Skyside 7: The Big Pizza in the Sky

[5a Violista]

[Noose & Shackle]

Gharol's plans were already ruined when she suddenly needed to come to Skyside in place of the former employee who was going to do it instead.

"The redhead's showing how green she is," Gharol says, commenting on the fight. "Luckily, she's learning this now instead of in a later fight, so there's still a chance for your bet."

She glances at the half-elf's outfit. "I could never wear something like that. It's too ineffective for most situations. Would you ever wear something like that?" Thadd in a chainmail bikini would be an interesting slight.


[Guild Warehouse 2B]

Wow, yeah! That is pretty weird, since it doesn't exactly look like the outside. Kind-of an eclectic design. But she already knew that; the last dungeon she was in was like that, too. That one was more of a puzzle dungeon than this one's stealth dungeon.

The only question is whether this is supposed to be a 'safe' room, or more of a 'brief respite' room. The fact that there are some hiding places suggests the latter. Obviously, the glass tanks are a bad place to hide. Sure, she can hold her breath for a bit - she has lots of recent practice - it's glass. Not a good place to hide.

Meanwhile, the cart.
The batgirl walks over to the crate and looks in it. Clothes...sort-of. If only she had a sewing kit or some kind of crafting table. There was some crafting in the tutorial, where she helped that one person run a furnace and fix a boat, but no actual tutorial-tutorial on how to make things. In the first place, though, she probably needs to find some actually-decent torn/cut cloth. She bends over the edge of the wooden crate, digging through it looking for something that's better than a bikini. Or, at the very least, she could wear over a bikini. Sure, it's all torn, but what if there's some that's not torn that bad? "There's got to be, somewhere in here..." she says to herself. She's not going to give up, especially since she needs to wait in here anyway. C'mon, there's got to be even some kind of skirt or backless shirt in here somewhere.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Lead Sanctum

"You stay lucid with Pacifism. Mostly lucid, until it starts to build up in your brain. You'll tell us how to get into your communicator. And if that didn't work, we'll broadcast the ransom demand on multiple frequencies at the space port, you got dropped off there so if your associates care about you, they'll be keeping an eye out. We'll also direct a multifrequency transmission to any shuttle passing near Skyside resembling your own. And we'll put your photograph and name and the price we want on the public message boards. If there's no takers in a month, we'll put yer to work makin' bullets or such." They'll still probably take the ransom if it's offered after that, but there's more risk that the Klaus they return isn't all there.

Noose & Shackle

"She don't have a choice, just wears what we tell her to. The patrons here like two things- skin, and blood. And I have actually worn one of those, yeah. It was far less comfortable than it looks." And it doesn't look very comfortable, even on someone as slender as the redheaded half-elf.

The barbarian roars and lets the half-elf go as the knife digs deeper into her arm, and the half-elf takes advantage to get back. She leaves her knife embedded in the barbarian's forearm, so whilst the larger woman works on pulling the dagger out of her flesh the half-elf runs back in and slams the edge of her buckler into the barbarian's throat. The barbarian falls over choking, collapses to her hands and knees trying to get her windpipe opened, only to collapse the rest of the way after the half-elf slams the small shield into the back of her head.

Guild Warehouse 2B

There's some stuff that might be salvageable. A white t-shirt with a massive slit from the hem to the collar, though the collar itself remains intact. A grey men's shirt with most of the buttons ripped and sleeves slashed. A pair of green shorts with a functional fly, though the button has been popped off. A pair of jeans that look to be intact from the front, but have been cut down the back.

The batgirl doesn't have long to look or get changed, however. There's some voices getting closer, approaching from the door at the far end.

[Ironsmith]

[Temple of Lead Sanctum]

Klaus raises an eyebrow. "...That was your plan?" He asks incredulously. "Call some random people and hope one of them believes your story about successfully capturing a multi-billion-dollar assassin, please pay up if you want him back?" He tsks his tongue, picking up the decanter of rum and giving it a tentative sniff. "Have you beeeln dipping into the drug yourself, Father?"

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Lead Sanctum

"We did not know you were an assassin when you arrived, just that you were rich. And unwilling to pay our landing fee. I fear you will not get your usual fare here, if you ask for multi-billions. Few in this city can afford to spend a hundred thousand on wanting someone dead, and those that can are generally able to find a cheaper alternative." Father Plumbum frowns and looks affronted at the scorn, the bodyguard behind revving the motor of the blade a little in response to their employer's tone.

