Trog's Tavern CLVI

[ResidentScribe]

[Quiet Respite]

It didn't take much convincing to get Maxson into the room, he found a nearby dresser to set his gear down on. Rifle down, belts off and without thinking much of it, he pealed off the damp and tattered remains of his shirt too. Exposed skin marred with scaring from previous wounds and new lighter scaring, all along with some more traditional looking tattoos became visible to the room as he took a look over what remained of his top. "Suppose I should try and find something else to wear" He mumbled to himself before seeing a comfortable looking chair and slowly easing himself into it. "Manticore... like, those ancient monsters, those manticores?" He asked as he listened about the venom. "Either way that doesn't sound good, how are you even on your feet?" He asked as he rubbed his chest. Though as the little healer asked for him to get into bed he looked down at himself before glancing back at her.. "I uh... I'm still a little damp, I'd rather not get the bed damp too for others" He explained, only just realising the age old trope of 'there was only one bed'.

Maxson rolled his eyes a little as Rein rated him out of ten, not the worst score he's ever gotten. "I'll keep the killer robots in mind next time, god only knows what those foxes can make" He replied before carefully leaning down to pick at his boot laces. After serveral attempts and some light effort, the laces eventually unfastened, despite being swollen with water and sand. After both were untied he was finally able to kick off his boots, at least those hadn't been damaged at all he thought to himslf.
"Do we need to find something as an anti venom?" He asked in regards to the Manticore Venom. "If so, where and how much do we need to make you feel better?" He added as he sat back in his chair.

[Aurora Alchemi]

Quiet Respite

Reuma remains quiet as Reinholt flexes his knowledge of the venom, though her ears flatten as Maxson starts to question how she's standing. Or rather, how she was standing, because she certainly wasn't going to be able to fight through the swimming of her vision right now to stand. Sipping a bit of water, the healer gives a soft sigh. "L-listen really, I'm not that weak, though I guess I'm glad that I didn't mess something up and that's why it wasn't healing." With the jig up, Reuma pulls off her top, leaving only a tight wrapped bandage esk binding around her chest like a tube top. The reveal shows more skin, more scars, one of which looks exactly like one that Maxson has, and a large purple and green bruise coating her upper left shoulder and trailing down her arm for a ways. It looks putrid, a welt in the middle oozing slightly, and there is the faint crackle of innate healing magics fighting for ground around the outside. I-i figured it would go away on it's own by my natural healing, but if it's buggering up my magic, then I'll have to unweave the curse component... I'll need some strength before then, I guess." Reuma takes another long sip of water, then turns to look over at Maxson. "Listen, Maxson, if I'm flaking out on the bed with this half infected pustule, you can at least sit down..."

As she turns, she gives a show of the back of her neck and shoulders, where deep scars, almost like runes cut into her flesh, glow with an angry red magic. Actually, looking at them a bit closer, they definitely are runes, incised into the softness of Reuma's form with purpose, though the angry magic seems to have warped them some. Either way, it was just another part of Reuma that glows. "I-i see you never let me heal you after the boar hunt, did you? heh... Signe was so mad..." Reuma gives a weak smile to Maxson, motioning at the scar the pair shared, then rolls back into her sitting position. "I suppose the food will be a little longer then? Between getting me fed back to where I can move, getting Maxson dried off, and getting..." Reuma gives a soft sniff. "All three of us bathed, it's gonna be a while yet before we can sleep, haha. Though.... what is an angel? I don't believe I've heard of those before.... or manticore, for that matter. I wonder what else is different between Maxson's world and mine..."

Reuma finishes the little glass of water, the sips slow and measured, but often enough to empty the vessel pretty quickly. "a-and no need to waste antivenom on me, Maxson. Don't you remember about the Satyrlyrri? It's gonna take more then a little toxin to put me down... Though admittedly I'm not doing so hot running on an empty tank. Reinholt, could you be a dear, and find a cool cloth to get the sweat out of my eyes? It stings some...." For as weak as the pronghorn seems to be, she's also managing to bounce back ok, with an almost infectious tenacity, as if she were just used to life grinding her down, and having to rebuild from nothing. "I don't suppose you would have any treasures that sooth aching muscles, would you? The magic my body's putting into this goshforesaken bruise is making my whole shoulders and back stiff." The question comes off slightly pouty, the healer's attitude being less of a 'it hurts to be this close to dead' and more of an 'isn't it inconvenient when you die?' kind of vibe.

[Reinholdt]

[Quiet Respite]

Reinholdt averts his eyes from Maxson stripping only to find Reuma likewise taking off her shirt and having to find someplace even further and more remote to stare at, nibbling at his lip as he does so. He supposes he can't blame them. They both had good reasons at least. "I have spare shirts or jackets if you want them," Reinholdt offers to Maxson. They might be a little tighter than normal, but nothing can be done about that.

