Vigil 8: Try jumping

[Ashen Lilies]

The Skybase has NPC lookouts who will offer transportation to any not obviously hostile people attempting to get to the surface. This process can be completely handwaved, unless there's a very important plot reason not to.

Whereas GLoG concerns itself with redeeming evil-doers (and healing the sick and sheltering refugees etc.) and AMEN is evildoers, Vigil takes a more neutral approach. Vigil doesn’t concern itself with good or evil, but with kicking people who need to be kicked. It is dedicated to preventing threats to the Nexus, both massive-scale and small-scale, from muggers and exploding taverns to apocalypsoi and demonic invasions. Of course, given that evil-doers tend to be the ones who cause those things, Vigil tends to be pitted against the forces of evil more often than not, but it doesn’t care that they’re evil, just that they’re causing trouble. Calling it a 'Good' organization is likely to draw the ire of some of the more morally relative members around. Maybe. Some members do call it a Good organization. There's no real reason to care about it, so I'm not gonna!

VIGIL is an organization that exists to stop some bad things from happening.

Oh, and also their first base done got blowed up by demons. It was terribly inconvenient.



Current VIGIL Locations: (PLEASE USE LOCATION TAGS IN THIS THREAD OR I WILL SHOW UP IN YOUR BASEMENT IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT AND SHANK YOU).


[Vigil Skybase] (Official Vigil HQ)

Vigil's new base, built atop a flying island hijacked from the Hunting Grounds. The island is propelled by large engines created by the Mia, priestess of Deus Mechanicus, and is currently on patrol.

Spoiler: Island Surface

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The portion of the base on the surface of the island consists of several complexes red stone buildings ringing a basin towards the upper end of the island. Flanked by several peaks, the basin serves as a natural shelter to the surface structures of the Vigil base, and is bisected by a narrow lake that flows into a river towards the lower end of the island. Plentiful footpaths crisscross the various complexes that make up the Vigil base, along with a one-way monorail that runs the length of the valley, allowing for rapid transit from one end of the base to another.

The Academy
Placed strategically at the head of the valley, the Academy serves as a main hub for the base, splitting the two halves of the basin with a complex of several large stone structures. The largest of these structures is the Library, which contains numerous books on magic as well as the theory of warfare and martial arts; some saved from the wreckage of the former Vigil base, others new additions donated by Vigil members or the organization’s various benefactors. The Library also contains several Labs well suited to conducting magical and scientific research, map rooms for strategic planning, and a telescope observatory at the top of a tower for star-gazing. Flanking the Library are the main Armory and Clinic, as well as buildings containing indoor Training Facilities, and elevators and tunnels to the interior and underside of the island. The Library foyer and Academy courtyard also serves as a useful Reception for new visitors to the base.

The Training Grounds
Taking up an entire half of the basin on one side of the lake, the Training Grounds serve as the main point-of-call for any open-air practice Vigil members should wish to conduct. Separate facilities include a running track; arenas for dueling and swordplay; a shooting and archery range; areas for jousting; and other such facilities for martial pursuits.

The Upper Village
On the opposite side of the lake to the training grounds is the Upper Village, where the majority of Vigil members will make their residence. The Upper Village is primarily populated by large stone halls. Living space prioritizes economy over luxury, with large barrack halls splitting their space equally between intimately sized single rooms and larger bunkrooms for members that value their privacy a little less. Centered in between these barrack halls are a central plaza and some community buildings, including a mess hall, gym and recreational building, tennis courts and basketball hoops, laundry buildings, and a large bathhouse with group and individual baths. Close to the lake are several fenced-off gardens and open grassy areas ideal for outdoor sports, and the lakeside has a rather nice sandy beach. Magical landscaping is convenient like that.

The Battered Shield
A large tavern that has opened up in the Upper Village, meant for off-duty Vigil members and their guests to congregate, relax, and get a few drinks. The tavern gets its name from the broken shield above the entrance, which changes weekly. The back wall of the tavern is covered in more damaged and broken shields, each one smashed in the defense of the Nexus. Live music most nights, including from Rain, Vigil's resident bard.

