Trog's Tavern CLV

[Morty]

"Well, four of us were on the same side anyway." Rose says, taking a quick swig of her drink. "Klaus defected a few weeks ago, which gives us a Terahn to work with."

"At some point, GIN (that'll be the agency I worked for) crossed the line from 'ruthlessly practical' to just 'ruthless'." Klaus elaborates. "I make it a point not to work with idiots."

"We were going to do some counter-intelligence work on Terah when... something happened and we ended up here." Rose finishes.

Demion just nods at the story. It is kinda understandable. For him both side can be right looking at it from their perspectiv. After all they had advanced technologie and when you think you fight for your existence everything goes.

"I'm curiouse, isn't demension travel much harder then space travel? I think we were close to discover it befor the big event and nowhere near dimension travel. That changed after the event."

Demion isn't sure right now if he should tell more about his homeworld. After all those guys still need real estate and his world might provide it, but on the other hand it could just end the same way.

"Yes." Klaus replies bluntly. "But travel is only half the problem. The real difficulty would be terraforming the planet enough to make it suitable for human life; or at the very least, human life that didn't need several years of training in advance. In contrast, we could move about a mile in a direction we're not used to and have a readily-habitable planet waiting for us. Dimension-hopping just seemed like the better option." He takes a gulp of root beer from his glass. "If nothing else, it was an available course of action that would give us time to develop proper terraforming techniques."

"Kinda begs the question of why you didn't just do that in the first place." Rose mumbles.

"There wasn't really anything out there we could use. A colony on Mars or Venus was really more of a novelty than a solution."

"Your shuttle doesn't look like it's going to be taking you back anytime soon, either way," Olvisin points out. "I'm not sure if there's anyone here who can help fix it." She pauses. "Or rather, there probably is, but no one I know."

[Ironsmith]

"You can say that again." Rose says. "The thing's totaled, and while Vlad and Eun have worked miracles in the past..."

"Not that it matters." Klaus adds. "Even knowing that we're in some place called 'the Nexus', we don't really know where that is in relation to either of our worlds. If we tried to go back now, we'd basically be guessing at random."

"...Now that you mention it, yeah, we did get pretty lucky. There was no guarantee we were going to end up on land, much less in civilization. If you guys have the lottery here, I might have to buy a ticket."

[Earl of Purple]

"I could talk, and I could fly. I couldn't do both. My clothes? Oh! Yeah, so... I'm not actually human. I look it, but I'm not. I'm a shapeshifter, I've got two shapes that are equally me. One's this one, the other's a jackdaw. I can reach in and pull the bird out, naturally. It's not magic." Because Jack knows how she does it, and 'magic' is used for anything she can't understand. And, in a way, her ability is as natural as a homing pigeon's ability to follow the Earth's magnetic field, though it does rely on inherent magical fields and energies. "I can't shift clothes with me, so my clothes are magic so they know when I'm shifting and join in. Like this." Jack holds out her arm as feathers grow from it, the joints moving around and her fingers disappearing. The shirt fades away as the feathers erupt from her arm. Unlike the wings on her back, these feathers are actually jackdaw ones. "My new wings don't shift with me, they stay as they are. They get smaller, but it took me a while to figure out how to fly with four wings."

[Ironsmith]

Eun's eyes widen as Jack shows off her shspeshifting abilities, but fortunately, it seems the rum is having the intended effect and she takes it in stride... relatively speaking, at least.

"That's... that's friggin' cool." Eun grins. "And you can just do that whenever (hk) whenever you want? Like flexing some muscles or something? So cool... I'd love to get an x-r(hk) ray of that sometime..."

[Zefir]

"I'm defnitly not helpfull. I can only imagine the tech in this vehicle." Demion says.
"I'm not sure you can call that luck. What i heared so far of this world it's common to end up were you want to end up."

Demion doesn't have more to add. He doesn't know enougth about space travel to discuss this futher.

[Ironsmith]

"That's just another kind of luck, then." Klaus replies. "Regardless, we're here now, and I'd say we're fortunate to have ended up here, accident or no accident." He lifts his glass in a toast. "To making new friends in new places."

