Outside 50: Meeting nature halfway

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Day 3]

"Hm. You and I are going to talk after this."
This isn't the threat that particular phrase usually is colored as, just a statement of scheduling fact.
"Good enough for me. Objections to beginning the vote now?"

"Yes, voting on a shoe is ridiculous!"

"Any others?"
Jeb casts a quick glance around the circle, where there are quite a few uncomfortable faces, a handful of angry ones (Atsushi and Sumiye prominently), and one very heartbroken Hana.
Nemeth is continuing to splutter in the background, but he is being completely ignored.

If G'nichi has something else to say here, this is likely to be the last time before Jeb pushes this forward.

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Day 3

G'nichi is satisfied. He might have gone a bit far in his arguments but he isn't exactly good at framing a killer as such in front of an audience. He had to play some cards he never would normally.
He shakes his head and lets Jeb continue with the vote. He hopes he hadn't made too many enemies. If he has he'll simply entrust his very short suspect list to Jeb and let things happen.

[Murkus]

The Green

Artie jumps, startled.
”Oh, I-“ She supposes she really should have expected someone living out here to be a little magic, shouldn’t she?
Artie giggles at the feathery outfit.
”I feel like I’m dressed for a ball! I didn’t take you for a fashion designer.” Vivi seemed much more simply dressed to have come up with something like this.

[The Green]

"I have a lot of time to dabble," says Vivi, smiling brightly, a little flattered despite herself. "So what now?"

[Deathkeeper]

The Green

"Well, properly speaking you have created the only top I own that fits me, so if you wanted to make me a whole wardrobe I would not complain! I will have to dress a bit more casually if I ever return to my studies..." Artie is barely holding in laughter. This is extremely amusing. What were her chances of running into someone with clothing-based magics?
"Oh, unless that is imposing on you? I do not wish to be a poor guest, of course. Are these your woods?" Magic folks like them don't just hang around randomly, she supposes.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Day 3]

Jeb makes a grunting noise at Lady Eiko, who interprets it into consent to continue.

"Very well...the voting process for the Banquet is simple. We will go around the circle, everyone will state who they wish to cast their vote towards, I shall sum it up, and the group's decision will have their sentence carried out."
"Immediately."
His gaze is on Nemeth as he amends Lady Eiko's statement. She frowns at the interruption, but says nothing against it.
Instead she makes a gesture to Jeb, who begins. From there, it travels around the circle and ends up thus...

Jeb - Nemeth
Lady Eiko - Abstain
The Little Boy - Yuu (indicated via finger point)
Nemeth - G'nichi
Kawa - Nemeth
G'nichi - Nemeth
Yuu - Atsushi (no reason given)
Hana - Nemeth
Fudo - Abstain
Atsushi - Nemeth
Sumiye -Nemeth

It would seem that some combination of Jeb's authority, the footprint, and maybe G'nichi's arguments were enough to sway the majority of opinions here.
Something that Nemeth seems pretty wildly against, for understandable reasons.

"A shoe and an outsider's raving is what you fools decide to follow? The Holy House showed you too much mercy in exile, you should have all been executed there, instead of-"
Jeb rises to his feet and makes a gesture to Lady Eiko, who casts her eyes down before making a small gesture with her hands.

There is a tiny spark of light between her finger tips and Nemeth spontaneously gags, before going limp and crumpling to the ground at his spot. He's still alive, his eyes twitching and wildly looking around him, but he seems to have been immobilized.
"Right, taking him to the tree. Come or don't, no one goes off alone."

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Day 3

"Mari deserves a burial. Ah. I would be happy to do the labor but I don't um. Know the customs."
He cringes.
"I'm so sorry, Hana. My spell was why I couldn't let anyone see her before. I won't stop you anymore." He shoots Jeb a look. They do need to talk later.
"Would you rather help me with that, Atsushi?" G'nichi needs to ask him as well.