Commanders’ Village
A little ways uphill from the Upper Village, a set of overlooking terraces set into the mountainside are home to some modest two-story houses. These houses are space provided to the current commanders of Vigil, and each have their own amenities including kitchen, several bedrooms, and plenty of space for studies, workrooms, armories, or shrines to one’s own magnificence.

The Lower Village
Further down the valley, near its foot where the lake narrows into a river that flows out of the basin, is the Lower Village, partially secluded from the rest of the base amidst the valley walls and the start of the woods that cover the rest of the island. The Lower Village has small, separate houses with their own gardens and more privacy compared to the communal living spaces of the Upper Village.

Emergency Monorail
This stone railway along runs from the Lower Village, through the Upper Village, up towards the Academy. Runes placed at intervals along the railway allow for the summoning of a magic platform that moves rapidly in one direction up towards the Academy, making it useful for emergencies or other times when expedience is required.

Spoiler: Island Interior

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Command/Combat Information Center
Located deep within the heart of the island, this easily defensible underground complex could serve as a future command center for Vigil operations. As of right now, it’s sparsely furnished with a few offices including some larger offices for Vigil’s command staff, a mainframe room, and a pair of video conferencing rooms.

Battle Clinic
Less luxuriously equipped than the main surface clinic, this clinic’s central underground location makes it an ideal spot for emergency treatment in the heat of battle.

Vaults
Underground vaults for the storage of possible artifacts and items of apocalyptic or near-apocalyptic importance. Currently very empty.

Spoiler: Island Underside

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Airship Gantry
Carved into the underside of the island is a cavernous open-air hanger, crisscrossed by bridges and hanging platforms. As of yet, a pair of large skyships built for hauling cargo currently occupies the interior, in addition to a small flotilla of yacht-sized skyskiffs for transport. Given Vigil’s past history with flying devices of all sorts, it’s likely to become the home for many more in the future. An upside-down tower near the entrance to the hanger serves as an air-traffic control of sorts, as well as a command tower with communications linked to the other exterior observation towers.

Skyship Reference (bulkier, with less weaponry)

Skyferry Reference (less fancy, no propellers)

Observation Towers
Upside-down towers dot the underside of the island at various point, providing lookout points for sentries to observe the land below, as well as a possible platform for defensive or siege weapons to be mounted in the future.

[Vigil Safehouses - Inside/Skyside]

A pair of safehouses, located in Inside and Skyside. The Vigil safehouses from the outside look like ordinary, unattractive worn-down apartment blocks, though they are equipped with a heavy door and security systems to prevent entry to non-Vigil members. Inside there are beds, toilet and bathing facilities, and enough supplies and equipment to last about a dozen members each for several months. Intended to be used as temporary staging bases so that Vigil can still operate semi-normally while in hiding, but light on electronic equipment, in order to avoid detection.

[Vigil Ruins]

The old base, located on a cliff-side above the lake. Done got blowed up by demons. They're still there, probably.



CURRENT LEADERS (talk to these guys if you need help - of the regular kind, not psychiatric help. They're not qualified for that.)
- Wenomir
- Cessie Mithar