And she's been poisoned too because of course she has. Reuma seemed to find a way to make 'working oneself to death' a very legitimate and real threat. Rein shakes his head slowly. "Food will get here when it's properly cooked. No point in rushing it after the soup you just had. Besides, you can have good food or you can have fast food." With the occasional happy medium. He pulls out a flask and pops the lid, taking a sip before putting it away within his jacket. "How do you know about stygian manticore venom if you haven't heard of a manticore before? Just who, or what, stabbed you?" Something's got to have poisoned her.

Rein pulls out of his chair and heads to the washroom, getting a fresh cloth and dousing it in cold water. "In most places that spill into the Nexus, there's an afterlife waiting for those who die," He calls over his shoulder before walking back in and continuing with a normal voice. "There's a thousand different variations, but the gist of it is that most people get sorted into good or bad. The goodest of the good can sometimes become angels, who help run their afterlife, keep cosmic balance, fight the baddest of the bad - those are demons or devils. Just depends." Rein will reach to gently pat Reuma's brow with the cloth to clean the sweat but if she takes it from him, he won't try and stop her. "Angels are known as righteous, just, virtuous, honest, and try to guide the lost and fallen with grace and mercy. At least, that's the most common conception of them. We have a lot of variations running around here so the term itself isn't the best for identifying what's what. Plus we have a rather large demon population too, which have some... let's call them biases about how angels are perceived."

The fey gives a tired shrug. "Best bet is to just try not to get between the two."

[Ironsmith]

[Not? Trog's]

If there's a benefit of June not being in focus, not loading in, and being weird blurs, it's that it gives June less of a headache than being in the tavern with everything going on.

In fact, there is a nonzero chance that she's not even noticing how unloaded everything appears.
That's the problem with not being dependant on sight: it's a little hard to tell when something looks off.

"Just need to...just going somewhere I can think clearly," she answers. She moves away from the well-defined locale into the less-defined area, trying to get far enough away from the crowded tavern so that it doesn't affect her as much.
"Ugh, why does this always happen to her?" June says entirely to herself.

[Outside Trog's And Definitely Not In It]

Fortunately, reality loads itself back in without too much further ado. Probably due to... whatever that thing that seems to be controlling the situation is, no longer having to argue with Zee. June will quickly find herself in an abandoned alleyway, thankfully nowhere near anyone who could cause her any headaches.

Momentarily.

That deep thump of stone-covered boots on the pavement suggests this state isn't going to persist long.

Here!
Be wary of vengeance.
Try fleeing.
Tears ahead.

The messages plant themselves in June's brain as the giant approaches, fists clenched, dark energy pulsing around his left hand and a little tuft of cloth poking out from his right.

[ResidentScribe]

After making sure his equipment was neatly stashed to the side, Maxson looked it over for a moment, Signe had always chewed him out a little to keep his stuff tidy, he only really made it look messy to get a rise out of her. He let out a grunt of effort as he hauled himself out of the chair, using the arm rests to help push himself up. Last thing left was his actual trouser belt, he had already taken off his equipment belt and holster, this was the last uncomfortable item. With a quick squeeze and a metal clack off it came, slipping from each belt loop before he wrapped it around his hand and then set it down next to the rest of gear. He glanced back as Reuma motioned to their shared scar, he lifted his arm to take a look down at it. "This one?" He asked to be sure. "Wild boar... for me it was stopping someone from stabbing you, Signe was... still mad." he explained as he ran his fingers over it.

After a quiet moment he turned and leaned back against a chest of draws. There's a magical thing that happens when wet clothes, gravity and pure obliviousness combines. Tactical pants they may be, secure at the knees thanks to in built knee pads but everything further up is comfortable and fairly baggy. Only with water involved, his trousers were hanging lower on his hips and also not hiding any details, despite all the camouflage. He had his arms crossed over his chest as Rein tried to explain what an Angel was, he was doing a lot better than Maxson ever could, Maxson would have done something corny like say Reuma was one... which wouldn't have helped at all. As Reuma mentioned her stiff back, Maxson couldn't help but to butt in "I uh... actually know how to give back rubs." he said with a raised hand. "Combat stress dealing techniques and all that" He tried to explain. "Wait... did you say demon population?" He turned to Rein with a confused and concerned look on his face.

[5a Violista]

"If you're saying that speaking through time causes less of a paradox..." June spends about five seconds thinking about it. "Assuming you're correct, that says something about causality and other physics words."

