Inside 72: Halfway to a Gross

[Artemis97]

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

The shopkeep frowns a little behind Rose's back, but makes no other complaints and helps clasp the necklace around her throat. Rose will hear a slight crystalline tone when the clasp closes, indicating the magic has taken effect. She'll feel just a little hardier than before.

An impassive expression back on his face, the shopkeep picks up the mirror and holds it for Rose to better view the necklace. "Is it to the lady's liking?"

[Ironsmith]

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

So far, the vibe Rose was getting from him was one of reluctant tolerance; he was putting up with her entirely because she had promised to pay him. She decided to poke a little at that notion and see if she couldn't shift his opinion a little.

"Why, yes." Rose smiles, tracing the jewels with her fingertip. "It's very much to the lady's liking. Very fine craftsmanship... it must have been delicate work, putting this together. Not something any ordinary jeweler in Delmah Phor could have managed, I'm sure."

That was either a prospective sale or a mild flirtation, depending on how he took it. Either way, she was hoping it would warm him up.

[Artemis97]

[Delmah Phor]

The shopkeep clears his throat, looking slightly embarrassed by how cold he acted previously. "We pride ourselves on producing the finest work in Delmah Phor. Perhaps in all of the Nexus."

[Ironsmith]

[Delmah Phor]

"Oh, come now, don't be so modest!" Rose says, seemingly struggling to keep a straight face. "I don't see any assistants in here. So far as I can tell, this bit of finery is the work of one very, very talented man. Why not own it?"

That was a bit of an inference on her part. All it would take for her to be wrong would be for the man to have an apprentice or something. Still, even if that were the case, stroking his ego still couldn't exactly hurt his attitude toward her.

[Artemis97]

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

The shopkeep sets the mirror down on the counter and sighs. "Most of the design work is done by my Mistress Iridice, but much of the raw work is mine, I admit."

"Is there anything else you would like to see?" He frowns for a moment, then says, hopeful. "I could show you a little of my design work?"

[Ironsmith]

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

"Why, I'd love t-"

"There you are!" Miranda stomps into the shop, looking furious.

"Oh, great. It's my boss. Ruiner of parades and pooper of parties." Rose lets out a little sigh.

"What are you doing?! I've been all over this square trying to track you down. Why would you run off like that?"

"Shopping, obviously." Rose shows off the choker proudly. "Look what this fine gentleman put together."

"Yes, yes, it's very nice, pay the man and let's go."

[Artemis97]

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

The shopkeep's expression returns to a neutral state. He pulls a hand held stone tablet marked with runes from under the counter.

"If I could see one of those coins, I can tell you an exchange rate, and the price." This will be based on the value of a coin compared to the DnD standard gold and silver pieces. With the diamond included, they're probably worth quite a bit more.

If given a coin he'll pass the tablet over it, and use the little magic calculator to determine the price. It'll be expensive, however, that Hotbox basically makes free money as I understand it.

[Ironsmith]

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

Rose reluctantly parts with a few coins, letting the shopkeep determine their value. "Come on, boss. Our friend here was just about to show off some more of his work. Looking at what he's made already..." she taps the choker again, "...I'd say he's got my attention."

"Rose..."

"Come on! Just another five minutes?" She stands so that she's managed to interpose the man between them, her hands resting reassuringly on his shoulders. "I mean, come on. Look around! Guy clearly knows what he's doing. Maybe there's something here for you, too?"

"Rose, don't be ridiculous. You shouldn't be in here in the first place."

[Artemis97]

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

The shopkeep tenses slightly up when Rose puts her hands on his shoulders, but does nothing to complain. He relaxes after a moment when he realizes this is an innocent, human gesture, and there's no hidden dagger waiting for his back. He says nothing to get between the two women. This was their business where they stayed or not.

[Ironsmith]

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

"Look, you yourself said we should take in some of the local culture. Do you know a better way to do that than getting to know the locals?"

"Well, no, I-"

"Not to mention the fact that we're surrounded by art in here. It'd be hard to find someplace that would work better for that."

Miranda lets out a deep sigh and crosses her arms. "...Fine. Five minutes."

Rose grins. "Thanks, boss." She turns her attention back to the shopkeeper. "Now, can we have a look at those designs?"

[Deathkeeper]

Sam's Room

"Oh thank you!" she said as she accepted the card. "You know, this makes sense in a logical way but, like... Passing out cards and stuff. Am I weird for thinking it's weird? And, like, is this something everyone does? Do I need to start doing it? I know some people have cards like this with, like, their names and a picture of them and other details in their pockets. Do I need that as well? Do you trade these with people? I know there was this one store that had a bunch of cards with people playing some sport on them and they were specifically for trading from what I heard so is this some kind of money then?"