Previous Threads

Spoiler

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WATCHTOWER 1: I can see my house from here! 07/09/2009 - 13/12/2009
WATCHTOWER 2: Who Watches the WATCHTOWER? 13/12/2009 - 09/05/2010
WATCHTOWER 3: Big Brother is WATCHing You. 09/05/2010 - 30/07/2010
WATCHTOWER 4: Doing Nothing, With Style (since 2009) 30/07/2010 - 12/09/2010
WATCHTOWER 5: 100 Rooms of DOOOM! 12/09/2010 - 14/11/2010
WATCHTOWER 6: Like Justice League, but ON LAAAND! 14/11/2010 - 17/01/2011
WATCHTOWER 7: In the Face of Overwhelming Adversity, we Break Things. 17/01/2011 - 13/03/2011
WATCHTOWER 8: It's Curtains for You! 13/03/2011 - 09/04/2011
WATCHTOWER 9: The Impenetrable Thread. 09/04/2011 - 28/05/2011
WATCHTOWER 10: All Out of Bubblegum 28/05/2011 - 28/06/2011
WATCHTOWER's 11: Fighting Apocalypses Through Childbearing 28/06/2011 - 19/08/2011
WATCHTOWER 12: Maturity Optional 19/08/2011 - 4/10/2011
WATCHTOWER the 13th 4/10/2011 - 18/11/2011
WATCHTOWER 14: Now a Family Business. 18/11/2011 - 14/05/2012
WATCHTOWER 15: New and Improved! 14/05/2012 - 10/10/2012
WATCHTOWER 16: Quick and Dirty 11/10/2012 - 13/08/2013
WATCHTOWER 17: Through Cloud, Shadow, Earth, and Flesh. 13/08/2013 - 04/07/2014

WATCHTOWER and HALO Unification Tournament

VIGIL I: We don't have a cool title yet...
VIGIL II: All Our Base Are Belong to... Who?
VIGIL 3: Uh... can we get a mulligan?
VIGIL 4: Swordfights!!! on Air
VVVVVigil: Valorous Veterans Vanquishing Venal Vermin
VIgil: Return of the Geneva
Vigil VII: Strife Amidst the Clouds

Spoiler: Out of Character Notes

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1. Conflict is great! It's the heart of any story, and there isn't much to roleplay without it. However, no randomly destroying the place, or doing something to it that'll produce a similar effect (for example, no placing a massive time freeze on the entire area forever). You're allowed to damage it, but destroying it just takes the fun out of it for all the other players. If you do want to run a plot in which a base or the whole organization gets destroyed, though, feel free to run your idea through OoC to see if other people like it and are willing to roleplay it out!
2. No godmoding/godmodding. It's not permitted in other ACRONYMs, and it isn't in VIGIL. The occasional mishap's OK, repeated offense isn't.
3. Please try and keep posts longer than one or two lines of speech. Description is appreciated. One-or-two-liners that don't do much are OK once in a while - but not regularly.
4. If you want random smashy hahaN00BlulzFun, here's not the place. Anything spammy, random, or just plain annoying, can go! Of course, if your silliness is in moderation and well-roleplayed, and considerate of other players, then welcome in.

---

Thinking about roleplaying in the Nexus? Come say hi in our Discord!

[Deathkeeper]

[DRAGON STORM]

Good thing he didn't say that as Ambrosia would have thought she had left more of an impression than that.
Ambrosia nods to Spako. "Then I owe you a thanks as well, mister Highclaws and not only for helping freeing me from that curse. If you ever need help, of any sort really, then don't hesitate to contact me. Controlled or not, I still would like to keep in touch with you."

DRAGON STORM

The dragon researcher? Sure. That particular human body? No, he hadn't actually stopped to look down at the human body on the floor.
"Of course, Miss. I'll do that." he wouldn't wound her pride by refusing such a request.

[Morty]

[DRAGON STORM]

"We are familiar with the King in Rags," Wenomir says in a grim tone. The name has come up before and always meant trouble. He can't fault Ambrosia for trying to attack him, but doing so on her own wasn't very wise. Given what she said to her friend, though, she seems to realize it. "Jarowit was a god of war. My people still worship him, but they say he's dead, like the other gods. The warrior-caste are meant to be his chosen, and since I'm not one of them, I was deemed unworthy of becoming a warrior." There's this towering resentment again. "When you first attacked me, I remembered a story about him, that I'd forgotten. About how he used to deflect lightning. And I did it myself. It was... odd. That story involved a bird of some kind, but they do say he slew dragons as well, when they still lived."