June looks down at the stool she's on, twists a little, and watches how the coiling snake-tail wraps around and around and around, all pulling each other, and how it seems like the different coils are 'rotating' at a different rate.
"Well, I'm glad I'm not a theoretical physicist so that sort of stuff doesn't really matter to me." If you're not a physicist, then the logic of time-travel isn't something you have to think about! Probably.

"It didn't hurt," she says, speaking about the voice-thing. "It just...sounded weird. Felt weird. Whatever."


[Definitely Outside Trog's 100%]

June waits there, mentally recovering.

Speaking of mental stuff, the messages planted in her brain are pretty much dismissed. (Either that, or they're too low-strength that they don't overcome the natural vampirish background noise, or whatever it's called, that she's got going on.)

But, more importantly, it doesn't even make sense to her why someone would try to get vengeance. It was a match, so trying to get vengeance outside of the match just doesn't make any sense.
June stands up, notices the giant approaching, and turns in that direction. "Oh, hey!" she says, friendlier than she could have done before (since there's no huge crowds of headache-causing people). "Nice match. Glad you're okay. You got your armor fixed up now?"

[Ironsmith]

[External A Location That Is Definitely The Real Trog's^TM]

The giant does not seem to be in the mood to talk. Instead, he steps forward, clenching the cloth in his hand, which he draws up to his chest.

That's all the warning June is going to get before a resounding boom sounds through the alleyway, with enough force to knock her onto her back if she doesn't brace for it. Not just her, either; bits of brick and cobblestone will be sent skittering down the alley by the explosion, both towards June and on the other side of the giant (who looks to be unharmed).

[Zefir]

It has been some time since Zefir was last here in the Bar. His usual work with AMEN got frozen in deadtime. Not that anyone needs them. So many evil partys have appeared. Skyside is still worst then before.

He heads for the bar.
"Gimmi something sweet like a Long island Icetea, nothing with magic." he says to the bartender

[Morty]

"It usually dos. Does? Something," Zee replies, waving the something away like an annoying fly with one hand. "I'm not really one for formalities."

Then?

She listens.

And gives a low whistle.

"Wow that's quite a portfolio of mysterious sage business. I've done the horse disguise thing before, but that was mostly just because there was a pretty serious threat to the City lurking in our equestrian quarter and I was trying to blend in since the jerks had already spotted me once."

Also shot her in the face with a sniper rifle.

That was really unpleasant.

"One of those rare things I get involved with directly. Though even then I needed to keep a lid on whatever actions I took. But! It worked out! Which you can tell because everyone in the City hasn't been devoured and replaced with chaos-fueled nightmares."

Which would have been pretty bad.

"So what about you? You ever find yourself having to get involved in a story a little more directly?"

"I... almost did, once." Askeladd looks away and sighs. "But I decided it's really better if I didn't. It would have availed my people nothing, in the end. And so I found my way here instead."

[CosmicHobbit]

It's at this moment a large minotaur with large horns like those of a Texas longhorn walks in, having to enter through the doorway rather carefully to avoid hitting his head or the sign in his hands on anything. A large sword is strapped to his back, and apart from his slightly ragged cloth pants and some leather belts criss-crossing his chest nothing covers the brown and white spotted fur covering his body. He makes his way over to a table, carefully and gently sets up the sign on it, and lounges in one of the chairs around the table he's transformed into his personal advertisement space. The sign reads:

WARRIORS, HEALERS, ASSASSINS AND OTHERWISE WANTED
An expedition into a most foul dungeon with most lovely riches!
Any and all skills that would help with combat against beasts, monsters, and monstrous beasts wanted!
All non-magical items shall be split equally, with magical items being given to whoever first finds them.
- Haggis

The minotaur, apparently named Haggis, seems very pleased with his sign as he puts his hooves up on the table and leans back in his chair.

[Deathkeeper]

The new arrival does not go unnoticed by a strikingly similar gentleman. One seven-foot tall brown minotaur in a pair of much less ragged pants. Krayger has some shirts. He has his collared shirts for looking classy and his breastplate for fighting and his hoodie for when it’s cold. But when none of the above are happening he likes his classic look. Even if he added the holster over the years.
”Afternoon, sir. What sorta place you recruiting to raid?” asks the mercenary. The sign isn’t that descriptive.
”Nice horns, by the way.” he adds. Can’t go without recognizing that. His own are pointed towards the ceiling and much less wide. He sometimes hits them on ceilings but doesn’t have the door trouble Haggis demonstrated.

[Rebonack]

Okay so.

Vaguely arthropod person?

Sure.

Zee is having a lot of troubles with details here for some reason. Humanish upper body, four bug legs below. The description is fuzzy, however. Are they ACTUALLY human on the top half or still insectile and just human shaped? Zee isn't sure since she hasn't gotten a great read on the newcomer.

It might have something to do with the June swarm.

She isn't sure.