At this point, or somewhat soon to this, the worker that drank the poisoned rum will start to feel the effects of the strychnine. Speaking of rum, it smells like rum.

[Ironsmith]

[Temple of Lead Sanctum]

Klaus chuckles and shakes his head. "Oh, nonono... no wonder you didn't... oh, no. No, Father, I'm not here to add another digit to my account balance. I'm at a point where I could buy another car every day for the next year and still retire in luxury. What in the world would I do with more?" He smirks. "No, no, I came to Skyside for a... different sort of compensation." He nods toward the man imminently having a seizure for emphasis.

[5a Violista]

Noose & Shackle

"It looks like it pinches in all the wrong places," Gharol says, so she can't even imagine how it could be even less comfortable than that.

"Well, at least with this match, you made a good bet." Gharol thinks a bit, then says, "To make things interesting, let's have you and I have our own bet between us two. You, she makes it all through. Me, she doesn't. What would you like to wager on this?"


Guild Warehouse 2B

The men's shirt is an obvious 'no', it would be hard to fit with her wings. The t-shirt seems okay, so she holds on to it.

Bottoms is a lot harder. Sure, she could easily wear the shorts...maybe. If it's too tight, it would feel really weird on her tail, as small as it is. The jeans, meanwhile...would be good except her clawed feet might be hard to get through the jean legs without tearing it up.

The batgirl is still debating between then when she suddenly hears something. No! She thought she was going to have more time! And now she doesn't even have enough time to find a better place to hide than in this box. The water's obviously a bad idea, because of the glass. She wishes she had more time!

Really, her only choice at this point is the clothes crate.

She dives inside, and puts some of the clothes on top of herself in case they glance inside.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Lead Sanctum

Without making any obvious movements or signals, the bodyguard- already revving their circular saw polearm- brings it down quite hard into the space where Klaus should be keeping his head. The buzz saw is sharp enough that even without a lot of effort it would slice through meat and bone, so the fact the bodyguard's putting effort into it to speed the attack up simply means there's less warning.

The worker collapses and starts to thrash. Nobody pays any attention.

Noose & Shackle

"An interesting idea. What do I have to bet..." He thinks a moment; a vehicle? Gharol likely has one already, and they're expensive to ship in and out of the city all the time. One of his slaves? A bit of a strange thing to offer, when he has no idea if Gharol would even like any of them. Money's a traditional choice, but this is a fun bet, not one for profit. A discount in one of the shops? He won't lose anything from that, really. He leans back to have a think, and Earl does too.

The half-elf retrieves her knife from the barbarian's forearm before some attendants dash onto the stage and drag her off, sprinkling sawdust to soak up the spilt blood. It takes three of them pulling together to pull the sword free of the stage.

Guild Warehouse 2B

They dump some more clothes on top of pile in the crate, then there's a lurch as they start to push the crate somewhere else. One of the wheels on the bottom squeaks, a high-pitched and annoying sound. The person pushing the cart sings as they do, just under their breath. "I'm not in love with my legs, you shine like salt and this is me..."

After five minutes of that rather strange song, the cart is left and they walk away. Exactly where the crate of clothes has been left is not immediately apparent, unless the batgirl climbs out. If she does, she's in a dark sorting room. There's several other crates, the fabric within sorted into types and a shelving unit is filled with boxes of other personal effects. There's two doors here, both with windows. The nearer door leads to a well-lit corridor with lots of foot traffic, the other door leads into a darker room with no light or any people in it. The only light in the sorting room comes through the window in the door to the corridor.

[Ironsmith]

[Temple of Lead Sanctum]

Klaus steps to the side, barely seeming bothered by the sudden attack. "Ah. I was hoping you were going to be difficult." He kicks over the table, spilling the rum everywhere as he runs for the door, seeming to be intent on a quick escape.

[5a Violista]

[Noose & Shackle]

While Thadd is thinking, Gharol gives her own proposal, in case he wins: "I don't have much to offer myself, which is why I'll say if you win, I'll do anything you say for the night. Obviously, it doesn't need to be said that anything lasts past sunrise wouldn't count." No tattoos, no injuries, etc.