...It seems Alva may have gotten a few things conflated and, thus, confused.

Reading over the card itself, though, she felt some vague familiarity from a name but couldn't really put a face to it. Maybe it was something that just sounded similar was poking at her brain instead of a real memory. "Um, cards aside, I am a bit curious on the specifics when you say, ah, rude?" she asked, somewhat pensive. "Just, well, I mean, if they do a good job then it should be fine but I've heard of what happens when people aren't at least respectful of haunts."

Sam's Room

"Well these are just easy ways of giving out contact information. Identification cards are just something issued so people can prove that they're a certain age or have taken safety training or something. You don't...need them? I have a MERC one since I'm technically a licensed mercenary. Even though I'm just the cook." Sam scratches his head, puzzled.
"I think that other thing are trading cards? It's mostly a thing for kids to play games with but some adults take it really seriously." Given his hobbies he's not about to judge about that.
"And for her? Uh well, she was just...I think the word is brusque? Showed up, entirely lacked manners, got the poltergeist and then left without helping me clean up the mess. AND got fox-fur all over the place. Of course I'm too fuzzy to really complain about that last thing but still." Sam's wiry hair actually barely sheds but he doesn't like to brag about that.

[Abandoned Newspaper]

Bubble!

A bubble is a good way to deal with a stabberballer.

The cultist gets pretty lacerated by the blast, but they don't seem to mind a great deal.

Why you ask?

Because each one of those fountains of blood morphs into a dragon-like shape and begins spitting bolts of elemental energy at G'Nichi!

It looks like they're going to keep it up until they get through.

Which is kind of rude, really.

Abandoned Newspaper

This looks like a job for ANOTHER AOE!
G'nichi throws his arms out and shatters the bubble, releasing a shockwave of force in a circle around him to take care of those blood dragons!
And then?
He goes to bonk the cultist on the head with the staff again.

[Recaiden]

Heresy Fighters

Ugh!
Purple really needs that sword back! She runs after Gold across the rooftop in an attempt to get that sword. "Get back here and fight, coward!"

"Now why would I do that?" Comes Gold's voice. From behind Purple.

Gold, meanwhile, leaps over a small building in a single bound, and slides down the wall. If they're quick enough, they might be able to get out of sight of Purple...

[Perfectly Normal Elopement]

Chrystalla was mostly referring to the way she acts. Totally like a lost puppy mixed with an embarrassed little sister mixed with someone that can't handle teasing.
Or, in other words, Chrystalla wishes she could get embarrassed as easily as Vix.
She just gives a half-hearted wave to June to acknowledge him leaving.

She turns back the conversation as if June had never interrupted it in the first place. "Yeah! It does look pretty good, doesn't it? Much better than everything else in the genre, because, see, it uses..." She goes off into fangirl technobabble explaining all the good things she likes about the game and how it's so much better than everything else in the admittedly-small genre.

The shower in the other room turns on.

Chrystalla whispers to Vix, "Hey, after we finish this level, do you want to help me pick out something for him to wear? That shirt is awful and needs to be thrown away, and that jacket is probably really uncomfortable." The shirt is torn and doesn't fit six arms and smells a little like sewer and mutation water. Probably has weird effects as he keeps on wearing it, or something.

Then, after, she once again pulls back and dictates the conversation by saying, "So you're an artist, huh? That's really cool. I don't really do anything anymore. Always wished I was good at art."

Surely it's easy, Chrystalla. Simply be embarrassed. Or maybe arrange for more embarrassing things to happen to you, so that you can get practice.

Vix has no idea what any of that technobabble means, but she follows along and tries to sound interested, because it really is interesting! Just over her head.

As for the whispered suggestion, she nods and winks her normal eye. The jacket might have important items in it, but it barely fits. And if they do get something suited for a snake, that would look so much better!

"Yes."
"Sta-tues" "And" "An-o-ther" "Kind" "For-get" "The" "Name" "Of."
"..."
"Don't" "Do" "An-y-thing?"
"Why" "Not?"

[5a Violista]

[Abandoned Hospital]

Oh, gross.
Carmen considers trying to get the lock open using lust magic, but eventually decides it would take far too long and she'd rather not sit in here with fresh bodies as she works on it for that long.
Instead, she files needing another key into her mind.

She leaves the room, and thinks back...oh, that's basically confirmation. The manila folders looked far older than the bodies. So why are there two bodies in here? Seems like there might be something she needs to watch out for, maybe.

Instead, she now goes towards the ozone room, expecting some kind of broken and exposed light that's causing the flashing.