One way or the other, the newcomer gets her iced tea.

"If you need anything else let me know, okay?" Zee says.

Meanwhile!

Speaking of June swarms.

"Less paradox," Zee corrects. "Not less of a paradox. Paradox is a thing. A very very weird thing."

The weirdest thing?

Not quiet.

"It mostly involves perceptions and what makes sense. What reality will let slide without clobbering me. It's all very... wibbly. Possibly wobbly, too."

Zee is using highly scientific phrases here.

"No one's mentioned my voice makes them feel odd before. This definitely isn't the first time I've done it and now you've got me curious. It felt weird how, exactly?" Zee inquires.

Oh. Hmm. Things are blowing up over there now, too. She'll definitely need to remember to have checked that bathroom out half a year ago.

Also Meanwhile!

"One Long Island Iced Tea!" Zee says, passing off the drink to the once-AMENite. "Haven't seen you here in a long time, Zefir, what's cooking?"

Also Also Meanwhile!

"Ah, I gotcha," Zee replies with a sagely nod. It leaves her curious what's going on with his people now. Just following the paths they set for themselves? Hopefully not being pressed into the armies of warlords that is always terrible. "I guess they question is now, what's your next step? Look for some new folks to watch over? Maybe strike out on your own a bit? Wrestle some bears?"

Bear wrestling is, supposed, popular with Lunars.

Sometimes it traumatizes the bears a bit, though.

[CosmicHobbit]

The new arrival does not go unnoticed by a strikingly similar gentleman. One seven-foot tall brown minotaur in a pair of much less ragged pants. Krayger has some shirts. He has his collared shirts for looking classy and his breastplate for fighting and his hoodie for when it’s cold. But when none of the above are happening he likes his classic look. Even if he added the holster over the years.
”Afternoon, sir. What sorta place you recruiting to raid?” asks the mercenary. The sign isn’t that descriptive.
”Nice horns, by the way.” he adds. Can’t go without recognizing that. His own are pointed towards the ceiling and much less wide. He sometimes hits them on ceilings but doesn’t have the door trouble Haggis demonstrated.

Haggis gives a big grin at Krayger, snapping and pointing a finger gun at him. "Good day friend, and thank you for the compliment! Yours are quite nice as well!" He speaks just a bit too loudly, as if he were a salesman trying to attract customers at a carnival. "I shall be leading the looting and possible lambasting of The Mispelled Cemetary! We'll go five or six layers deep, or as deep as possible without anybody dying, whichever comes first." He speaks about death flippantly, even as he assures the other minotaur that nobody will come to their demise.

[Deathkeeper]

"Five?" asks Krayger incredulously. "That's pretty deep as far as I remember from all the rumors. You'd need-" Krayger almost said you'd need some pretty hardcore heroes, before remembering that he qualifies.
"'Well, you'd need to be careful alright."

[5a Violista]

It's not a swarm! It's only, like...two? two present? Present-but-half-a-year-off? something? That probably doesn't technically count as a swarm.

"So it's a...grammar thing, basically," June concludes. That's probably what it is. Less paradox implies it's a thing kinda like water. So now June's going to visualize paradox as a fluid. One that's kinda sticky and with a decently high viscosity.
Nah, it still doesn't make too much sense, especially with all the 'wibbly' and 'clobbering' technobabble that Zee's spouting, but at least it can be visualized now.

"Oh. Um...it feels like..." Since imagining paradox as a fluid seems to have helped, June tries to come up with an appropriate metaphor for it. "Like. You ever played a fiddle, where you're playing with a droning flourish but one of the strings is slightly out of tune? It felt like that." Mm. But what if Zee hasn't played a fiddle before? Okay, the obvious solution is to extend the metaphor. "When one thing is slightly out of tune, it's like they're trying to be resonant but instead it has that wavelike sound where they're sometimes clashing. Or, more specifically, it felt like, um..." Best way to describe this has got to be..."What reality is and what reality actually is were out-of-tune with each other. So, yeah. Like that. Sorry, hard to explain."


[outside The Real Trog's^TM]

June gets knocked onto her back.
Bricks and cobblebits hit her.

Why, though? she thinks.

She does a backwards somersault to get back up to her feet, and takes a step back.
As she does that, the pistol (that was in the pocket of the maid apron) falls out and onto the ground.

"Hey! We're not in the arena anymore!" she says. "There's people around! What if you hurt someone?"

[CosmicHobbit]

"Five?" asks Krayger incredulously. "That's pretty deep as far as I remember from all the rumors. You'd need-" Krayger almost said you'd need some pretty hardcore heroes, before remembering that he qualifies.
"'Well, you'd need to be careful alright."