She drinks some more. "I'm not one to normally let someone do tell me what to do, but I am a little curious about what you'd want and it might be a decent enough distraction from my frustration at my boss."



[Guild Warehouse 2B]

The batgirl stays silent while in there.
Shoot, this is one of those forced-transit type of events. Or whatever they're called, she doesn't know.

Once the crate stops rolling, she stays in there for a few more moments, listening to make sure nobody's in there. She climbs out. The fact that it's dark doesn't bother her: she actually has pretty great nightvision, since she has received a divine blessing improving it. So long as it's not pitch black, she's good enough....but even then, she could probably depend on echolocation. Ha! Even if the devs kept it dark to keep people from going that way, they should've considered the fact that some people would still be able to handle the dark.

Well, regardless, she can't stay here. Someone's going to return to put other clothes here and do things with them.
Speaking of, she puts on the shirt she found.

The batgirl takes slow and deliberate steps towards the darker door, to keep her feet-claws from accidentally making any noise. So long as she's so close to that occupied well-lit hallway, she needs to be much quieter.

At the door, she tries to open it and go through into the dark room.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Lead Sanctum

Father Plumbum presses some fingers on either side of his Adam's apple as Klaus dodges (probably getting out of the chair he was sat in first) and shouts very loud, far louder than Klaus might be expecting, and he'll duck behind the table after it's kicked over.
"Alert, Sanctum attack!" The guards certainly heard that, but nobody interrupts- yet.

The buzz-saw bodyguard turns towards Klaus, swinging their weapon again. The other, with the grenade launcher, fires a steel cannister that will bounce off the ceiling and drop to the floor before starting exploding with a burst of thick white goo that quickly solidifies into a hard, clear substance on contact with air. If any glue gets on Klaus, it'll make it hard for him to move, sticking to the floor. If it gets in his eyes, it'll probably blind him by sticking his eyelids together. The bodyguard quickly reloads their launcher, whilst the buzz-saw polearm bodyguard has some on one of their feet, spattered up their leg and to the torso.

Noose & Shackle

"That... sounds interesting." Thadd would like to win, but he's also worried if he does win he'll go a bit too far. It's an interesting idea, though. "I have a slave. He's a very good cook, extremely skilled. If I offered him, would you accept? His food is truly divine." But as Gharol travels a lot, she probably goes places where slavery is either illegal or frowned upon and he doesn't want to put her in danger.

Guild Warehouse 2B

This room is very dark, but there are other exits. There's a large tank of something like water set into the floor, like a very large bathtub or possibly a small swimming pool. There's more tanks half-filled with water, and there's a lady in one of them. A mermaid, quite young, with quite dark skin, curly black hair and dark eyes. She's rather distressed at... something, it's hard to tell what; possibly her nudity, possibly the confined space she's found herself in, possibly something else. The floor is slippery and slopes down to the pool, and there's a pile of nets next to it. The tanks of water are mounted on wheels affixed to rails in the floor, which lead in a large loop in and out the same door. There's also a plain wooden door leading to another chamber, but it's closed and there's no way of knowing what lies beyond.

It'd be a bad idea to fall over; if the batgirl does, she'll probably slip all the way into the pool in the centre of the room.

[Ironsmith]

[Temple of Lead Sanctum]

Since neither of the guards seemed too interested in getting in Klaus's way directly, avoiding the polearm swing and making his way to the exit was trivial. However, that glue bomb was going to be a problem; if it explodes near Klaus's feet, it could end up holding him there for a while. Fortunately for him, he hears it coming and is able to end up near the edge of the blast radius. Unfortunately for him, that's still close enough to get gooped.

Klaus curses and drops the decanter of rum, reaching into his jacket for the rest of the cigarette pack and the item he'd printed off earlier; a mechanical sparker.

[5a Violista]

[Noose & Shackle]

It's not like this is a magically-bound contract or anything. If he does go too far, she can just say 'no, that's too far, try something else'.

"Yes, I'd accept that," Gharol says. "I would save a lot of money not having to go out to eat, and where I live, the guards are okay with letting something slide with enough of a bribe. Sounds like it'd pay for itself." The money that would go towards dining out would instead go to bribery, plus she would get a better meal and some guards invested in making sure she's not caught, so that they don't get caught accepting bribes either.

"We have a deal, then." Gharol looks back over at the gladiator fight arena. "To be honest, she's an entertaining enough fighter that I don't want her to go out until the final match."