[Street Sans Sign]

The worst part about blindfolds is that people can't see your face or the things that you're doing.

"I know, right? Psychics and mind control are literally the worst thing ever," Venus says. "She's helped me out of those kinds of situations several times now. Speaking of June, of course. But enough praising someone who is basically herself: it feels really narcissistic.

Luckily, talking about cats is a good other topic. "Oh, that sounds like it can get really awful," Venus says, sympathizing. "Actually, nobody's asked me yet, but that's because it's only recently that I started feeling comfortable going out like this."
She pauses, considering not saying it but then decides to add, "But sometimes they just reach out and touch me without asking, which it seems you can completely relate to. Honestly, though, I don't really see a difference between it and when they do the same when I have just human legs, so I just lumped it together in the 'dangers of going places with alcohol' box."

Venus considers a witch-and-cat superhero duo. "Actually, a cat-and-witch duo seems like it could be really cute," she says. "And villains would probably never expect the cat to be just as capable as the witch, so that'd go for a lot of surprise attacks and secretive hostage-saving, I think."


[Perfectly Normal Elopement]

Chrystalla thinks statues are really cool. She says as much.

Why doesn't she do anything?
Chrystalla laughs. "That's a long story. Well, maybe not that long."

She sighs, but keeps on playing, especially because they're getting closer to the end of the level. The action and tension is building, and they're almost at the tutorialish-level boss. "This was back when Anani was brand-new in the Nexus and really cute and lost all the time. My fiancé and I were showing him around, helping him to get used to this place. We were in a grocery store. Then, all of a sudden, a bunch of monster-things showed up. They looked like giant babies, actually, but were carrying around really weird guns. And they were shooting each other and also random people around, calling them 'creeps' and complaining how they weren't giving enough EXP or drops."

Chrystalla's character stops moving for a moment as she wipes her face, but then gets back to playing immediately. "...my fiancé had a good life insurance plan, so I'm not running into any problems or anything, but I'm now terrified of leaving my house again, and it's really hard to try anything new. Get everything I need delivered, but all I do every day is play games until my eyes start to hurt, and then I grab my computer and listen to videos until I pass out."

She points at the TV screen. "You see that thing right there by my character? Go under it and photograph it, and that'll end the level. It's like a weak point."


[Looking for Jo]

"Yeah, that is weird. What kind of person kills everyone then cleans up afterwards? And not even in the 'hiding the evidence' kind of way." If the evidence was being hidden, the blood-stained papers would be missing, and the burials wouldn't all have the same date. "Not to mention burying everyone. If the bodies were just taken outside, the animals would have gotten rid of the evidence but they were buried instead."

This is...unusual, to say the least, Carmen thinks.

There are some keys, actually, hanging up on the wall. The keys are even labeled! Three keys. "Armory" "Residential" "Storage".
If they look for the armory, they'll find some definitely-valuable armor and weapons, plus a variety of expired and old potions (including healing potions, holy potions, and magic-recovery potions, plus some for specific diseases or for treating infections)

While the residential key works on the room they were searching, it also works on the barracks as well as it opens up to a mini-church room with pews and places to pray. Besides books, there's really nothing valuable in there.

And the storage key actually works on the room they originally came here for: the one with the crystals that they need.
There's enough there that they can now use it as a torch and go along the path, and they'd be safe enough from getting trapped in time. But, remember, Carmen earlier said it would be better to have more in case of ambush: like having a torch that reveals farther, having more crystals will give them more time to react to whatever shows up in the 'dark'.
"So we can go to the succubus village now," she says, "or we could look for more crystals elsewhere."

[Vahnavoi]

Arkham Street Mansion

"No, none of the great-grandchildren are magicians. That may change; they inherited the library, and the youngest is fourteen. I do not think their parents were, either. The research was primarily alchemical, but I believe there was some dabbling in necromancy as well. There are no surviving servants, I am afraid. The previous inhabitant dismissed them all sixty years ago. The previous inhabitant left no body. They disappeared forty years ago, and nobody has seen them since. The house was searched thoroughly several times, and no trace of them was ever found. I... do not know how such a creature got into the attic. I know someone who can go with you. I can't use ladders, you see. I will call someone, who... has been a pest before, by trespassing in the attics of our properties, and refusing to buy a permanent living place." The crab retreats into its shell, and the faint noises of a telephone being dialled can be heard.