He raises his hand to acknowledge Awen when she approaches.

"Everything is under control, Awen. Good work."

[Zefir]

[Dragon Storm]

Lapis nods back to Wenomir. There must be an ear healer at the command center who can help her! That's good since her ears really hurt and she can't hear anything and both of those things are terrible.

So!

Off she goes towards the command center trying really hard not to cry and generally doing a pretty good job of it.

Lapis, for the record, appears to be a half drow girl about ten years old in human terms. Her skin tone is a dusky olive with some pretty strong blue undertones and yellow freckles. Black hair like her mother and the red eyes of her father. She's wearing a VIGIL support staff uniform sized for her and a green sweater cap.

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

Mia is still focused on her drones and managing the damage report. It's not a very high valued job but you know someone has to do it. Thought the reports will mostly contain shattered glass by the thunder and maybe a few dents by the hail.

When Lapis knocks she will be called in, but she won't hear it tdue to her injury. Mia isn't aware of the deaf so she reacts as if nothing happens. Still focused, but aware that Lapis has stepped in (assuming she just does as she was pointed here) Mia says.

"Can I help you?"

Mia sits in an office chair on a half round table. a few monitors in front show different parts of the island. left and right are other monitors that show other regions, one her lab the other the infirmary.

[Rebonack]

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

After knocking Lapis thinks better of it.

If someone told her to come inside, would she hear it?

Probably not.

All she can hear is the ringing in her ears.

So she just pushes inside instead.

There are a few people in the command center and she isn't sure which one can help her but Mister Wenomir sent her here so someone must be able to help, right?

Lapis speaks, louder than strictly needed. "THE THUNDER HURT MY EARS AND I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING MISTER WENOMIR SENT ME HERE DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO HEAL EARS?"

It's clear enough that she's not feeling great, what with the tears in her eyes and, visible when she pulls off her little hat, the blood on her ears. She must have been near one of the large lightning strikes.

[Shadowcaller]

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

"Considering that he sent me here, I figured you were familiar with one another." Ambrosia muses before Wenomir starts to lay down some Jarowit facts.

She listens in silence until Wenomir seem to mention something she considers unbecoming. "A bird?" Her enormous wings spread wide and her nostrils flare as she let's out a snort powerful enough to mess up Wenomir and Blanche's hair. "He couldn't even find a proper story. What an utter failure of a fey. No wonder his dream was so fragile." She shakes her head in disapproval.

"But speaking of failures, one of the reasons I decided to destroy him was that he kept a dragon-slave. A poor mismanaged thing. Dumb as an animal on a leash with nothing but its fire to speak of. If anything, its master was more of a dragon, as pathetic as he was. See, you should know that this 'rag-king' gathers strength from fear. I could sense it while I was battling him and his dragon-dog." She knows this since she too feeds on fear, among other emotions, but VIGIL didn't need to know everything about dragons of her kind.

Then her attention is drawn to Awen as she approaches. A gorgon? How curious. She had to keep that in mind for the future in case she decided to have more children.

[Arkhosia]

Dragon Storm - Command Center

Ambrosia's gesture is enough for Blanche to back up a step as the burst of breath hits her, her free hand reaching almost subconsciously to grip the strap of her rifle at the sudden motion of Ambrosia's wingspan. It's sudden and large enough of a motion to set her a bit more on edge - even if the lack of any following hostility means the response fades as swiftly as it starts.

[Vahnavoi]

[Eun's Lab]

At the level she'd be playing at, Eun would be surprised if the AI had played more than two, maybe three games of Tetris in her absence. That would imply she lost at some point.

Eun switches on the screen and shakes her head slightly in amusement when she sees what LB2's big sister has been getting up to in her absence. "Lightbringer? Can you hear me?" Eun asks, tapping the microphone.

If she needs to do more than that to get the AI's attention, she will. Tetris can be very distracting.