[Guild Warehouse 2B]

The batgirl's feet are more designed for holding on to things, than walking on smooth floor. If she so much as tried walking a little too fast, she would almost certainly fall, slip, and slide in. If only she had her tiara, she could use it to turn more human, but...she stashed it away right before being captured because if she ever lost it she'd be stuck one way or the other forever.

That's why she needs to make sure every one of her steps is deliberate, and she remains stooped down to give herself a little more control over her center of gravity.

The batgirl almost immediately spots the mermaid. Mermaids are pretty cool, after all. Between dragons, fairies, and mermaids, she's pretty torn over which is the coolest. Probably fairies, but closely followed by mermaids.

She goes up to the mermaid's tank. "Psst! Hey!" she says in a hushed voice. "I don't know the way out of here, but if there's anything you need, I'll do my best to do it," she says.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Lead Sanctum

The grenadier bodyguard didn't have to move to block the exit, they're standing in front of it. They've also dropped their grenade launcher and pulled a serrated trench-knife from... somewhere and dropped into a guard position.

Father Plumbum pokes his head over the table, pushing his sleeves up his heavily tattooed arms and tapping various places on his forearm whilst pointing at Klaus. A bolt of blue, the same shade as the ink of Father Plumbum's tattoos, is launched at Klaus. The bolt is almost pure sharp; it has little substance, but it's thin enough and fast enough to deal quite a bit of damage if it hits anyway.

Noose & Shackle

But if it goes too far, even if Gharol does say such it'd still ruin Thadd's chances for a second date.

"Noose and Shackle only ever picks the best and most attractive. They're very good at that." Thadd smiles, looking toward the stage as they've finally removed the sword. The half-elf hasn't received any treatment for her broken nose, and stretches to make sure she's not too badly bruised from the hug. It... shows off things she'd rather not show off, but she's fighting probably for her life so that doesn't matter as much right now.

Next onto the stage is another guy, a lithe halfling with several scars already, wearing a breastplate and an eyepatch and holding quite a long spear. "Oh, this'll be tough. He's been champion before, he's going to be a favourite."

Guild Warehouse 2B

The mermaid frowns at the batgirl, shaking her head and pointing at her ear. Between the whispering, the thick glass and the water, she didn't hear a word. She swims rather awkwardly to the top of the tank but can't open the top; it's sealed too tightly. She points at the pool behind the batgirl and shakes her head vigorously, pointing down at her tail before holding her hand up and pointing down with two fingers that she wiggles, moving the hand along. She points at the pool again, and the two fingers stop wiggling, and are held together and she flicks both fingers at the same time.

[Ironsmith]

[Temple of Lead Sanctum]

Klaus ducks under the energy bolt, hoping that it'd do something to the grenadier. In the meantime, he ignites the pack of poisonous cigarettes and tosses it in Father Plumbum's direction; even if he didn't breathe any in, there was going to be a lot of smoke in the next few minutes. And also fire. From the rum.

Which probably wouldn't be so bad if his feet weren't glued to the floor, preventing him from running away from what was going to be a very toxic inferno.

Ah, crap.

[5a Violista]

Noose & Shackle

Gharol didn't think of that.

"But you think she can beat him," she surmises. He knew she would have to eventually fight the current champion, so he probably believes she can take on a former champion, too.
The orclady looks over the new former champion, trying to find what made him fall from the top. Was the champion simply that much better? The eye injury, maybe? "There has to be a reason why he's not the champion anymore, right? Well, up until the last match, I'll be rooting for the girl."


Guild Warehouse 2B

The batgirl tries to figure out what the mermaid's saying.
She looks back at the pool. Okay. Tail means swimming. "There's something down there?" Kicking with the two fingers could be swimming, too. Got to be a way out down there, but you have to swim to get through it.
...
"Here, I'll try to get you out, so you can show me," That would definitely be the easiest. Then they could actually talk. Besides, just standing here isn't helping the mermaid.

She moves to the track, so that her claws can actually push against something instead of just the flat floor. She looks at the lid...there's not really any good places to hold on to, are there? She needs to slide something in between, maybe, and the shirt might be perfect for that.

