before flicking it into Rein's chest. It almost splashes, and a softly warm feeling spreads from the splash, radiating calm and happiness, while also relaxing not unlike a quick massage. It's an odd, but comforting feeling overall. If I'm concentrating on it more, I can control it, but it's less work to just be honest with it sometimes."

Reuma frowns gently when Maxson speaks, a soft navy blue fire filled with a hint of sadness radiating from her horns. "No, it's more complicated than that, I think. You-er, the other you, imprinted quickly. Signe... still might have? But she spent a lot of time drinking and fumbling around, and it made it hard to tell for her. Long story short, I-i think you both imprinted... Not that it matters now." Reuma falls quiet for a little, rubbing her shoulder softly. "I-i wish I had better news for you, but maybe you hand't gotten to where.... N-neverrmind that's too sad a thought." The healer turns away for a moment, rubbing her eyes some and taking a few breaths, the steadily darkening blue slowly fading away. Then she turns back to Maxson. "Really, you should focus on the chance you have now." The healer's hand gently clasps Maxson's for a moment, giving a soft squeeze before it has to return to her fresh bowl of stew.

The faun takes the time of the explanation to eat some, shoveling the hearty stew into her mouth with the appetite of someone much larger. It's almost as if the pronghorn is burning through the food, and in a way with the constant drain of the empathetic magic, she is. The stew is very tasty, however, with a hint of several herbs Reuma's never tasted, a fact that lights up the horns with a curious yellow, and Reuma tucks the information away for later. The nexus really is something... Reinholdt, somewhat surprisingly given his current attitude, is a wealth of knowledge. "Oh, those do sound like they could be good options. I might also try a little over at HALO, I'm sure there's something that I could pick apart and study." Reuma giggles, fishing out her notebook and setting the tome on the table with a heavy thud, opening it up to one of the pages of detailed note on most everything the pronghorn does. "Especially considering I already do a little personal 'research.' Although maybe I should at least find a better place to stay before then. I'm kind of in a closet of an inn room, and I think I might might be getting scammed... again." Reuma adds the last part with a tired sigh, the nexus apparently not being very kind to the medic. She does manage to gloss right past the potential second meaning of personal research in an adorably nerdy way, however.

"Solo adventuring, huh? Unfortunate, I'd hate to weigh you down." Ok, that was definitely a flirty wink, but at the same time Reuma still stayed a bit coy and distant from the seasoned adventurer. What exactly was she playing at? Probably nothing, she's always this way.

[Ironsmith]

As Braon makes her way back down the stairs, into the main dining area of Trog's, she takes just a moment to breathe in the cacophony of odors surrounding her. Spilled beer, almost-but-not-quite-cleaned-up vomit, various foodstuffs, a light tang of smoke from the fire elementals that left a few hours ago... gods, she's missed this place.

It's been almost a week since Sekhmet finally saw fit to release her back into the Nexus proper. Braon's spent that time celebrating with her preferred life-affirming activities; picking pockets, drinking her favorite beverages, stumbling upstairs with a complete stranger, that sort of thing. With the exception of that last one, her ability to enjoy these activities had been severely curtailed by her imprisonment, and even then, she'd found herself doing more sororizing than fraternizing, so to speak. So of course she's taking every opportunity to do these things, particularly in and around Trog's.

It's good to be home.

But, after a night of drinking and bed-rocking, Braon's decided that she should take this morning easy; her head and her stomach seem to be engaged in a civil war, and she can't tell who's winning. The fiendling plops down into a chair and almost immediately regrets it, as the sudden movement just aggravates both sides.

Ah, she can take a few minutes to recover before going back on her bender. What's the harm in that?

[bc56]

"Welcome to Trog's Tavern, may I take your order?" The apprentice barmaid wears a blue dress, an apron with the Trog's Tavern branding, and a name tag which reads "Selekhael." Her face might be familiar to Braon, but she doesn't herself seem to recognize the fiendling.

[Ironsmith]

"Heya, gorgeous." Braon replies groggily, running a hand down her face and giving the apprentice barmaid a mischievous little smile. "Yeah, I'll have the... the... bloody hell."

That's got to be some kind of sick joke, right? All that time she spent dealing with Sekhmet, yearning to be out from under her, and now the demon queen's followed her into her sanctuary-of-sorts. That's just cruel.

"...Oh, come on, Seksy. Why'd you follow me? We had a deal, and I held up my end. You really gonna try to take me back now, anyway? With all these people around? I thought you had a better sense for publicity than that."

She must still be half-asleep, half-drunk, or both, to have forgotten this barmaid in favor of her old warden. Hopefully, Selekhael isn't easy to offend.

[bc56]

For her part, Selekhael looks uncomfortable about being hit on and confused about everything else. In the background, a couple regulars shift in their seats and take notice. A few people have hit on Selekhael over the course of her employment here, and they quickly learn that she's not interested, or find very good reasons to leave and never come back. "Uh, excuse me?" She makes a mental note not to serve Braon any mind-altering substances, she seems out of it already.
Probably further complicating Braon's already muddled senses is that Selekhael's voice is definitely the same as Sekhmet's.