"Hmmm?" The girl on the screen pauses her game and looks towards her "fourth wall". "Oh, hello Miss Eun. Hello sis. What's up. I thought you'd be gone longer. You... haven't been gone for long right? My clock is still in sync with the outside world? Have to check, I can't tell for sure just by myself."

[5a Violista]

[Dragon Storm]

Awen nods; good to know everything's fine, and there doesn't really appear to be anything she needs to do here.
"U-um, I...I'll be..."
She gestures behind her with her head. "If I'm needed, I'll be at the hanger, making sure the storm didn't cause any problems there." For example, if a skyship was blown into one of the bridges before it could be tied into place, it might be good to have someone who can fly down there. That's her thinking, anyway, since it really does seem like everyone here has it all handled.

"Um. Thanks," she says.
The witch backs off and, once a decent distance away, starts flying and then sits side-saddle on it afterwards, heading to the bottomside of the island.

While flying, she takes care of her blood because it's much easier to clean up while it's still fresh and can be more easily used as a magic catalyst.

Anyway, she goes to the airship gantry to make sure there's nothing in danger of falling or any damaged walkways.

[Gullara]

[DRAGON STORM]

"You just came across them? That's fortuitous." Cessie doesn't make it out to be something she's skeptical of but she does notice Utayo's weariness and isn't sure how to interpret that yet. "But you're not intruding. Quite the opposite really as I'm keen on getting a grasp on what just happened here. I understand the dragon that just attacked us was made to do so by a 'fey king'. Can you confirm this?"

[DRAGON STORM]

"I'm afraid I don't have much insight. I came across Thariza and..." Her brow furrows as she searches for the description. "Ambrosia's vessel. I learned that Ambrosia had went to confront this king shortly before she made her way here. I offered what assistance I could to hasten Thariza's pursuit. You know the rest of that story."

[Shadowcaller]

[DRAGON STORM]

"And you followed them all the way here too? Quite the commitment." Of course, Cessie isn't clear on the fact that Utayo probably also wanted her drones back from Thariza.
"But it seems everything has worked out so you're free to check up on them now since you've come all this way." She gestures at the dragon in the distance.

[Zefir]

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

After knocking Lapis thinks better of it.

If someone told her to come inside, would she hear it?

Probably not.

All she can hear is the ringing in her ears.

So she just pushes inside instead.

There are a few people in the command center and she isn't sure which one can help her but Mister Wenomir sent her here so someone must be able to help, right?

Lapis speaks, louder than strictly needed. "THE THUNDER HURT MY EARS AND I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING MISTER WENOMIR SENT ME HERE DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO HEAL EARS?"

It's clear enough that she's not feeling great, what with the tears in her eyes and, visible when she pulls off her little hat, the blood on her ears. She must have been near one of the large lightning strikes.

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

Mia makes a noticable jump in her seat as Lapis shouts out her request. The other coworkers seem less shocked by the shout some wince for a moment but don't mind it much. Mia grabs her seat looking behind it while using it as a shield, just in case. She notice Lapis as they have met befor in "The Battered Shield", with the very strange waitress and her firend. Mia might have to talk to them again maybe they like to convert?

"You don't have to shout...." Mia starts as she remembers the message and also combines it with what Lapis said. Mia would use sign language now, but since lapis is only temporary deaf she doesn't think she learned it. Instead she stands up and turns the seat around. Now for the hard part.

She points at Lapis then makes the "shehhh" to tell her she was to loud.
Then agains pointing at Lapis and then putting her hand on the seat.
Then she points at a First Aid kid and makes a grabbing move.
Next she points at Lapis, then at her own eyes and then at Lapis and her own ears.

Let's hope thats easy enougth to understand.

[Rebonack]

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

Oh!

Is that the lady from the Battered Shield Lapis saw that one time?

Lapis is pretty sure that's her.