The batgirl reaches up to the tank's lid, and tries to slide it between the lid and the tank walls.
Don't worry, mermaid! She'll get you out soon.
Hopefully.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Lead Sanctum

"Fire in the Sanctum, Fire!" Is yelled rather desperately- and just as loudly, as Father Plumbum is probably activating the voice boosting enchantment he used earlier. As he's ducked behind the table and isn't visible, it's hard to say. He doesn't pop up this post; he's trying to get his burning, rum-splattered clothing off, which Klaus might know if he can identify the smell of burning silk.

The good news is the glue doesn't seem to burn very well, and most of the fire is on the other side of the metal table Klaus kicked over. The bodyguard with the knife opens the door behind it and strides purposefully towards Klaus, knife held ready. The attack has struck its armour, scoring a mark in the riot gear's chest piece. It's not bleeding, so either it didn't penetrate or the bodyguard doesn't bleed. Or, potentially, both. The other bodyguard is hacking at the ground around its feet with the buzz-saw polearm, trying to free them from the glue.

Noose & Shackle

"He got injured, rather badly. Could'a died. The blow that took his eye? Cracked part of his skull open, I hear. Didn't see that fight, though. Let's see how well he's recovered. You want anything to eat? If... if you want, that scribe might be on the menu, if you ask." Thadd has eaten person before, but not all orcs do. It depends on their origin, since orcs tend to be diverse, varying depending on if they're D&D, Tolkienesque or something else.

The halfling's spear darts out, met by the buckler before being pulled back. The half-elf dodges the next thrust, but can't reach him with her little dagger- and he's accurate enough with the spear he won't hit her minimal armour, if it even functions properly. She steps back from another thrust, but is quickly reaching the edge of the stage. She hefts her buckler and throws it like a frisbee at the halfling, and he doesn't manage to dodge; he's not used enough to his blind spot to compensate, and so the metal disc hits him in the side of the head and he stumbles. The half-elf darts forward, grabbing the halfling's spear just below the head and pushing it aside, thrusting her knife forward with her other hand. The halfling goes limp, dropping the spear and collapsing; the dagger entered his eye.

Guild Warehouse 2B

The top of the tank is fastened with a lock. Unless the batgirl can force it, it's not opening easily. And the mermaid's shaking her head vigorously, too; especially when the batgirl suggested there was something down there. She'll push her hair aside and turn her head, revealing a set of gill slits hidden behind her ears. The way she held her hand when it had two fingers wiggling looked more like walking than the kicking motion of swimming.

[Ironsmith]

[Temple of Lead Sanctum]

In Klaus's mind, Plumbum was effectively dead. Being on fire tended not to do great things for one's health. Neither did being in a room full of toxic smoke, especially since Klaus hadn't done him the courtesy of identifying the poison.

Unfortunately, Klaus also couldn't count on being unexposed himself. This smoke could kill him in the next ten minutes... or at the very least, incapacitate him, which in a temple full of hostile guards, would arguably be worse.

Holding his breath to minimize threat of breathing any more smoke in, Klaus slips out of his shoes and tries to slip past the guard to the fire door; if he can safely get out of the room, the risk of dying here goes down significantly.

[5a Violista]

[Noose & Shackle]

Huh, she sees. Probably some brain damage, too. After how Thadd described the halfling, she starts thinking the former champion doesn't have much of a chance. Good for the half-elf, she supposes, because she'll have fewer injuries going forward.
"I'm hungry," Gharol says, "but not interested in cooked scribe. That kind of food reminds me of famines." Or, rather, you only have it when you have nothing else available.

She watches the match, and even cheers a little at the half-elf's success. That shield-thing was pretty good.
"Looks like he wasn't up to the fight," she comments, a little lamely.


[Guild Warehouse 2B]

Gills!
That means...um...she can't breathe air? No, wait, that doesn't make sense. Mermaids can sing, so.

The batgirl can't force apart the lock just by herself. She does consider it, though. Maybe if she...maybe if she had some kind of hammer? Or something heavy and metal. "Wait right here," she tells the mermaid. "I'll be back." She points towards the door she came from.

There were things other than clothes in that previous room, right? There's probably some kind of hammer or wrench or something that she could use to beat the lock.

The batgirl leaves the mermaid for now, going back to the previous room trying to find anything that could possibly be used to hit the lock.

And! She finds something!
It's...well, it's not exactly easy to carry. Pretty big, but the batgirl's pretty confident that it'll break apart the lock after only two or three swings.