[Ironsmith]

Wrecked Motorway

The survivor grabs his spear, the aluminium sport's javelin, and will approach Green to dispatch the zombie she's holding back with a single thrust to the back of the head. As Tristan dispatches the others with a well-placed boot, he answers the questions. "Nah, I'm fine. I'm Endurance, from a place called End of the Road. It's not there any more, though. How about you guys?" He looks Tristan and Green over, rather impressed and slightly concerned by the state of their attire- everything he wears is old, scavenged and haphazardly repaired.

One of the zombies does have split vines, leaking a thick, viscous, yellowy sap at some pressure. Tristan- or one of his component personalities- might be able to recognise that they use hydraulic action to move, meaning they're likely hard to burn and vulnerable to desiccation. Probably a bad idea to touch the stuff, though.

[Wrecked Motorway]

"Green", as she's been dubbed, drops the now-immobile zombie with a dull *thud*, now that it's no longer functional. Remembering Endurance's warning about the spores, she makes her way over to the snow plow, casually tears out the gas tank, douses herself in its contents, then similarly immolates herself, taking a moment to let the fuel burn off before emerging unharmed. The fire causes brief interference with her cloaking system, causing the image to shimmer and shake, partially revealing the plastic endoskeleton underneath, before stabilizing back into her familiar human shape.

[Gullara]

[A Hunter must Hunt]

"How were I supposed to know this was your territory though?" Anika remarks, putting her hands on her hips again as she looks around the area. "You should totally put up more skulls around it so people know. Probably some in the trees too so you can also tell from above." Animal skulls were a classic territory marker.

"But hey, if this is your territory, you wouldn't know if there were any sabers around here? Y'know, cats?"

[A Hunter must Hunt]

"Well I thought you were a bird. Birds don't really listen to stuff like that." Mimi scratches the back of her head. Anika not being a bird complicates this interaction. "Cats? What do you want with cats?"

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Day 3]

Jeb and Fudo hoist up the twitching Nemeth and immediately leave the temple. Lady Eiko (and her ever-attached little companion) follow, though she does pause long enough to try to answer G'nichi's initial concern.
"During this time particularly, being placed within the earth and remembered fondly by those who care is the only custom that really matters. It would seem we're all going to the graveyard however, so I would encourage you to come along."

Then she exits the building.

Hana doesn't seem to have much of a verbal response to G'nichi, though she does get up to follow him if he leaves.
Atsushi rests a hand on her shoulder for a minute, a small effort of comfort, before looking to our lizard hero.
"I'll help dig for Mari, sure. Fudo will probably help when he's...done with Jeb."

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Day 3

G'nichi nods and heads off. He tries to make sure that there's reasonable distance between the three of them and the rest of the group so he can get a moment free with Atsushi.
"If you knew I wasn't a demon you may want to check on Eiko. The second trail led straight to the temple." he whispers.
He also makes sure to ask the sword if the feeling it got persists as they leave. Especially if it fades once Eiko and the boy leave the room and before Yuu and the others do. Right now he's reasonably sure that Eiko is the second killer and the boy is his target. And while it would be lovely to simply have the people get rid of both of them it does pose a troublesome problem: if he can't explain why the target has to die and they are by all accounts an innocent villager then killing them will only ruin his chances of convincing them that Eiko is the real second demon. But winning the game as efficiently as possible means having to fight something on Syncope's level fairly. He would simply have to trust that Syncope would make it doable since she bothered to tell him at all.

Either way, the burial will come. Burying the body properly will take a while.

[Rebonack]

[Wrecked Motorway]

"I've got a place at Inside," Tristan replies, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "Or, had a place I guess. This weird forest ate part of the town and turned my house into a log."

Their initial plan, namely burning down the whole park, hadn't actually worked. The magic of the place resisted their efforts which was kind of a surprise. After all, they WERE the park at the time. Technically they could still live at their log-house but mortals living in an enchanted park is kind of hazardous. Even for someone like Tristan. Granted, though he's pretty wise to faerie tricks at this point.

"It sounds like you might have just sort of wandered into Outside. That's kind of what happened to me a few years back. See, this place HOLY HELL WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING!?"

That would be the reaction to Green setting herself on fire.

The answer to that question should be obvious, Tristan.

Green is setting herself on fire.