"Errr... that's good... I can wait..." The swordsman glances back and forth between the mansion and the crab's shell, his foot tapping the ground nervously. He really isn't sure how the crab retreating into its shell will help in calling this... attic trespasser, but he figures the crab knows what it is doing. Well, at least he has a moment to consider all this information. He glances at the urn and rubs his chin. It containing the ashes of the previous owner would've made sense, but if nobody found his body and their children didn't keep in contact, who could've cremated it? Maybe it's some magical artifact of more ancient origin? Wait... how would they know if the previous owner is dead? The swordsman slaps a fist against his palm. The smuggler's mirror - of course! Anybody in the house, could've left the same way he arrived in it! Which would mean that... the previous owner may have been on the ship they found the mirror on. But ship had been wrecked...

"Hmmm... hey, Mister Crab, does the name La Nigrakora Fripono say anything to you?", he says aloud, hopefully not disturbing anything important.

[Earl of Purple]

Delmah Phor

"Oh, don't look at me like that! I don't want to go inside. You've got really cool buildings here, and temples always get that little bit more extra effort put in, don't they?" Jack's not planning on going inside, or even getting too close- she just wants to see what she's expecting will be the most impressive building in an area full of buildings that actually impress her.

She grins as she's given more locusts, and she's going to ask for a roach as well. She notices Eun's face, however, and suggests something. "Why don't we go see if we can find some tea or something? A thing which isn't bugs, for Eun. She's not looking too happy about it." Although technically neither Jack's nor Raril's snack are bugs.

Arkham Street Mansion

From inside the shell, there's a faint sound of the crab's voice, though it's hard to tell what it's saying.

The crab comes out of the shell, and looks up at the Swordsman. "A guide is on their way. Her name's Jack. The Black-Hearted Rogue? A once-notorious pirate ship, she disappeared fifty-three years ago. Believed wrecked, I think. Why do you ask?" So thirteen years before the believed last sighting of the mansion's previous inhabitant, and seven years after they dismissed the servants. And I've also discovered inconsistencies. The crab earlier said the grandparent died three years ago, or that was when the body was discovered. I think that may have been elsewhere, however. Since the great-grandparent was last inhabitant of the house.

[Recaiden]

Chrystalla is correct. Of course statues are really cool. That's one of the reasons Vix makes them instead of some other depiction.

Why does that- oh, her fiancé was killed by the monster babies.
That was actually a pretty short story. But such a sad one. She's a little surprised that Chrystalla told it to her.

Vix directs her character to dive down and take a picture of the boss's weak point. Amazing, you can't even notice the technobabble working, just the smooth movement of the camera-

But then, with the level over, she sets down the controller and tries to give Chrystalla a sideways hug with her arm.
"So-rry"

"Pick" "Some" "Thing" "For" "J-Anani"?
"That's" "New"
"..."
"Thank" "You" "For" "Let-ting" "Us" "In" She realizes she didn't say that before, but it's important. Where would they have gone if this didn't work out?

[bc56]

Heresy Fighters

Purple whirls at the sound of Gold's voice, but it was a trick, and she whirls back in time to see her opponent bounding away. She can't keep up with this, but she needs her sword back. She'll chase Gold as far as she can. She's determined like that.

Abandoned Hospital

This room doesn't contain a broken bulb. Rather, the source of sparks is much more hazardous. A breaker box has been torn apart, cables trailing into a pool of water that fills the center of the room. A skeleton in the rags of surgical scrubs lies face-down in the pool, a sleek black handgun clasped in its fist. There's a large metal desk with several drawers and an ancient-looking computer on the far side of the room.

[Artemis97]

[Delmah Phor]

Oh. Right. With all that was happening by the cafe, Miranda had almost forgotten where they actually were. She didn't have much interest in the market herself, but it was a good place to take a small group with diverse interests.

Vlad shrugs a little at Jack's comment. "Could do without the threat of being flayed alive, yeah."

"Well, that was fun." Rose says, making her way down the street. "I'm off to see how far this shift in mores can take me. Meet you guys here again in a few hours."

Miranda stiffens. Rose on her own out here? That could be a recipe for disaster. "Rose, no, we're not splitting up the-"

"Too late." Vlad mutters.

"Okay, okay, Eun, could you go with her and make sure she stays out of-" Miranda cuts herself off, not seeing that course of action ending with Eun outside of the fetal position.

"Well, actually, Vlad, would you-" No, that was an even worse option. The two of them were volatile enough individually.

"...Ah, crap." Miranda sighs and takes off after Rose herself, disappearing into the market streets.

Vlad shrugs. "I guess it's just us four, then." He glances at the roaches in Raril's hands, wondering how they even came up with the concept.

Eun, also seeing the roaches, hastily directs her gaze elsewhere, not wanting to watch more bugs getting eaten. Her stomach was bothering her as it was.