She takes it back into the pool and tank room.

. . .

Her feet really aren't suited for walking on flat, slippery ground.
She slips.
She tries to catch herself on the rail tracks, using the bludgeon she had found. It does catch on the tracks,
b u t,
unfortunately,
her hands were slippery. Last time she was in here, she used her hands to help cross the ground more easily. It helped her then, but it also got her hands wet. They slipped off of the bludgeon's handle, and she slips down to the pool. She starts beating her wings, trying to stop herself from sliding, but it's not good enough.
She slides into the weird pool.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Lead Sanctum

The bodyguard with the knife slashes at Klaus as he gets closer, and the door out of the room opens as a slackjawed man walks in carrying two buckets of sand. He'll ignore the bodyguards and Klaus, heading to the flicker of flames to empty the buckets over the fire. He'll just stand there afterwards, since he wasn't given another order.

Father Plumbum screams in pain and isn't yet dead. He's burnt, rather badly on his feet, so he's walking any time soon. He's also naked, revealing even more tattoos over his body. The only places without tattoos are ones he can't easily reach and also the burnt and crispy flesh of his feet.

Noose & Shackle

"Been a long time since I faced a famine. You can probably tell." Thadd chuckles and slaps his belly. He's also obese for another reason; it makes him a lot more stab-proof. He has several scars under his shirt where would-be assassins and fighters have tried to kill him and failed as their knives didn't reach deep enough.

The halfling's body is carried off ignominiously. The half-elf discards the knife, keeping the spear and grabbing the buckler again. She'd have taken the halfling's breastplate too, but it's far too small and completely the wrong shape. It wouldn't fit her at all.

Guild Warehouse 2B

The mermaid winces as the batgirl slips and falls into the tank. The water accepts her without much of a splash, which is odd, and the stuff around her... She can feel it, but it's not wet. Damp at most. She almost feels as though she could breathe it, though that would be a bad idea. The liquid soaks into the batgirl's body, changing and altering it. Her legs will fuse into a tail, she'll either grow skin or blubber and thick, grey skin. She might grow a blowhole if she inhales the liquid, or gills. It's a mutagen tuned to merfolk, and it's changing her in that direction- but the formula's never been used on a batgirl before, so the results could be surprising.

[Ironsmith]

[Temple of Lead Sanctum]

The knife didn't really bother Klaus; he's able to squeeze by with only a light scratch on his arm to show for it. Compared to everything else going on in the room, that was nothing.

Klaus gives the newcomer a kick as he goes by, reasoning that his balance probably wasn't very good, and he wouldn't exactly be able to get the sand back after dopping it. After that, he only stops moving long enough to give Plumbum a mocking salute before slamming the fire door shut behind him. "Kyrie eleison, Father!" He calls.

[5a Violista]

[Noose & Shackle]

With no fighting going on at the moment, Gharol keeps her attention with Thadd.
She laughs at his joke. "Yes, it wasn't easy to tell but somehow I knew," she replies.

Alternatively, he could just get muscles so strong that they're harder than any kind of steel. That sort of thing probably happens, maybe, but it seems like a lot of work. "I grew up in a dying fishing village," she says. "Some days there just weren't enough fish to go around. Left that place when some pirates and some smugglers clashed in town, with no regard for collateral damage. I killed four of them, then the captain offered I join his crew."


[Guild Warehouse 2B]

The batgirl feels that her legs feel really weird. And as she feels for them, she realizes they're a little scaly, too. The shock of that makes her breathe in just a little - enough to start getting gills. Her scales are black, but seem to glint red under the right light - and her fins seem to do the same. Still got bat wings, though. Probably not that hydrodynamic, but they remain largely unaffected because of the divine blessing behind them. She doesn't just turn straight into a mermaid, though. Her hands seem to turn a lot more clawlike, her ears...well, no longer pure bat, turn more human-shaped, but still pointed and not quite human. Plus, her teeth. More sharp than before. Definitely at least have a fang or two.

Why? Now it's going to be so much harder to escape!
But now it makes sense.
That mermaid.
She was sad because she wasn't a mermaid.