There's, um... there's something under it. Like plastic? It got flickery.
Haha! Knew it! Totally a robot.
The hell is it setting itself on fire for?
Burn of the spores I bet. They're infectious and it doesn't want to spread them.

"So, hey, Endurance. Are gynoids normal things where you're from or is this-" Tristan gestures at the immolating Green. "-weird to you, too?"


[Thermal Lake]

It basically comes down to a question of navigating what amounts to a trapped hallway or possibly fighting some more fish monsters.

Can't really fight traps.

Onward!

The water in the hall is about knee height and the surroundings are dark. That's less of an issue if Kothar can see well in low light conditions. He'll hear splashing every now and again, but nothing leaps out at him. Not just yet, anyways. Before long the chamber will open up slightly, revealing several unassuming grey boulders scattered around the room. Water pours down the walls and appears to drain through little slats in the floor. Up above, dangling from an old chain is a rusty bird cage. One of those ornate, bell shaped ones. Inside the cage is a silver key. It's pretty far off the ground and the door in that appears to lead out of the room has a giant novelty key hole right in the middle of it.

Obvious puzzle is obvious.

[bc56]

Thermal Lake

Kothar can see in the darkness, but not from any innate ability. The faint green glow of his goggles when in darkness gives away their magical nature. When he comes to the puzzle room, he looks around before cautiously proceeding to the center beneath the birdcage, getting a feel for how high up it is. He can jump pretty high, but there's probably a more elegant solution to the problem intended. Unfortunately, he's not good at elegant solutions. He prefers the direct approach.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Hunter must Hunt]

"Well I thought you were a bird. Birds don't really listen to stuff like that." Mimi scratches the back of her head. Anika not being a bird complicates this interaction. "Cats? What do you want with cats?"

[A Hunter must Hunt]

"It's a gift for my friend. A pet, a battle-pet to be specific. She totally needs one to keep enemies at bay while she snipes them off with her rifle." Anika claims as she mimics holding a sniper rifle with a scope. "So... you have any idea to find one? It would look kinda like that cat-form I assumed earlier."

[Morty]

[Steelbite Canyon]

"You deal with the one in the fog. When you do, I will charge out and tackle the other one," Calm Reed says, before heading out into the fog cover.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Day 3]

G'nichi doesn't even have to ask, the sword is very transparent with its feelings on the matter.
As Jeb, Fudo, Lady Eiko, and the boy leave it does relax. A little.
There is still something deeply threatening here, but...somewhat less now. This still is not a safe location, but Imminent Death seems to adjusted its attention.

So on they go!
Atsushi looks suitably unsettled by the insinuation that G'nichi just made, muttering about how difficult that particular discussion would be, but does nod his head to the suggestion.

At the graveyard, the first group heads to the top of the hill, disappearing into the fog unless G'nichi elects to follow them.

Mari's body will be where he left it, and Atsushi will ask for a brief detour to a small shed nearby with tools in it. It's only a moment and he'll have shovels for both himself and G'nichi.
Well, Hana and G'nichi. Hana snatches the shovel out of his hands and marches off to find a spot for her friend, while Atsushi quietly gets a third shovel.
Nothing eventful happens while they dig.

At some point the other group appears out of the fog (the sword's anxiety does rise here), whereupon Lady Eiko says a brief prayer before leaving them in peace.

Digging graves is hard work, and G'nichi is probably the only one who doesn't need to take multiple breaks here, though his two companions try their best to push through it.

But eventually, the hole is complete.

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Day 3

Well that does make sense. Apparently the town is dedicated to a sleeping horror buried under the place so that's probably why the temple feels so wrong. G'nichi is more than willing to let Hana choose the spot for Mari. And he can even control himself and not glare at Eiko as she offers a prayer for the person G'nichi is fairly sure she murdered last night. How are they going to-
It suddenly occurs to him that Syncope said the person behind this (besides her) chose the Demons. And if it did choose Nemeth and Eiko, it specifically chose two of the three most powerful people in town, not including town elder Jeb. He really hopes that's nothing he needs to be worrying about.
G'nichi will allow Hana and Atsushi to perform any service they wish unless they would rather he be the one to lower the body into the grave. Which is entirely possible given his stature.
I'm sorry, Mari. If I had trusted you more you might still be with us. If nothing else I won't let your sacrifice be for nothing. And I'll get...most of your killers. One is out of my reach but the rest will have hell to pay. I'll make sure you can rest easy. And if you run into Bahamut tell him you saved one of his prospective paladins twice over. He doesn't think he would need to tell Mari that the god of this town sure doesn't have a cozy afterlife to offer.