Haggis shrugs, the smile staying plastered to his face. "That's exactly why I'm enlisting help, friend! And besides, that's also why I added the bit about nobody dying." Is Haggis cocky to a fault about this, or does he genuinely have no idea how dangerous what he's proposing is? Not even he knows. "So what do you say, you want in?"

[Rebonack]

Absolutely one hundred percent is a swarm.

What if another June walked in just now? Like Venus or Seraphina?

Then the situation would be even more swarmy.

"Kiiiiind of? It comes down to plausible deniability. If I could plausibly have been yelling at Other June back when this was happening then it isn't so bad. The events in the Weird Bathroom are still unfolding from my perspective, even though this all happened half a year ago from Other June's. It would only get really weird if she showed up here all of a sudden and we asked her what happens after she meets the armor giant guy in the alley."

Zee gives a little 'Ugh' at this point.

"I try not to think about this stuff as much as possible. Time things are weird. Ophanim are way better at it since time and space are kinda their whole wheelhouse. With emphasis on the wheel part."

A beat.

"Since. Y'know. They're wheels. Or something like a wheel if you want to be really unspecifically specific."

Why do empyreans have to be such weirdos? Why couldn't Zee have ended up as something that makes sense?

And then some fiddle talk.

"I haven't ever played a fiddle," Zee admits. "Musical instruments have never really been my thing. Though supposedly seraphim are supposed pretty good at doing vocals. I've never really tried. Would probably make weird stuff happen. But! I think I get your analogy. And I definitely get the reality and reality plus thing. I just don't meet people very often that can tell that something is off."

She wrinkles her nose a bit.

"Or at least that can tell something is off and aren't crazy about it."

Like Affy and Fia.

[Morty]

"Ah, I gotcha," Zee replies with a sagely nod. It leaves her curious what's going on with his people now. Just following the paths they set for themselves? Hopefully not being pressed into the armies of warlords that is always terrible. "I guess they question is now, what's your next step? Look for some new folks to watch over? Maybe strike out on your own a bit? Wrestle some bears?"

Bear wrestling is, supposed, popular with Lunars.

Sometimes it traumatizes the bears a bit, though.

"I believe..." Askeladd's gaze turns towards Haggis and the sign he carries. "...a new story just presented itself to me and I would do well to seize it. Farewell, Zee. I thank you for your hospitality and hope we meet again."

With that, the enormous but human individual strolls confidently towards the other table. He's draped in a green cloak held by a bright steel clasp. His face is weather-worn, with dark grey hair streaked with silver, green eyes and a silvery tattoo that encircles his left eye in a concentrated pattern. He has a long beard, tied into a neat braid. In his right hand is a spear of thick greyish white wood, tipped with silvery metal that glistens in a different color from every angle.

"It appears you need help of heroes and wise ones, my friend. And it so happens that I am both."

[Zefir]

Also Meanwhile!

"One Long Island Iced Tea!" Zee says, passing off the drink to the once-AMENite. "Haven't seen you here in a long time, Zefir, what's cooking?"

"Nothing." he says rather frustrated. "And that is the problem. Things with the Org didn't go as planned. I'm don't seem to be leading material, especially in that case. And even worst, none cared. I mean i could likly walk right into Vigil, do some handyman jobs and leave without anyone even ask what i was there for." He takes a sip of his drink. That point was abit over the top, but it's better to get to the point.

"Now I'm sitting here with nothing to do, I heared skyside has been better in the job these days and I heared a lot of sceming villans or whatever. you get the drill."

[5a Violista]

Seeing how Seraphina is trying to survive a disaster and Venus is trying to avoid cultists, it seems unlikely either will waltz into Trog's right now.

Plausible deniability.
"Ha." That's a pretty ridiculous explanation on how reality works. "As long as you can pretend everything's fine, then everything is fine." June supposes that makes sense, somehow. "I guess life's just a walking shadow that struts around a stage."

June doesn't really get the wheel pun.

June stretches her arms.
Twists on the barstool a bit more.
Looks down,
and has a realization.
"Oh! More importantly." She pauses to gather her thoughts. "Let's say this giant armor guy thing gets resolved." She looks over at the bathroom doors, as if expecting just saying that would suddenly make it resolved and lead to someone walking through those doors. Yes, someone just walked through out the bathroom door, but it's a guy in a cape, and not June. "What would you say the odds of her walking out would be? Is there a point in even trying to meet her this way? Or will she show up six months ago and I should go look elsewhere? Or what are the chances she somehow shows up six months from now instead? I don't have enough money to keep on buying drinks to wait for that long."

Is there any point in sticking around? is more of what she's trying to find out.

[Deathkeeper]

Krayger considers the proposal.
"Well, I guess it would depend on the team we dug up. I wouldn't go down there undermanned."
A concern which is alleviated a little bit when someone immediately shows up.
Krayger steps aside and lets the host grill the new person for their expertise.