[Earl of Purple]

"Yep, ever since I was a chick. Everyone at the Clattering can do it, at least mostly. A few people have married in who can't do it, and if they're men their children can. Not the other way around, though." Jack grins at the x-ray comment, though blushes slightly too. "I thought you said no funny business. Besides, I have no intention on laying eggs any time soon- or settling down. I'm young, and rich, and for now that's enough."

[Ironsmith]

Eun stares at her for a moment, genuinely confused by her response. She didn't think there was anything off about asking for an x-ray; she literally just wanted to see what Jack's bones did whenever she shapeshifted. Biologically, that was bound to be interesting. Either she had stumbled across the world's weirdest nudity taboo, or she'd somehow been misunderst-

Wait. Rich?

Had she, by complete luck, gotten the attention of a millionaire or something? That would be very convenient. She's been roughing it for several years now, it'd be nice to get to enjoy a little luxury again.

Eun tries to casually lean on her arm before inquiring further, only to slide off her own palm and faceplant into the bar. "I'm fine! I'm fine..." She declares, pulling herself back up. She gives Jack a loopy grin and clumsily picks up her empty glass and offers an impromptu toast. "Here's to... to... (hk) to being young and wealthy, then." She drones.

[Morty]

"Well, if all I can do to help is to listen, then I'll stop chomping at the bit to get out and do something helpful, when I'm doing the helpful thing right now." Ithuriel settles back down on her seat and lets the glow fade away. "Sometimes it's not so simple as wrong or right. I think- sometimes we can look back and wonder if what we did was right, but I think you can at least recognise that you were trying to do what's right. And that does count for something."

"Maybe it does." Michalson nods glumly. "I'm not sure if I was tryin' to do what's right or just tryin' to prove something. Find an outlet. Feel like I matter. We fought the good fight for a while, but eventually people grew tired. There's only so much war a body can take. The people... decided to make a deal with the spell-slingers. Reform things. Come to an accord. As you can imagine, that did not go over well with many of us spell-breakers."

"You can say that again." Rose says. "The thing's totaled, and while Vlad and Eun have worked miracles in the past..."

"Not that it matters." Klaus adds. "Even knowing that we're in some place called 'the Nexus', we don't really know where that is in relation to either of our worlds. If we tried to go back now, we'd basically be guessing at random."

"...Now that you mention it, yeah, we did get pretty lucky. There was no guarantee we were going to end up on land, much less in civilization. If you guys have the lottery here, I might have to buy a ticket."

"I'm defnitly not helpfull. I can only imagine the tech in this vehicle." Demion says.
"I'm not sure you can call that luck. What i heared so far of this world it's common to end up were you want to end up."

Demion doesn't have more to add. He doesn't know enougth about space travel to discuss this futher.

"That's just another kind of luck, then." Klaus replies. "Regardless, we're here now, and I'd say we're fortunate to have ended up here, accident or no accident." He lifts his glass in a toast. "To making new friends in new places."

Olvisin raises her mug back in a toast.

"That's the spirit. The Nexus can be a land of opportunity if you're ready to grab it. Plus we don't have an overpopulation problem, so there's that. My siblings and I came here to make our fortunes. Sort of. More like we couldn't find what we wanted or needed back home."

[Ironsmith]

Klaus nods, giving the goblin a small smile. It seemed they had that much in common, at least. "Which brings up a salient question... the organization you work for, MERC; are they hiring?"

Rose gives him a dumbfounded look. "You literally just heard of them two minutes ago. Why should we sign on with the first agency we see?" She sighs and turns to Demion. "I don't really know what's happening in that man's head sometimes. Besides, frankly... I'd like to get to know you a little better before we talk business." She punctuates this with a wink, letting him draw his own conclusions about her intent.

[Earl of Purple]

Jack didn't mention x-rays when she responded; she has no idea what an x-ray is. She thinks Eun asked about eggs. And yes, rich; she did mention she got the wings whilst following a map to a pirate's treasure.

"It's bad luck to toast an empty glass. Get a refill first, OK?" Jack smiles, and buys the refill- anything Eun wants, presumably rum. "To being young and rich."

[Zefir]

"Hear, hear." Demion replies and holds up his drink as well. He has not much to say about Merc.

[Ironsmith]

Jack didn't mention x-rays when she responded; she has no idea what an x-ray is. She thinks Eun asked about eggs. And yes, rich; she did mention she got the wings whilst following a map to a pirate's treasure.