Delmah Phor

"Oh, don't look at me like that! I don't want to go inside. You've got really cool buildings here, and temples always get that little bit more extra effort put in, don't they?" Jack's not planning on going inside, or even getting too close- she just wants to see what she's expecting will be the most impressive building in an area full of buildings that actually impress her.

She grins as she's given more locusts, and she's going to ask for a roach as well. She notices Eun's face, however, and suggests something. "Why don't we go see if we can find some tea or something? A thing which isn't bugs, for Eun. She's not looking too happy about it." Although technically neither Jack's nor Raril's snack are bugs.

[Delmah Phor - Raril's group]

Raril glances at Eun and sees she's looking a little green and quickly stashes the roaches away. Though they were best eaten hot, he could enjoy them later. Good thing he didn't buy the scorpions. "Right, Well the cafe on the corner does tea and coffee. There's a teashop over there. They should have a nice ginger blend for sale, if your stomach's upset. I'll personally vet the ingredients, so you don't get anything too exotic. Should be fine, really, if you don't mind things sweetened with mushroom syrup. Sweet mushrooms. They're used to make mushroom wine as well. My family owns a winery, if you really want some good stuff. I could point out enough surfacey food at the boutiques here that we could make a nice picnic of it. We could go through the central square on the way to the park? You'll see the Palace and the Administrative Headquarters that way."

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

"Look, you yourself said we should take in some of the local culture. Do you know a better way to do that than getting to know the locals?"

"Well, no, I-"

"Not to mention the fact that we're surrounded by art in here. It'd be hard to find someplace that would work better for that."

Miranda lets out a deep sigh and crosses her arms. "...Fine. Five minutes."

Rose grins. "Thanks, boss." She turns her attention back to the shopkeeper. "Now, can we have a look at those designs?"

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

The shopkeep blinks, a little surprised things went that way. "Yes of course." He walks over to the case he indicated earlier, the one with mostly bronze and copper, some silver too. "My Mistress only lets me design in lesser metals." He admits with a sigh. "These are all marked lower than they should be too, because they're not her designs." He begin taking pieces out and placing them on another velvet pad.

Among the rings and bracelets and hair accessories, he brings out something larger: a whole corset done in bronze scales. Twin serpents coil from the lower back to support the underbust. Eyes of faceted onyx peer out darkly. "This isn't enchanted, but it's some of my finest work."

[Reinholdt]

[Street Sans Sign]

It was rare to meet someone else with the common sense to hate psychics. Rein definitely feels like he's going to get along with Venus just fine. But he doesn't keep harping on it. Just glad that she has a friend like June that can help her out of those messes.

"It's not the end of the world. I just have to put my paw down sometimes and put up with it others." Reinholdt frowns a little and takes a swig of his alcohol. He's been smashed lots of times but that doesn't mean he's going to be rude to a lady! "Well they shouldn't do that to people either, regardless of the venue. That's just this cat's opinion anyways. Humans are weird. And sometimes stupid. Some offense, sorry."

Though the weird one was him. He never once leapt into someone's lap without their permission. He never was the friendliest of cats.

"You're not wrong though. Even before meeting such a beautiful, amazing, intelligent witch people often underestimated the capability of the cat. I mean, I needed all the help I could get considering the imbalanced odds. But I think I can be proud in my... umm... effectiveness at least." Certainly not proud in WHAT he's accomplished. But the skill in which it was done, sure. Why not? Be a little proud. "What I really need is some sort of cat outfit I can wear when I with her. An accessory perhaps. Something dashing." Or cute.

[Ironsmith]

Delmah Phor

"Oh, don't look at me like that! I don't want to go inside. You've got really cool buildings here, and temples always get that little bit more extra effort put in, don't they?" Jack's not planning on going inside, or even getting too close- she just wants to see what she's expecting will be the most impressive building in an area full of buildings that actually impress her.

She grins as she's given more locusts, and she's going to ask for a roach as well. She notices Eun's face, however, and suggests something. "Why don't we go see if we can find some tea or something? A thing which isn't bugs, for Eun. She's not looking too happy about it." Although technically neither Jack's nor Raril's snack are bugs.

[Delmah Phor - Raril's group]

Raril glances at Eun and sees she's looking a little green and quickly stashes the roaches away. Though they were best eaten hot, he could enjoy them later. Good thing he didn't buy the scorpions. "Right, Well the cafe on the corner does tea and coffee. There's a teashop over there. They should have a nice ginger blend for sale, if your stomach's upset. I'll personally vet the ingredients, so you don't get anything too exotic. Should be fine, really, if you don't mind things sweetened with mushroom syrup. Sweet mushrooms. They're used to make mushroom wine as well. My family owns a winery, if you really want some good stuff. I could point out enough surfacey food at the boutiques here that we could make a nice picnic of it. We could go through the central square on the way to the park? You'll see the Palace and the Administrative Headquarters that way."