[Earl of Purple]

Wrecked Motorway

Endurance doesn't listen to much of what Tristan has to say, and what he does hear he promptly forgets as Green sets herself on fire. He's swearing profusely and running to grab the jug of water from the spilled shopping trolley, which he wants to throw over the burning robot.

Nobody has told him that's a bad idea with oil-based fires, for the simple reason that this is actually the first oil-based fire he's ever experienced.

[Ironsmith]

[Wrecked Motorway]

"Please do not attempt to extinguish me. I will not be damaged by this fire." Green says, shortly before realizing Endurance probably wasn't going to listen to her. She turns toward Tristan, still ablaze. "Please restrain him. I do not want to injure him by attempting it myself."

[Rebonack]

[Wrecked Motorway]

Well.

This just got even more exciting.

Tristan will try his best to grab Endurance and prevent him from dousing Green!

"She isn't a human she's a machine!" Tristan yells.

Will that work?

Honestly he's got no idea.

Maybe they could-

Oh n-no! What should we do?
Maybe we could- wait, no, that wouldn't help what if he-
Ugh. Just let me handle this. You dweebs are useless.

"Hey. Calm down, dude," Tristan says, his voice having changed pretty significantly. It's still definitely in Tristan's vocal range, but his demeanor and tone are totally different. "Green's a robot. Just burning the yellow junk off her so we don't get yellow lung or whatever. It's cool, so cool it."

Tristan speaks with a uniquely compelling combination of calmness and authority that's dreadfully difficult to ignore. It helps that he's got an iron grip, too.


[Thermal Lake]

Well.

That's one way to do it, right?

Kothar is now successfully clinging to the cage!

He's also dangling from the cage a decent distance above the ground.

This probably wouldn't be a huge issue, if not for the fact that all the commotion just woke up the 'rocks'. They sprout long, needle sharp spines and begin slowly moving below the cage. Some sort of weird urchin monster? Just dropping off would probably result in some pretty nasty stabbings.

[bc56]

Thermal Lake

Good thing Kothar got up to the cage, because his plan B was "stack the rocks until they're high enough to reach." Fortunately, superhuman strength comes in handy here as well, as Kothar pulls himself up to perch atop the birdcage precariously, clinging to the chain. Although he could probably easily dispatch these things and continue, it would cost him to recover any injuries he might sustain. He'd prefer to find another way to deal with the urchins. But how? He looks around the upper parts of the room for anything that might be of use.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Day 3]

Neither of them speak, not out loud anyway, but Hana and Atsushi are each having moments here. Silently prayers, or thoughts, much like G'nichi's own.
It doesn't take too long, Hana only cries a little before she re-internalizes it.

Atsushi offers to help lower Mari in, since it might be easier for the two of them to keep everything straight that way.

The other two aren't likely to initiate the actual burying process, though, so G'nichi will have to trailblaze that.
This will take much less time than the digging...

And then the three of them stand in front of a fresh, complete grave.

"We could be next, couldn't we?"
Hana stares off in the directly of the graveyard's mist-shrouded, looming tree, looking emotionally empty.

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Day 3

"I don't entirely understand why the demons picked Mari first, but our second one might be more tactical tonight. I expect they'll be going for me or Jeb. You didn't really get a word in, Atsushi. But that's fine. I would hate for them going after you for my sake."
If the demon is the boy and not Eiko it will likely be Yuu. The boy doesn't seem to like Yuu. G'nichi does not blame him.
"I might not know the old scores in this place but I will do my darnedest to get everyone out of this." And he said that yesterday but unfortunately he just didn't guess correctly.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Day 3]

"This whole thing isn't fair. I don't know why they had to kill anyone in the first place."
Hana kicks a bit of grass out of the ground in front of her, next to the grave, and shoves her hands into her pockets.