"It's bad luck to toast an empty glass. Get a refill first, OK?" Jack smiles, and buys the refill- anything Eun wants, presumably rum. "To being young and rich."

"Huh? Oh, y... yeah, right, right..." Eun holds out her glass for a refill. Once that's done, she clumsily clinks their glasses together, before gulping down the rum like it's going out of style. "Y-yeah, it's.. it's (hk)in' nice, having a lot of money, isn't it?" She lets out a melancholy sigh. "God, I miss it. Damn that war. Damn the Terahns. Damn it all."

"Hear, hear." Demion replies and holds up his drink as well. He has not much to say about Merc.

Rose slides up next to him. "So... sorry. That's more than enough about us." She props herself up on her hands and gives him a little smile. "What about you? I'm sure a world where you can do stuff like that glowy-hand thing is a super cool place to be."

[Earl of Purple]

"Can't say I've noticed that much, to be honest. It makes things easier for me, but I don't rent any where. I can sleep as easily in a nest as a bed, and all my important goods- the stuff I don't want to have to replace- is in my satchel. If I can't carry it with me, what's the point in owning it?" If Jack absolutely has to, she can easily break into somebody's attic or disused loft and sleep there where she is safe from the weather.

[Ironsmith]

Eun sighs and shakes her head. "Oh, nononono... Jack, Jack Jack... if you've got (hk) money, you don't just (hk) sit on it, like... like nest lining." She sets her glass aside as she lurches toward Jack in what was apparently an attempt at leaning in. "It's... (hk) it's all worth nothing in the end. But before... before all that, it's- (hk) it's power in a coin. You can make people hap... happy, or miserable... with nothing but little tokens." Eun puts a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Thas... that's an opportunity not everyone gets."

[Morty]

Klaus nods, giving the goblin a small smile. It seemed they had that much in common, at least. "Which brings up a salient question... the organization you work for, MERC; are they hiring?"

Rose gives him a dumbfounded look. "You literally just heard of them two minutes ago. Why should we sign on with the first agency we see?" She sighs and turns to Demion. "I don't really know what's happening in that man's head sometimes. Besides, frankly... I'd like to get to know you a little better before we talk business." She punctuates this with a wink, letting him draw his own conclusions about her intent.

"Hear, hear." Demion replies and holds up his drink as well. He has not much to say about Merc.

"Huh? Oh, y... yeah, right, right..." Eun holds out her glass for a refill. Once that's done, she clumsily clinks their glasses together, before gulping down the rum like it's going out of style. "Y-yeah, it's.. it's (hk)in' nice, having a lot of money, isn't it?" She lets out a melancholy sigh. "God, I miss it. Damn that war. Damn the Terahns. Damn it all."



Rose slides up next to him. "So... sorry. That's more than enough about us." She props herself up on her hands and gives him a little smile. "What about you? I'm sure a world where you can do stuff like that glowy-hand thing is a super cool place to be."

"I didn't expect to have to be the spokeswoman for MERC today, but here goes." Olvisin takes a drink of... whatever it is she's drinking. Probably unhealthy for humans or, indeed, anyone who isn't a goblin. "They're always hiring, but it's a mercenary company. So competition for contracts can be a little stiff. Me, my siblings and some friends got lucky and snagged a job guarding a rich guy's cave. As in, he does live in a cave. Full of tech. So a group of goblin engineers was a good fit. There's a lot of us in MERC."

[Ironsmith]

Klaus nods his understanding. "And how wide a variety of services do they offer? Oh, I'm sure it's a given that they'll hire anyone looking to shoot someone, but would they be open to the likes of, say, a private investigator?"

It seemed like a good fit to him. Klaus had made a career out of finding information people didn't want him to have, and concealing the same, against people who had the resources of a global government backing them up. Petty criminals would be easy pickings in comparison.

[Earl of Purple]

"I'm doing both right now. My money is making you happy now, and but in the morning the same money will make you miserable. I use it when I want to use it, so I've got it for when I need it- and I don't need a house with a thousand rooms or whatever, I don't want to have to go back to the same place every evening. How boring's that? I know of somewhere to sleep safely nearby wherever I am in the city. I sit on my money because I get to work when I want, and still buy food when I'm hungry. What else should I do with it?" Despite her arguments against it, Jack's curious as to what Eun will suggest- though Jack's pretty sure she's going to be hiring a room for the night for Eun.