[Delmah Phor - Raril's Group]

Well, that was a generous and considerate offer. Eun didn't really have the heart to tell either of them that she didn't really care for tea.

Fortunately, Vlad did. "We probably ought to skip the teashop, but that picnic does sound like a good idea. Nothing quite like a shared meal between friends, yeah?" He goes to give Eun an affirmative nudge, only to stop at the last minute when he remembers Eun doesn't like that, either, switching to a vague "let's go" sort of gesture instead.

Eun smiles at the three of them. "...Y... yeah, let's go get some food." She says finally, seeming a bit more comfortable already.

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

The shopkeep blinks, a little surprised things went that way. "Yes of course." He walks over to the case he indicated earlier, the one with mostly bronze and copper, some silver too. "My Mistress only lets me design in lesser metals." He admits with a sigh. "These are all marked lower than they should be too, because they're not her designs." He begin taking pieces out and placing them on another velvet pad.

Among the rings and bracelets and hair accessories, he brings out something larger: a whole corset done in bronze scales. Twin serpents coil from the lower back to support the underbust. Eyes of faceted onyx peer out darkly. "This isn't enchanted, but it's some of my finest work."

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

"Could've fooled me." Rose replies, looking over the corset. She lets out a low whistle as she admires it. "Damn. That's... that was a project, wasn't it? This must've taken you quite a while."

Miranda silently admires the corset as well, apparently genuinely impressed by the craftsmanship. However, unlike Rose, she wasn't exactly here to shop, and she quickly turns her gaze elsewhere before she's tempted.

Rose's smile fades a little as the implications of the situation sink in. When she'd first come in, the man only had contempt for her, and only offered her some of his wares... presumably, he would do something similar for any other tourist that came in. That had to be a little hard on his psyche, having his work left in the dollar bin.

"Well, you're right about one thing." Rose finally says, counting out coins. "The price tag your mistress put in there is... well, it's just insulting. I'd say it's worth at least, what, twenty, twenty-five percent more?" She starts placing coins in his hand as she talks. "If she wants to shoot herself in the foot and only take [price], well, I guess that means the rest would go straight to you, doesn't it?"

[Artemis97]

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

The shopkeep's mouth forms a surprised 'O' when Rose starts counting coins into his hand. "Uh.. you're absolutely right. What Mistress doesn't know though..." He smirks, counting out the coins and going back to his little calculating tablet. The transaction done, and a small fortune tucked away in his pocket, he asks, "Would the Lady like a bag for her purchases, or would she prefer to wear them out?"

[Ironsmith]

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

Rose smirks. "Well, I didn't buy it to hide it away in a bag." She turns away from the shopkeeper again, attempting to slip on the corset over her shirt and letting him get at the fasteners in the back. "If you would be so kind again?"

Miranda sighs quietly, watching the exchange take place. At this point, she was fairly certain of what Rose was going to do, and she always found it just a bit depressing. She also didn't quite trust the shopkeeper, and so was keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn't try anything untoward.

[Vahnavoi]

Arkham Street Mansion

From inside the shell, there's a faint sound of the crab's voice, though it's hard to tell what it's saying.

The crab comes out of the shell, and looks up at the Swordsman. "A guide is on their way. Her name's Jack. The Black-Hearted Rogue? A once-notorious pirate ship, she disappeared fifty-three years ago. Believed wrecked, I think. Why do you ask?" So thirteen years before the believed last sighting of the mansion's previous inhabitant, and seven years after they dismissed the servants. And I've also discovered inconsistencies. The crab earlier said the grandparent died three years ago, or that was when the body was discovered. I think that may have been elsewhere, however. Since the great-grandparent was last inhabitant of the house.

"... why do you believe the ship was wrecked?", the swordsman asks. Did somebody survive the wreck and deliver the news? If so, that might be a great lead for... for... he is not quite sure why he is so interested in this. He scratches his head, trying to get his train of thought back on track. Somehow, he was convinced all of this relates to the old temple he raided, but on a second thought it's not obvious if there's any connection at all between all these mysterious details.

"Hmmm... yes. Why do you believe the ship was wrecked?", he asks again. Maybe the answer will help him clarify his thoughts.