[Ironsmith]

"You heard me!" Braon snaps, before leaning back in her seat and giving the barmaid a dopey grin. "I'm finally back someplace I like, you're not dragging me back out of here with anything less than all the hordes of hell at your back. And you know I mean it!" Her hand dangles down to the floor, grasping around as though she expected to pick up a wine bottle or some other drink; last night, she wouldn't have been disappointed to do so. "Or, you know... you know..." She mumbles, leaning in to whisper to Selekhael. "It's... it's not that at all, is it? You're here to say you've finally picked up on the other succubi's habits, and finally release all that tension we've been building, is that it? Well, let me tell you... no way in..." She pauses and holds up a hand with a finger extended, letting out an impressive belch in the intervening time. "...no way in hell that's happening. I might be interested in everyone else in this bar... yeah, including that troll over there..." She gives the aforementioned creature a flirtish little wave, "...but you? Friggin'... forget about it. Go on home to that stupidly handsome husband of yours, I'm sure he'll help you with whatever experiments you wanted to do..."

[bc56]

"Ma'am, I'm not going to drag you to hell, I'm not interested in that at all, nor am I married. Are you going to order something or not?" Selekhael is losing patience. There are actual customers she could serve. This noisy disruptive tiefling is too drunk to realize she's mistaking her for someone else, and too worked up about whoever she's been mistaken for to order anything.

[Reinholdt]

[New Beginning]

"Ahhhh! Emotions! Stoppit!" Reinholdt squirms uncomfortably at the raw feeling of peace and happiness that was filling him. It was so... nice... argh. And a complete lie. A poisonous butterfly trying to invade his mind and tell him everything was going to be ok before ripping it all away. His whole body shudders with displeasure at this foreign positive feeling. He doesn't linger on it nor shoot any accusatory glances towards Reuma. She was just doing what she knows and understands, beyond apparently having a deeper connection to it on a magical level he'd never understand. He couldn't reasonably blame her for making him uncomfortable by making him comfortable.

Rein tries to brush himself off even though there's nothing there and recompose himself to look 'cool' as the kids call it. "Ah-hem. Speaking of emotion, what is this bonding thing you two keep talking about? Like... I thought it was marriage at first or some similar ritual, but it sounds deeper than that." It's a slight shift in topic to keep attention off of that whole fleeting happiness debacle.

He ends up shaking his head at Maxson though. "No, being brought here is actually becoming more and more rare these days. I wouldn't say it's uncommon yet," Reinholdt explains. "But I suspect the Nexus has slowly been stabilizing. Sorta like... a ball swinging back and forth that's slowing down to rest in the middle. Just with an entire plane of existence." He shrugs a little. "Just a theory. Might have HALO do some research into it. Aside from the random pull ins, you also have a lot of people naturally born in the Nexus. Then there's the rarest type, guys like me who specifically sought out and traveled to the Nexus from another dimension for... uhh... one reason or another." Maybe best not to go into that reason and Rein's eyes shift down to his meal where he focuses the next few seconds, taking a bite.

Once his mouth and throat are clear, Rein continues with a raised eyebrow at Reuma. "GLoG offers lodging to those trying to get on their feet after stumbling here if you need it. Most of the orgs offer free housing to their members as well if you do end up joining one. And I know Trog's has some rooms you can crash the night in. The infamous second floor." There's a moment of silence as if expecting a scream from upstairs or an explanation as to why the second floor is infamous but none comes and Rein continues absent of a satisfying conclusion.

"I end up going on adventures with random strangers all the time so either of you are welcome to join me for the next one. I'm sure I wouldn't mind carrying you..." Rein tells Reuma with an unabashed and challenging smirk, for the first time really flirting back. If that's what you call what the two of them are doing to each other.

[Ironsmith]

"Order? Uh... oh." Braon blinks up at her groggily and gives a rare apologetic smile. "My bad... my eyes have to be going or something, I thought you were someone else." She shrugs and gives a little burp. "...And for the record, that, ah, need not apply to you, if you ever get lonely or bored or whatever." She clears her throat and drums her fingers against the table briefly as she runs over the menu in her head, trying to decide what she wants. "...I think... I think I'll just have one of those hero sandwiches, hold the vinaigrette... and a glass of soda with that." She rests her hands on her chin and goes into a sheepish grin. "And could you check the lost 'n found for me? My dignity should be in there somewhere..." She jokes.

[bc56]

"I'll, uh, just get you the food." Selekhael walks away, writing down Braon's order as she goes to the next table. At the same time, Selekhael walks up to Braon's table carrying a hero sandwich (no vinaigrette) and a glass of soda and ice. "Here you are, one hero sandwich, hold the vinaigrette, and a soda." Mostly Selekhael is hoping Braon doesn't go crazy on her again.