[Ironsmith]

Eun waves her hand dismissively. "Oh, no... you're (hk) thinking way too small..."

Part of her knew that giving this almost-stranger unsolicited financial advice was a bad idea. Unfortunately, that part of her left the building when she started on the rum bottle.

"Y... you see, you could just spend it on yourse-(hk) yourself, yeah... but if you don't want to, thas fine." Eun begins. "But even- but beyond that, there's.... there's always stuff to do with it. Like... like..." She glances around the room, looking for something to help prompt her to make her point. "Like... (hk) like shoes, maybe. I've got shoes, and they're nice and all, but (hk) but they're gonna wear down one of these days and I won't have them anymore. Where would I get more?" She lets the question hang in the air, apparently thinking it sounds less nonsensical than it does. "You could spend y-(hk) your money making and... and selling shoeses, which makes you more money and... and gives me somewhere to buy new shoes when I need them." She gives another loopy grin. "Make it gr- (hk) grow, an' everyone gets happy.. you, me, and whoever else needs some sh- shoes..."

[Earl of Purple]

"I don't know how to make shoes, either. I'd have to learn, and... making shoes doesn't sound very exciting or interesting." Jack pauses a moment. "So... you say I should do something with the money I'm not using so I can get more money I probably won't use? Why? I mean, if I sold shoes I'd be making people happy and not barefoot, but I don't know how to make shoes so I'd have to buy the shoes I'm selling, so I'm just complicating things and getting in the way." Jack, unfortunately, has little actual skills she can sell- except her knowledge of Inside, which she already uses as a tour guide to make money when she's bored.

[Ironsmith]

Eun leans up against her, that grin getting wider by the second. "It's- is a good thing you've got a friend that (hk) that-that-that does know how, then, huh?" She pats her Hotbox for emphasis. "Ev- even if you don't... don't want any shoes, just moving money helps... helps people. And if some moves back to (hk) to you, you've got more you can (hk) move and more ways to (hk) help." She pulls back, leaning heavily on the bar. "It's... is all gonna be worthless someday. But is still worth something now..." She retrieves her glass and gulps down the rum, as though reminding Jack that she is very drunk and not necessarily of sound mind right now.

[Earl of Purple]

"Why's it all going to be worthless? It's gold, or silver, or copper some of it. There's jewels and gemstones, too. It's a pirate's treasure, a whole chest's worth. Dwarfs at the least will want it because it shines nicely." Really the only value Jack gives to coins- how well it shines. All the value she needs to give it, so long as someone appreciates the shine enough to give her shapeshifting clothes for it- or rum, for that matter.

[Ironsmith]

Eun shrugs. "Y... yeah, I guess (hk) so..." She goes to refill her glass, only to find that they've made their way to the bottom of the rum bottle. She looks at it briefly, shrugs, and upends the bottle anyway, determined to get the last few drops out. "...Oh, well. No (hk) nothing lasts forever." She laments.

[Earl of Purple]

"Don't be glum about that. If nothing lasts forever, enjoy the stuff whilst it lasts." Jack nearly said 'mountains do', but this is the Nexus, so I'm sure some mountains somewhere have either stopped existing suddenly or just appeared, thereby ensuring what was where the mountains are now no longer exists.

[Zefir]

"Really?" he says to Olvisin. "Seems like I have to think of something else then. I'm not the type to sit there and wait, especially when i need some income."

Demion would have said something to Klaus about what he heared of MERC, but then Rose comes close... uncomfortable close. He backs of a bit and seems to be frozen for a moment befor finally replying. He hasn't really noticed the blink from befor.

"Cool is not the word i would use. Deadly is more like it. After all not only I can dos stuff anyone can. It's not hard to imagine who became a great threat due to this."
A hint, he means living things that aren't any trouble without magic

[Ironsmith]

"Don't be glum about that. If nothing lasts forever, enjoy the stuff whilst it lasts." Jack nearly said 'mountains do', but this is the Nexus, so I'm sure some mountains somewhere have either stopped existing suddenly or just appeared, thereby ensuring what was where the mountains are now no longer exists.