[Rebonack]

Zee waves to the shiny silver guy as he heads off to do some adventuring.

A time honored tradition, that.

She really doesn't mind her role here. Someone to chat with until newcomers find their legs and move on to make their mark on the world.

And speaking of making marks!

"It sounds like you've got something of a mid-life crisis," Zee replies to Zefir. "The Nexus has moved forward and a lot of the old roles and orgs have changed or faded away. The job of mustache twirling villain just isn't needed anymore in quite the way that it once was. I guess the question is, then, if you can't be the antagonist of someone's story anymore then what else is there? What do you want, Zefir?"

She's not going to chide him for being a villain.

That would be pointless. One would have about as much luck chastising a tree for being tall.

Meanwhile!

Wait, Seraphina is trying to survive a disaster? Is that another June name?

Zee glances around trying to zero in on whatever this is and-

"Oh geeze is that a-"

There's a rumble in the distance and the glasses on the shelves rattle briefly.

"-demon blowing up. Ugh."

Should she intervene in that one? That is, strictly speaking, something that's dangerous even to her. Demons are uniquely terrible. Maybe she should just wait around a bit and see if the Watchers move in? Slapping demons with mops until the mess is cleaned up is in their wheelhouse, after all.

"Uh, right. Plausible deniability. The universe has a bunch of observer effects that people don't usually notice. The ones that are most obvious are all small-scale things since only giant nerds are going to be that nosy about how the universe works. The big ones are hidden better since anyone should theoretically be able to stumble onto them."

It's all quantum mechanics sorts of thing maybe kind of but not really?

Zee is really wishing she had done physics stuff instead of biology stuff at school assuming her backstory has any actual correspondence to reality.

"So this other June? The answer to your question depends on how the Weird Bathroom works. Did all of this happen in the past? Or is there some kind of time warp that's making it keep up with what's going on out here? I have no idea which it is because it isn't defined yet. That part of the story hasn't been written. The events haven't locked. It's just a... probability cloud, I guess? A bunch of different possibilities, some more likely than others. I could answer your question, though, pretty easily. I could give my husband Raril a call and ask if June has been in to work recently. Raril owns the Black Dragon's Den, the pub June works at. If she's been missing for six months, then we know what's going on there is happening now. If she's been to work like normal then what's going on is happening then. But-"

She raises a finger by way of admonishing.

"Once we know the answer the story is locked. That might change the outcome of what's happening to June."

[Ironsmith]

[outside The Real Trog's^TM]

June gets knocked onto her back.
Bricks and cobblebits hit her.

Why, though? she thinks.

She does a backwards somersault to get back up to her feet, and takes a step back.
As she does that, the pistol (that was in the pocket of the maid apron) falls out and onto the ground.

"Hey! We're not in the arena anymore!" she says. "There's people around! What if you hurt someone?"

[Definitely Outside Trog's]

Tears ahead
Try river

The giant strides forward with his arms spread in a taunting pose, daring June to try to retaliate. His head lulls into a quizical tilt as he watches her, waiting for her to make a move. If she doesn't, he's just going to attack again; much like in the arena itself, he seems intent on hurting her, and details like nearby civilians don't seem to bother him.

Though in total fairness to him, what (faceless) people are around this alleyway have the good sense to run once the first blast goes off. This is clearly something that shouldn't involve them.

[5a Violista]

If Zee wants to know the answer to that question, she'll have to ask. Since June can't exactly read nondiegetic text.

Speaking of June, upon feeling the rumble she looks over out a window, wondering how far away it is and if she can see it, or if they need to evacuate. Demon suicide bombers sounds pretty dangerous. Intervening doesn't even cross her mind. "I hope it's not too serious," she says, praying that emergency services can help everyone get away.

"All this theoretical physics stuff is annoying," she says. Ugh. She lies her head on the bar, lying on her arms...or tries to, anyway. That's one of the downsides of six arms, that there's not enough space to put your arms if you ever feel like lying down in resignation. Facepalming, too, that's a hard one. "If I'm going to to think about this, I'm going to have to drink a lot more."
June pauses, and then before that has a chance to be interpreted as a request for alcohol, she instead clarifies and says, "More lemonade, I mean."

Okay, that's enough laying down. "No wonder you 'recognized' me, if she works at your husband's place." Time to think about serious decisions. "Well, knowing now would definitely make it more convenient for me," June says.
There's a beat pause.
"Okay, let's say we call over, ask. She's been missing, but somehow it also already finished then. That would narrow down the probability field to just being something went seriously wrong, and she ended up dying or...maybe it ended but she was still stuck there for another six months. That sort of thing always happens in time travel stories where you try to change something but it ends up having unintended consequences." And June imagines the same result could happen if she just heads over to the Black Dragon's Den. Sure, maybe everything's fine and that's that, but also maybe this observer effect causes serious problems. It's a little frustrating, knowing you probably have several doppelgangers going around, but doing something right now to figure out why might have dangerous consequences for one of them.