[Earl of Purple]

Delmah Phor- Raril's Group

"Those sound like fancy buildings. Let's do it." Jack grins and will follow Raril, because she doesn't know the way. She doesn't put her locusts away, though, and keeps eating them as they walk. She'll try not to be too close to Eun as she does so, however.

[5a Violista]

[Perfectlt Normal Elopement]

To her, it definitely feels like a much longer story than it actually is.

Chrystalla gets side-hugged, but says, "it's okay, I like pretending that I'm already over it."

Since the level is over, she leaves it on the scoring screen and gets up. "My bedroom's this way," she says, leading back to a bedroom that has an overflowing laundry basket but is otherwise pretty unremarkable.

"Way back when, I told him if he needed anything, he could come to me."
She goes over to the closet and starts tossing things onto the bed. Strapless dresses, crop tops, skirts, and even a couple tank tops. The dresses are put in a separate pile. "I've got a lot of clothes I don't use anymore. If you find any that fit, feel free."

Chrystalla starts laying the dresses out on the bed: there's a short black one, a longer black one with a slit, a really short red, a shiny green, a floral one, and a sunny yellow one. "Pick one. How did you meet him, anyway?"


[Abandomed Hospital]

Oh, wow, this looks exciting, Carmen thinks.

She looks at the shocking pool. That gun might be good to look at, she thinks. Especially if she might need to use it later, and if it still works.
While, as a succubus, she does have some natural electricity resistance, it might be better to not get shocked anyway.

If she could get closer to that breaker box, she could do some kind of elemental conversion on it.

She concentrates, and unfolds some wings from her back...drat, she forgot about what top she was wearing. Her wings tear the back of it.

Carmen gets a running start, and then flies across the room, to see the breaker box from another angle to see how closely she can get to it.


[Street Sans Sign]

"You're right, humans are weird and stupid," the nature spirit fairy lady says, "But I am still going to take all the offense. How dare you insult me and my people." She is, of course, joking because of the tone of her voice. She wasn't actuay offended.

"I can hardly imagine trying to do everything I do in a day, except without fingers. Lots of things just weren't designed for...not having fingers. It sounds like it must have been hard."

She starts thinking about cats she's seen. Most of the time, dressing up cats make them look like they're not enjoying it, but... "I've seen cats with capes before. Certain capes can look really cool. Hats, too, seem workable. Or maybe just a gold band around a leg."

She can see what looks like almost the edge of the city. They're getting close. She turns to see if he noticed it too, but...blindfold. "Looks like we're almost out of the city, with no more incidents."

[Recaiden]

Of course. It covers a lot of ground, but most of the words go unsaid. So it feels a lot longer than it might actually measure.

Vix isn't sure what to say to that, so she just sort of frowns and says nothing. Pretending it's over doesn't really mean it's over. Except, how would anyone know what over was except Chrystalla herself? It must be the sort of injury that's to the heart, when your fiance is killed by monsters, not something anyone else can really see.

She follows along to the bedroom, nudging an article of clothing back towards the center of the laundry basket, and watches as the dresses are laid out.
"Oh" "Thank" "You"
Vix goes over the clothes. June was able to get her those skirts- she's wearing one now -but for shirts she just has the one half-destroyed one of June's. She starts picking out a few pieces - crop tops and longer skirts mostly - that look like they could possibly fit her shape and placing them in another pile.

"I" "Was" "Run-ning" "A-way" "And" "Fight-ing" "A" "Hound" "Mon-ster" "And" "He" "Came" "To" "Help" Just the other day, in fact.
"Saved" "My" "Life" "Prob-bly" Vix doesn't really like to think about that part.

She points a whip at the shiny green dress. The long black one has the better shape, but this one has the best color which is obviously the more important fact.

[Heresy Fighters]

Purple's sword is left resting on the edge of the rooftop that Gold just jumped away from. Recovering it probably means another delay, even if only a tiny one.
After that it's more of a cat and mouse game, but Gold has a bit of a head start now, and no desire to hurt Purple while they make their getaway across the streets and alleys.

[Artemis97]

[Delmah Phor - Raril's Group]

Raril leads the way up the street to a little grocery store. It has a small artisan bakery section, a deli and butcher's counter, a few shelves for dry goods, and out front bins for fruits and vegetables. The drow explains what most of the goods were, largely imported from the underdark or a mix of drow and surface food. He suggests some nice sliced roast rothe, a sort of underdark cow, diatrama salad, a large underdark bird somewhat like an ostritch, as well as rothe milk's cheese, creamy and a little earthy. The delicatessen was happy to give samples of things to try. Something fairly recognizable was potato salad, and little carrot cakes for dessert. He buys a nice loaf of bread, made from potato flour and cave wheat, and has it sliced for sandwiches. From the produce section, he picks up a small bag of mushrooms, a sweet variety, good for eating raw, though probably strange to a human palate, and some onions to put on the sandwiches with the cheese and rothe meat. From a cooler at the front, Raril selects a few bottles of fizzy, fruity drinks sweetened with mushroom syrup. Aside from the choice of sweetener, they're fairly regular sodas.