Eun looks at Jack like she'd just told her where to find Atlantis. Then, with a wobbly grin, she presses her hands against her temples and makes a "mind blown" gesture, complete with a slurred explosion sound effect, courtesy of her lips.

"Really?" he says to Olvisin. "Seems like I have to think of something else then. I'm not the type to sit there and wait, especially when i need some income."

Demion would have said something to Klaus about what he heared of MERC, but then Rose comes close... uncomfortable close. He backs of a bit and seems to be frozen for a moment befor finally replying. He hasn't really noticed the blink from befor.

"Cool is not the word i would use. Deadly is more like it. After all not only I can dos stuff anyone can. It's not hard to imagine who became a great threat due to this."
A hint, he means living things that aren't any trouble without magic

Rose grimaces and mentally berates herself. She'd come off way too strong; that was a rookie mistake, the kind she wouldn't have made a year ago, much less now, even if she was a little tipsy at the moment. Easy, Verdoyant. You don't want to scare him off.

"At a guess, I'm going to say... pretty much anything?" Rose says. "I mean, I'm sure even rabbits are scary when they can breathe friggin' fire..."

[Morty]

Klaus nods his understanding. "And how wide a variety of services do they offer? Oh, I'm sure it's a given that they'll hire anyone looking to shoot someone, but would they be open to the likes of, say, a private investigator?"

It seemed like a good fit to him. Klaus had made a career out of finding information people didn't want him to have, and concealing the same, against people who had the resources of a global government backing them up. Petty criminals would be easy pickings in comparison.

"Really?" he says to Olvisin. "Seems like I have to think of something else then. I'm not the type to sit there and wait, especially when i need some income."

Demion would have said something to Klaus about what he heared of MERC, but then Rose comes close... uncomfortable close. He backs of a bit and seems to be frozen for a moment befor finally replying. He hasn't really noticed the blink from befor.

"Cool is not the word i would use. Deadly is more like it. After all not only I can dos stuff anyone can. It's not hard to imagine who became a great threat due to this."
A hint, he means living things that aren't any trouble without magic

Eun looks at Jack like she'd just told her where to find Atlantis. Then, with a wobbly grin, she presses her hands against her temples and makes a "mind blown" gesture, complete with a slurred explosion sound effect, courtesy of her lips.



Rose grimaces and mentally berates herself. She'd come off way too strong; that was a rookie mistake, the kind she wouldn't have made a year ago, much less now, even if she was a little tipsy at the moment. Easy, Verdoyant. You don't want to scare him off.

"At a guess, I'm going to say... pretty much anything?" Rose says. "I mean, I'm sure even rabbits are scary when they can breathe friggin' fire..."

"If someone's paying, MERC will do it. But we'll never work with slavers. The leadership are really firm on it. And some jobs can be turned down if they feel it'd damage MERC's reputation. But otherwise it's pretty free for all. A private investigator would fit right in," Olvisin explains. "You can get a MERC license, which gets you access to jobs and some services. Like a discount here. Or you can become a full member. But that means proving you're valuable first and you have to answer directly to the bosses."

[Ironsmith]

Klaus frowns a bit at hearing about not working with slavers. ...That's a thing that they have here? "...So it's a contract service of sorts." Klaus says. "Interesting. Not... quite the sort of work any of us would be used to, but it should suit us just fine."

Admittedly, he wasn't wrong. The box he had on the table could easily provide food, water, medicine, and even convincing counterfeit for those things it couldn't produce. Getting involved in a job here in the first place was entirely an opt-in matter.

All the same, it sounded like a good time.

"All right. As soon as we're done here, I would like you to show me where to sign up."

[Earl of Purple]

"Get up, come on. You're drunk, how straight a line can you walk? I'll book you a room here, so you can sleep it off." Jack knows when someone's being sarcastic to her, even if they are drunk as they do it. Of course, Eun has a flying ship and might be able to sleep in there, but Jack's already put some coins down on the counter for the room, gold coins stamped with Arabic lettering and ornate designs.

[Ironsmith]

As it turns out, Eun can actually still walk straight... provided "vertically, towards the ground" counts.

"...Ow." Eun mumbles nonchalantly into the floorboards. Fortunately for them both, she's not especially heavy, and neither is her Hotbox. If Jack wanted to assist her in getting upstairs, it wouldn't exactly be an intense workout.