Then lots of pointing happens! Lapis is pretty sure what's being communicated here. She gives a little nod and scurries over to the first aid kit, pulling it off the wall (and possibly damaging the wall in the process, depending on how it's attached), and then running over to Mia with it.

Because children run everywhere.

All the time.

Unless grownups tell them to stop running, in which case they slow down for a few minutes tops.

Lapis offers the kit to Mia, then waits, bouncing on her heels a little. Lapis definitely seems like the sort of child that has trouble sitting still for long.

[Ironsmith]

"Hmmm?" The girl on the screen pauses her game and looks towards her "fourth wall". "Oh, hello Miss Eun. Hello sis. What's up. I thought you'd be gone longer. You... haven't been gone for long right? My clock is still in sync with the outside world? Have to check, I can't tell for sure just by myself."

[Eun's Lab]

"It's been an hour and a half." Eun confirms. Not too long in the grand scheme of things, but definitely longer than it would take to walk to the end of the hall and back. "Sorry to interrupt. Your sister mentioned something interesting I wanted to follow up on. She pulled up a file containing a human DNA profile. She said you based your appearance off of it... I wanted to get a copy for genetic analysis. It might tell us more about where and when you're from."

[Commanders' Office]

"Commander Mithar." Khafir greets Cessie, stepping through the door to her office, showing no particular respect for the usual "here to see you/show her in" protocol. "I have an update for you regarding the situation with mister Quire." She continues, seating herself. "After exchanging communications, it has become apparent that he is no longer of sound enough mind to make his own medical decisions. He is refusing the treatment he all but requested a few weeks ago, at the behest of what appears to be a second persona." She holds out a file to Cessie, seemingly unaware of or indifferent to the pace at which she's presenting the commander with new information.

[Deathkeeper]

DRAGON STORM

Spako flaps, rapidly shrinking until he's a familiar and extremely colorful bird with incredibly long eyebrow-feathers, perching on Wenomir's shoulder.
"Be fair now, there are very nice and respectable birds out there." chirps the once King of Saxony.
"Is this dragon still locked up?"

[Morty]

[DRAGON STORM]

Ambrosia is being oddly dismissive of a being that managed to mind-control her and sic her at Vigil. This could have ended much more poorly than it did.

"I heard stories about the King in Rags when I was a child. Never put much stock into them. Just another night terror. Now... well. We'll need to put more resources towards dealing with him. It. Whichever." He rubs his forehead. "I think whatever he was doing might have affected me too. Put me in Jarowit's place in the story... which made me very angry. I want nothing to do with him or his."

[Shadowcaller]

[DRAGON STORM]

She's dismissive since acknowledging the danger would be admitting weakness and that was something the dragon wasn't planning to do in front of all these humanoids (and another, smaller, dragon).

"No, thank you, young gorgon." Ambrosia bids before Awen can leave. "I shall remember your aid, Awen." She seems to know her name. Perhaps she's checked the VIGIL member list?

Regardless, she turns to look at Spako now. Not looking particularly amused. Far too many people had called her wings "bird-like" or even mistook her for a giant bird at a distance. So by now the comparison seemed like an insult to her.
But Spako was not aware of this of course so taking it like that would be unfair.

"...I wounded it, but not lethally. Therefore, it should be with its master right now or wherever he wants it to be. Its chains were not physical you see. Its very mind was a cage which he had made. Its body not fit any other purpose than his own. A tool to be used and disposed of at the rag-king's pleasure." Her gaze shifts to Wenomir and Blanche, lingering a moment longer on the catgirl. What a curious creature, even had traces of fey within her. "So if you are planning to do something about him I will provide whatever aid I can to end that abomination. But only using my human body for obvious reasons."

[Commanders' Office]

Amazingly, to simply barge into the sorceress office without any warning has it's downsides. Namely, the sorceress isn't there.
Instead another woman is seated in one of the visitors chairs. Someone Khafir may or may not be familiar with depending how much she learned about the aftermath of the so-called 'dragon storm'. "Ah, Lady Mithar just left. But she's going to return any moment now I'm sure so you might as well take a seat." She gestures at the other seat. "Khafir was it?"