[100% Outside Trog's]

Of course June's not going to retaliate.
This is dumb.
Just because someone's too much of a hothead to keep it in the arena doesn't mean she needs to start a fight.

Instead, she notices that the gun's not in her pocket but is instead on the ground.
She starts doing a forward cartwheel towards the giant, swinging her legs that way and landing her hands near the pistol...but instead of finishing it, while in the handstand position she just grabs the gun with one of her hands and finishes by doing a more normal cartwheel back and away from the giant.
Pretty impressive way of picking up a gun, right?

She decides the best course of action is to just run away like everyone else, down the alley. (She puts the gun back in the pocket while running.)

[Zefir]

Zee waves to the shiny silver guy as he heads off to do some adventuring.

A time honored tradition, that.

She really doesn't mind her role here. Someone to chat with until newcomers find their legs and move on to make their mark on the world.

And speaking of making marks!

"It sounds like you've got something of a mid-life crisis," Zee replies to Zefir. "The Nexus has moved forward and a lot of the old roles and orgs have changed or faded away. The job of mustache twirling villain just isn't needed anymore in quite the way that it once was. I guess the question is, then, if you can't be the antagonist of someone's story anymore then what else is there? What do you want, Zefir?"

She's not going to chide him for being a villain.

That would be pointless. One would have about as much luck chastising a tree for being tall.

Zefir shrugs at the first one. "Maybe, but here is the problem. I don't know." he says and takes another sip.
"I know what i DON'T wanna be. Not any kind of evil leader, but also not on the other side. I still have my principeks and those don't really stick with the good side." Then he immediatly he lifts a hand in defense. "I know what you think, 'Why not go for Merc?'. For on I don't belive they would allow it due to their no AMEN policy, second I don't think that really is something for me. What i did in the past is simular, but not the same. The difference is what i dislike."

"And that brings us to today."

[Ironsmith]

[100% Outside Trog's]

Of course June's not going to retaliate.
This is dumb.
Just because someone's too much of a hothead to keep it in the arena doesn't mean she needs to start a fight.

Instead, she notices that the gun's not in her pocket but is instead on the ground.
She starts doing a forward cartwheel towards the giant, swinging her legs that way and landing her hands near the pistol...but instead of finishing it, while in the handstand position she just grabs the gun with one of her hands and finishes by doing a more normal cartwheel back and away from the giant.
Pretty impressive way of picking up a gun, right?

She decides the best course of action is to just run away like everyone else, down the alley. (She puts the gun back in the pocket while running.)

[Down the Street from Trog's*]

That was a pretty sick cartwheel.

Unfortunately for June, the giant is beyond used to dealing with people who expect to be able to backflip their way out of trouble. In this case, it has an answer in the form of a transparent globe emnating from its outstretched hands, shooting into the ground near where June will stand back up, exploding with close to the same force as before. Being that much closer, that could hurt a lot.

In any case, the giant doesn't really need to hurt her; it just needs her off her feet for long enough to close the distance. Much like it's trying to do now, with heavy, ominous steps in her direction.

[CosmicHobbit]

"I believe..." Askeladd's gaze turns towards Haggis and the sign he carries. "...a new story just presented itself to me and I would do well to seize it. Farewell, Zee. I thank you for your hospitality and hope we meet again."
With that, the enormous but human individual strolls confidently towards the other table. He's draped in a green cloak held by a bright steel clasp. His face is weather-worn, with dark grey hair streaked with silver, green eyes and a silvery tattoo that encircles his left eye in a concentrated pattern. He has a long beard, tied into a neat braid. In his right hand is a spear of thick greyish white wood, tipped with silvery metal that glistens in a different color from every angle.
"It appears you need help of heroes and wise ones, my friend. And it so happens that I am both."

Krayger considers the proposal.
"Well, I guess it would depend on the team we dug up. I wouldn't go down there undermanned."
A concern which is alleviated a little bit when someone immediately shows up.
Krayger steps aside and lets the host grill the new person for their expertise.

Haggis turns his attention to the human newcomer, beaming at him. "Ah, good day my friend! Indeed I am in need of such help, and you do indeed look like just the person I'm looking for! Me and my fellow horned friend here are planning to venture into The Mispelled Cemetary and reap the spoils of such an adventure." He points to the sword on his back, the grin becoming less welcoming and more smug. "As you can see, I can handle myself in a one-on-one confrontation, but for the hordes of the dead we shall face I need a bit more help. Any questions?"