Next to G'nichi, Atsushi sighs and begins collecting the shovels.
"There could be another driving force here, that we're not seeing. I...hope that none of us are included in that list, or anyone. We have to assume another death is inevitable."
An apologetic glance at Hana.
"I agree with your assessment though, G'nichi. Probably you or Jeb...don't take this the wrong way though, but losing Jeb would probably be the bigger win for the Demons here."

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Day 3

G'nichi shrugs. "Don't apologize. I said the same thing to him yesterday. I thought for sure they'd go for him first, but something must have been personal. Which is an angle I can't particularly help with. If you have any ideas feel free."
Or there really is something about people leaving being bad. But then why would they do that if his target specifically sentenced Nemeth and Eiko to death by choosing them as the demons? If anything their presence keeps people here. Do they want people here or not?
"I need to find him later. Luckily I know where to look..."

[Rebonack]

[Thermal Lake]

Well, let's see shall we?

There are several small ledges where the water is pouring out of the walls. Not wide enough to stand on, but possibly wide enough to get a grip. The urchins don't appear to move THAT fast. Alternatively, Kother might try swinging on the cage and leaping toward the door.

Though...

That chain looks REALLY rusty.

It might break if it takes too much abuse. And it's already groaning under the lizard person's weight.

And of course!

There's always the option of just diving on the urchins and beating them up.

What's it going to be?

[bc56]

Thermal Lake

With the chain seeming increasingly strained, Kothar pulls the key out of the birdcage and tucks it into his belt. From there, he leans out, swinging the cage back and forth, until one of the ledges is just in reach. Then he grabs on, and before he can start to slip from the water, digs in with his claws and pulls himself hand over hand along the ledge towards the door. He'll hopefully get there and drop down before the urchins are close enough. If not, he'll have to fight.

[Earl of Purple]

Wrecked Motorway

"A... what? A rowboat? She's... What?" Tristan's reassurances don't make a lot of sense to Endurance, unfortunately. He doesn't remember much- if anything- about the world before, and if he has read a book with a robot in it, it was a long time ago. He is, at least, held and restrained so he doesn't make matters worse by spreading the petrol fire coating Green.

[Chaotic Bob]

[ABAJ - Day 3]

Atsushi makes a "hm" noise.
"I should have just asked the Spider at the Banquet to protect Jeb, it would have been the safest way to make that happen, if it wasn't Mari..."
Evidently, his role only distinguishes between "Demon" and "not-Demon". Or he's playing dumb in front of Hana.

After a few moments, Hana offers a few insights, somewhat reluctantly it seems.
"I dunno if any of these will help you, or not. Fudo and Sumiye have something going on between them, I've seen them flirting-

There's a quiet choking noise from Atsushi.
"I've never seen Lady Eiko show favoritism towards anybody but that kid before. Mari and Fudo had an argument the other day about something, not sure what. Umm...so did Jeb and Fudo, actually. Fudo's been a bit of a jerk lately."

[Ironsmith]

[Wrecked Motorway]

After a few minutes, the gas fire burns out, having no fuel left to keep it going. Green seems to be fine; she walks back up to Endurance and Tristan as though absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happened. "Thank you for your cooperation." She says to Tristan. "My decontamination is complete. We should burn the bodies to prevent any other possible spread of contagion."

[Deathkeeper]

ABAJ - Day 3

Well, that could simply mean Fudo has been having an odd week. He was part of the group that headed out with Jeb that the sword seemed slightly more at ease without but G'nichi still finds the child's arrival just before the Banquet the most suspicious. But he can't entirely rule out the possibility that this Target of his is influencing the villagers somehow. Syncope told him they were both cheating. He should avoid blabbing to just anyone even if he's positive the last demon is Eiko.
"I wouldn't worry about it. The Spider probably knows who the demon will go for after that performance. I'm more worried about our Crow speaking up. They're the only one we have to confirm I was right about Nemeth. Without that it's going to be a lot harder to convince anyone I was right." And of course if he was wrong he has a lot to worry about.