[Earl of Purple]

Spoiler: From last thread

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[QUOTE=Rebonack;25397540][The Upper Village]

Lapis brightens a bit at Felicity's question! She's already heading into the barracks so she can knock on the only sort of robot lady's door and warn her about the Boss Bird.

"Yeah! Nobody ever builds walls outways or inways so it's really easy to just go around the walls and come in like that. But I think maybe things aren't suppose to move in those directions so it makes space kind of all knotty and I have to be careful not to do it too much or too long otherwise all the knots start hurting me."

Very useful information there.

"I guess there are some talents for being better at drifting but I haven't gotten any of those most of my talents are for swords."

Swords are very important things to have talents for, in Lapis opinion.

"I didn't see any other parts of the Boss Bird when I was drifting so I don't think it was keeping its other shapes there. I keep my extra shapes in the little curly directions like twistways and twineways 'cuz otherwise if they were in inways and outways all the time that would make space all knotty and bad."

The Upper Village

Hopefully the thread change doesn't disrupt Lapis' tag.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe it's compressed itself so it's very thin but isn't truly two dimensional?" Not what has happened, as it happens. The hoopoe is a true two-dimensional shape- down to being basically invisible from certain angles. Whatever it's done, the extra dimensions are... not here. Or perhaps not now.

Felicity also makes a note to get Eun- who is working on weird dimensions- to see if she can figure out where 'inways' and 'outways' are and if she can build a wall there. If Lapis can access them to get in places, perhaps other, less friendly entities can too.

There's a few moments before the lock clicks and the door opens, revealing the synth. She's an Asian woman with short black hair, dark brown eyes, and a radiation symbol tattooed on her right cheek, the central dot replaced with a skull. She's still wearing her underwear, but has thrown a deep purple dressing-gown over the top. "What? A weird bird in the painting of birds? Is someone using a camera in it or something?" She looks the two outside rather hostilely, the hand not visible through the doorway gripping a 10mm pistol.

[Arkhosia]

Dragon Storm

"...If this entity could dominate a dragon's mind so completely, we might want to consider worrying about wards and other kinds of arcane protections on it," Blanche offers, addressing Wenomir. Protective investment into such a large asset seemed fairly common on the battlefield - it was probably smarter to expect it.

Glancing back towards Ambrosia, the catgirl shifts a little. She's clearly a little wary and nervous of her - although she does her best not to show it. Probably a rather common reaction towards dragons all things considered.

[Zefir]

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

Oh!

Is that the lady from the Battered Shield Lapis saw that one time?

Lapis is pretty sure that's her.

Then lots of pointing happens! Lapis is pretty sure what's being communicated here. She gives a little nod and scurries over to the first aid kit, pulling it off the wall (and possibly damaging the wall in the process, depending on how it's attached), and then running over to Mia with it.

Because children run everywhere.

All the time.

Unless grownups tell them to stop running, in which case they slow down for a few minutes tops.

Lapis offers the kit to Mia, then waits, bouncing on her heels a little. Lapis definitely seems like the sort of child that has trouble sitting still for long.

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

((Strange Deja Vu I have here. Didn't we have a simular scene just recently?))

Mia seems to be confused as Lapis goes for the First Aid kid and Lapis migth see how shocked Mia is about the reating of. Thought the First Aid kid is attached to the wall by two hooks to replace it easily. Which means she will tear two hand sized holes into the wall. Someone has to hang them higher just in case.

Lapis will easily know that she did something wrong as she appears to be frightened and confused. Was she that bad at pointing things out? This kind of missunderstanding migth be possible, but still unexpected. On top Mia is afraid because of the strength the little girl has and the fact that she knows about her other form.