But she doesn't give up. She starts climbing out of the pool, still determined to get that other mermaid out of the tank. She just needs to get up to the club thing, and then climb on top and take out the lock. The bat(?)girl has to climb with just her hands, but honestly it's not like she hasn't done that a lot before. Plus, she fingers are basically claws that she can hopefully use to help, too.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Lead Sanctum

The bodyguard with the knife follows, trying to stab Klaus again.

The worker with buckets of sand falls over, before getting up and continuing on. Most of the sand has spilt, but he doesn't seem to have noticed. Back in the main body of the factory, there's three more workers headed into the sanctum with buckets of sand and vacant expressions, and several guards. The nearest raises their assault rifle and fires a short burst at Klaus, ignoring the proximity of the riot-clad bodyguard. Indeed, if any bullets hit, the bodyguard will stagger back but continue its pursuit, not bleeding from the wounds.

Noose & Shackle

The problem with muscles harder than steel is that eventually you'll find a guy with a knife that can cut through steel and slice through them. A knife isn't long enough to penetrate most of Thadd's bulk. "Oh? Smuggler or pirate?" Both have captains, if they use ships. "My tribe were nomads, following herds of indricotheres across the steppes. Occasionally we took mercenary work, and as part of that, I first encountered the Guild. It was a much simpler life, though I find my current job very rewarding." Thadd enjoys the fear of others, and he get to intimidate a lot of slaves by working as a go-between for the Guild and independent caravans. And sometimes he can intimidate the caravaneers, too.

Guild Warehouse 2B

It takes quite a bit of effort to get the club ready to work on the lock, and the mermaid in the tank shakes her head, showing off her gills and shaking her head more. If she's determined enough, the batgirl could open the tank, but the mermaid won't climb out.

[Ironsmith]

[Temple of Lead]

Apparently, Klaus hadn't quite been expecting that. One of the bullets gets him in the shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain. That was going to need treatment when he got out of here. He's still able to get out ahead of the knife-wielding guard, though, so it could have gone a lot worse.

Fortunately, even with the guards in his way, Father Plumbum had provided him with some expendable cover on his way out to the door. As Klaus runs through the temple, he makes a point of using the braindead workers as cover, avoiding the worst of the shots and hopefully letting the guards do the job of delaying any further fire suppression.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Lead

One of the workers follows Klaus with his eyes as he runs past, before getting up and following, also running. The first time Klaus will have seen one make a decision on their own; now it depends on what Klaus remembers about Pacifism.

The grenade-carrying bodyguard sheathes the knife, pulling their launcher round and reloading it as they jog after Klaus. They won't fire until he's left the building, however. The guard doesn't shoot again, letting the bodyguard get on with apprehending or stopping Klaus whilst he organises the efforts to put out the fire.

The door's unlocked, and outside the factory looks like a faceless warehouse, not a temple or anything else but a place to store things. There's several others nearby, and some vehicles too. A little forklift truck with caterpillar tracks, hefting a pallet half-loaded with metal boxes; probably not the fastest route out of here, but closest. Beyond that, an ancient three-wheeled lorry cab, the bodywork spotted with bullet holes, missing the driver's side door revealing bloodstained upholstery; not enough to protect against the Followers' automatic weaponry, if Klaus thinks it can even start. Finally a minibus chassis with the bodywork removed and replaced with a concrete shell, narrow gunslits along the sides and a rusty pintle mount on the roof, though the weapon once fitted there has been removed.

[5a Violista]

[Noose & Shackle]

Sounds like Thadd really likes his job.
Coincidentally, Gharol also enjoys intimidating people, which is why her usual work is bodyguard and anti-competition enforcer.

"Pirate," Gharol says. "Turns out one of the guys I killed was the second-in-command on the smuggler's side. Blade right through his spine."

She drinks as she listens to his story. "It does sound very rewarding," she agrees.


[Guild Warehouse 2B]

The merbatgirl doesn't give up: she promised she would help the mermaid out, and even though it's a lot of effort to get there. "Come on, come on," she says, "it's open. You can get out now."

It's only after more insistence that she finally realizes: "Oh, you....you can't breathe, right?" But the batgirl still can, even though she has gills, too. She reaches for her own, and finds them sealed closed here out in the air, hardly noticeable. "But I...Oh. I'm sorry." She can still breathe...possibly because her lungs have just as much of a divine blessing as her wings, but it could also just be that it affected her differently. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. There's....I don't...I don't...um...I can't..."