[Rebonack]

She could just ask, couldn't she?

Ugh.

Zee has been reading worldlines long enough that it is really skewing her perception of things. Honestly she wouldn't mind just being able to see people instead. This stupid celestial perception thing is way more trouble than it's worth most of the time.

"Is Seraphina another June name?" she asks seemingly out of the blue. "And it's pretty serious. Though we've got some serious emergency response, too."

They have to in a city like this.

"I know, right?" Zee agrees, passing another lemonade to June. "I didn't exactly sign up to be introduced to the world of weird. It's way easier not noticing all these things all the time instead of having to tip-toe around on eggshells to avoid breaking things on accident."

June's reasoning gets a nod. Yeah, that makes sense. "There are some other possibilities yeah. What if she got out six months ago and just hasn't been back to work for some reason? Maybe the experience changed her and now she's into gladiatorial combat instead of waiting tables? Though I would hope she would at least give a two week notice instead of just disappearing. There are lots of possibilities but none of them are really real until they get locked in."

Zee sticks her tongue out at this point.

"Sorry about dumping all this nonsense on you. It's just kind of... lonely, you know? Having to think about all this stuff when people usually don't even notice it. It makes me feel like I'm crazy sometimes."

Meanwhile!

"Which brings us to today," Zee agrees, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe it would help to look at this from a slightly different angle? What do you value, Zefir? What's meaningful to you?"

Obviously it must be something, right? Everyone is motivated by things.

[Zefir]

Meanwhile!

"Which brings us to today," Zee agrees, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe it would help to look at this from a slightly different angle? What do you value, Zefir? What's meaningful to you?"

Obviously it must be something, right? Everyone is motivated by things.

"That is a heavy question." Zefir says. "I mean honesty is important." he giggles. "Not really important in my last job, but I think i valued it even more since I missed it there. I also do value family, having like over a dozen siblings and all. Even if I was something like an outcast. Non of them is here and neitehr can I call them, so my other option would be making my own family. That is more difficult then running down a dungeon."

[5a Violista]

June is almost surprised when Zee asks about 'Seraphina' out of the blue, before remembering that, yeah, if Zee's met an alt-universe June then it'd make sense if she knew other of her names.
"Um. Yeah, it is. Mighty Seraphina Gabrielle, the name I got just before I got June."

She takes the new lemonade (okay, that's a benefit of having this many arms: you can grab lemonades with whichever one you want). "Yeah, I get that. Had a pretty decent life, but then suddenly! Nexus. Didn't look the same as I did, but was still funadementally me. Saw weird things happening to everyone around me but thought I'd be spared from it because just being in the Nexus was weird enough, y'know?"

She sits back up, and drinks lemonade.
"Then all of a sudden! Weird!" June gestures at herself to emphasize what she means. "Had to relearn everything, even the basics." Can even see infrared, so things don't even look the same. So hard to find matching colors.

Well, at least locking in the possibilities does have some non-awful possibilities.

She waves off Zee's apology. "It's fine. I've felt kinda crazy too, wondering if, for example, if nobody else seems to even see names the same way I do, if that makes me the weird one for caring about it. Sometimes wonder if I should just stop caring about it." And other things, but that's the biggest one she still cares about. She's basically accepted that 'human' refers to a specific species instead of just people in general, and that demons have a physical form, and that 'gals' isn't gender-neutral, and a lot more things, but still stubbornly sticks to the meaning of names to her, even if it means nothing but something to call someone to most other people.
And she drinks more for thinking about that.



[Down* the street from trog's]

June has fought giant bugs and frogs (survived those encounters), children who enslaved magic animals (talked her way out), a dumb mind-controlling wizard (beat him with deception), some ghosts and some cultists (she got some help with that), and a single giant who can use magic and doesn't care about collateral damage. (Not counting friendly sports matches, obviously.) ((Oh, and grabby drunk people probably count as fighting, too.))

Unlike the giant, she can't really say that she's used to dealing with this kind of situation.

Fortunately, this time, since the giant was fast enough that the gun is still in her hand and not her pocket, June doesn't drop the pistol.

So she gets exploded away. Which is unfortunate because she's still not completely fine after that encounter with Magtok Prime.

Tumbling in spite of the pain, however, is something that she has a lot of experience with.
Flying through the air turns into a grounded roll which turns into half a cartwheel which puts her back onto her feet far too quickly with momentum already behind her.

Ideally she'd run back into Trog's, but the giant's magic blasts have already knocked her too far from getting back in there without running right past the giant.

So, obviously, the only thing to do now is run.
And turn around a corner since she has an idea for how far the giant can jump at once.