Raril says. "I've got a bottle of our family's mushroom wine, if you want to try it. I will warn you though, it can be slightly hallucinogenic." He cautions.

All the food goes in a big woven basket, along with some disposable plates and cups.

"Is there anything else you might want?" Raril asks.

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

The shopkeep is happy to help Rose with the corset clasps. He's perfectly professional about it, too. The corset will fit well, supportive and not too tight. This was clearly designed to allowed for movement and proper breathing, unlike some corsets.

"There." He declares when he finishes with the clasps. "It suits you."

[Ironsmith]

[Delmah Phor - Raril's Group]

Raril leads the way up the street to a little grocery store. It has a small artisan bakery section, a deli and butcher's counter, a few shelves for dry goods, and out front bins for fruits and vegetables. The drow explains what most of the goods were, largely imported from the underdark or a mix of drow and surface food. He suggests some nice sliced roast rothe, a sort of underdark cow, diatrama salad, a large underdark bird somewhat like an ostritch, as well as rothe milk's cheese, creamy and a little earthy. The delicatessen was happy to give samples of things to try. Something fairly recognizable was potato salad, and little carrot cakes for dessert. He buys a nice loaf of bread, made from potato flour and cave wheat, and has it sliced for sandwiches. From the produce section, he picks up a small bag of mushrooms, a sweet variety, good for eating raw, though probably strange to a human palate, and some onions to put on the sandwiches with the cheese and rothe meat. From a cooler at the front, Raril selects a few bottles of fizzy, fruity drinks sweetened with mushroom syrup. Aside from the choice of sweetener, they're fairly regular sodas.

Raril says. "I've got a bottle of our family's mushroom wine, if you want to try it. I will warn you though, it can be slightly hallucinogenic." He cautions.

All the food goes in a big woven basket, along with some disposable plates and cups.

"Is there anything else you might want?" Raril asks.

[Delmah Phor - Raril's Group]

Eun shakes her head, seeming to have a little difficulty keeping up with it all. She already knew about all of these creatures, but until recently, she had believed them to be entirely a work of fiction. They still might be, in a way; just because there were underground cows called Rothe doesn't mean they'd behave like the creatures she'd read about, and there was always the possibility she'd misinterpreted them. Then there were the more mundane items; for some reason, seeing potato salad and carrot cake here was just as surreal as anything else, simply because it didn't fit in entirely with the rest of Drow cuisine. By the time Raril finished, she was too disoriented at what she was seeing to form much of a coherent response.

Vlad, on the other hand, took it all in stride. "Wine can make you high. Got it. Yeah, I think we're all good here."

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

The shopkeep is happy to help Rose with the corset clasps. He's perfectly professional about it, too. The corset will fit well, supportive and not too tight. This was clearly designed to allowed for movement and proper breathing, unlike some corsets.

"There." He declares when he finishes with the clasps. "It suits you."

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

Rose smiles and takes another moment ro admire it. He was right; it did look good on her. Maybe not quite an ideal choice to pair with something as mundane as a t-shirt and jeans, but flattering nonetheless.

"Thank you." Rose gives him a warm smile as she taps her finger against her choker, a slightly coy look in her eyes. "One more thing, before we go... perhaps you would like to meet up again sometime, over coffee? You seem like just the sort of man I'd want to discuss a commission with."

Miranda stands behind her, silently shaking her head. Don't do it, you idiot, she's just playing with you, don't do it...

[Artemis97]

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

The shopkeep glances at Miranda briefly, but quickly turns his attention back to Rose. "Ah, a commission would have to go through Mistress Iridice I'm afraid. I'm still her apprentice. You have no idea the trouble it would cause if I took work on my own. Besides, I'd have to use her workshop. I don't have one of my own."

[Ironsmith]

[Delmah Phor - Rose and Miranda]

"That's a shame." Rose lets out a little, not-entirely-sincere sigh. "Still, she could hardly object to a regular customer, could she? And if your designs sell more consistently, it might behoove her to give them a more respectable price." She gives a little shrug. "Maybe commission isn't the right word to describe it. More... patronage, I suppose?" She turns toward Miranda. "Is that the right term, do you think?"

"...Technically, yes..."

"Patronage, then." Rose smiles. "...And if that's too much, we could always just do coffee."