She finds it hard to think of what to say.
Finally, she says, "I can....um..." She glances down at the torn shirt that's just lying there, and at the club. "These probably won't be helpful, but you can have them if you want." The batgirl tries to pass them to the mermaid, into the tank. "I'm sorry," she repeats. "Going to see if I can escape from here."i

She looks around, trying to figure out what the best way out of here would be, and crawls/pulls herself towards it.

[Ironsmith]

[Temple of Lead]

Klaus looks over his options and scowls. Of course there wasn't a good getway vehicle nearby. This was antique city, and everything that could be used safely probably was being used. But maybe there was still something to salvage from this situation.

Klaus makes his way to the forklift, but rather than get in, sets it up to drop the boxes. Whatever was in there was clearly valuable to the followers; possibly guns or ammo, maybe drugs, but most likely something that would be useful in his current circumstances. If nothing else, the boxes themselves would make for decent cover.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Lead

The man who had been following helps spill the cargo from the forklift truck. The boxes collapse down and spill their contents, mostly filled with bullets. There's some exceptions, however; one box contains some hoverboards, which float a short distance above the ground after the box hits the floor and shatters. Another contains a lot of marbles, which spill out everywhere. Another box shatters and spreads coins, mostly gold ones, mixed with various other denominations and a few bullets and some teeth.

Noose & Shackle

"If I didn't get so atrociously seasick, I think I'd have enjoyed being a pirate. Do you stay in contact with them?" No need for boats on the steppes, following giant hornless rhinos. Nowhere to put them, either.

Now more sand is spread over the floorboards of the stage and the halfling's corpse has been removed, another challenger is pushed onto the stage. This one looks like a child, but it's hissing and snapping. It has pale skin, short blonde hair, and it's clad in an oversized t-shirt. Instead of eyes, it has a pair of tendrils ending with small, fanged mouths, and a large purple irised eye where its mouth should be.

Guild Warehouse 2B

The mermaid nods her head in agreement with the claim she can't breathe air any more, her lungs atrophied to uselessness save as a swim bladder. She'll take the shirt and wrap it around herself, before waving for the batgirl to go.

[Ironsmith]

Temple of Lead

But no guns. That made "stand and fight" less of an option. Still, there was a few things here that would be useful... just not immediately.

Klaus snatches up a fistful of coins and shoves them into his pocket. They'd come in handy later. He does the same with the marbles, wondering to himself just what the Followers were doing with so many tiny glass balls. And the teeth; that would be useful, too. Ironically, that meant the bullets were the only things he didn't take a few of.

He holds out a hoverboard to the man who had followed him; clearly, they were on the same side, at least for the moment. He peels off his suit jacket and hands it to the man. "Take these. Put that on, and get as far from here as you can." He takes a hoverboard and heads back toward the building, attempting to scale the side of it, heading for the roof.

[Rebonack]

[SPAAAAAACE!]

Zee snorts.

Then laughs, taking a few steps back away from the creature.

"Snot. It's face is full of snot, that's why the toxin didn't kill it," she says. "Which really won't do us much good. But ostensibly that means the right filter should be able to remove it. Too bad there isn't any of the toxin left to study."

That's a real shame.

"Sorry to startle you, Mister Hullghast. You can go back to what you were doing," Zee says, raising both of her hands in a 'I'm backing off' sort of way.

Zee's words and scent will carry additional meaning for the ghast.

Safe. Not danger. Not food.

No reason to worry about these people.

Everything is fine.

After backing off, she'll turn her attention to her companions. "This creature... its ancestors were human?"

It reminds her of the morlocks from The Time Machine. Definitely shudder-worthy.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Lead

The man puts the suit jacket on over his ragged t-shirt and nods his understanding. He'll run with the hoverboard before diving onto it and treating it like a toboggan, heading down the street low and fast, steering by leaning. He's done it before, and enough of him remains to remember it, too.

The wall is climbable, and on top it's pretty flat. There's a few small lookout points up here, currently manned entirely by scarecrows. The nearest one does have a gun mounted on a sandbag wall; a light hopper-fed double-barrelled machine-gun with a scarecrow positioned to use it. It doesn't have any bullets, however, and Klaus is unlikely to want to spend the time gathering enough from the spilt boxes to load it. There's no immediate way off, and the bodyguard has appeared now, and is preparing to launch a grenade from their launcher onto the roof.