She then shakes her head to pull those fears away for the moment. She had to deal with such things befor and she has a duty to fullfill. She takes the first Aid kit and puts it on the ground, then tries to grab Lapis on the shoulders and push her on the seat. She sure isn't strong enougth to force her but she hope lapis understands that.

If succed she will grab two things of the first aid kit, a vial with a silver fluid and a tool which after a moment changes to a device good for looking into peoples ears. She did change the tool with her magic just to be clear. She then attemps to look Lapis ears up. Thought she doesn't have a lollipop to keep her calm.

[Vahnavoi]

[Eun's Lab]

"It's been an hour and a half." Eun confirms. Not too long in the grand scheme of things, but definitely longer than it would take to walk to the end of the hall and back. "Sorry to interrupt. Your sister mentioned something interesting I wanted to follow up on. She pulled up a file containing a human DNA profile. She said you based your appearance off of it... I wanted to get a copy for genetic analysis. It might tell us more about where and when you're from.

"DNA? Oh, you mean human blueprints. Sure. Let me draw it for you." The First Lightbearer is not quite sure what Eun needs her for, since her sister has all the same information, but maybe it's just more convenient for Eun to look at it sitting infront of a laptop instead of staring at a floating hologram. The girl on the screen quits her Tetris game and rapidly draws something on her slate, then turns it towards the "camera" and brings it close, so that the DNA sample effectively fills the screen and Eun can browse it at will. If she wants an electronic copy for further study, it's just a matter of uploading it on the network-disabled phone or other memory device.

Once Eun gets to analyzing the sample, what she gets out of course depends on her method. Simply comparing the sample with other samples from known human populations, using historic Earth as reference, reveals whoever this sample was taken from originated from North Africa. This might surprise Eun, given the girl's simulated image appears blonde, but further study gives an answer: she is specifically Berber, from coast of Mediterranean, with some ancient traces of European ancestry coinciding to give her light hair. Given the simulation of the girl is not fully grown yet, it's possible her hair would darken with age or pregnancy. Further comparison could narrow her place of origin further to near border of Libya and Egypt, with ancestors from Algeria, Morocco, Spain, etc.

There is, however, an unknown element to the sample. Neither it nor its effects are easy to spot because they lie in what are often considered non-coding parts of DNA, or so called "junk DNA". Since Eun is from a high technology society, she might be aware of or able to theorize some causes or functions. On the simpler side, it's possible the odd variations are copy errors - whatever or whoever collected, recorded or constructed this sample only managed to capture "functional" part of the genome, and didn't sweat the details. On the less simple side, non-coding parts of DNA can be used as information storage, both for epigenetic regulatory information or something else. For an example of "something else", entire virus strains could be "hidden" in parts of DNA, capable of being separated and reactivated at a later date. Or, if this sample was artificially constructed, the oddities might be a "desinger's signature" or even a life history.

[Rebonack]

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

Oh no.

Mia looks scared.

Did Lapis do something wrong?

She wasn't trying to do anything wrong she just wasn't sure how the box on the wall was supposed to come off and she panicked a little and oh no now the wall is broken.

"I'm sorry!" Lapis says, a little too loudly.

She didn't mean it!

None the less, she sits down when indicated and proceeds to hold very, very still.

Looking into her ears, Lapis appears to have pretty unremarkable physiology. There's no sign outwardly (or inwardly for that matter) that she is anything other than a half drow child. This unremarkable physiology has also lead to ruptured ear drums and in both of her ears and a cracked malleus bone in her left ear where her head was facing the lightning impact.

Ouch.

[Deathkeeper]

DRAGON STORM

Spako would not understand the problem as he is very fond of birds.
"So it has no will or mind of its own? That's rather unfortunate. There might not be any way to avoid fighting them to the death.
I can supply wards but runes of mental defense have never been something I've studied before. Learning them would take ages." He would basically have to study the subject from scratch.

[Morty]

[Dragon Storm]

"I think the King in Rags could control Ambrosia precisely because she's a dragon," Wenomir points out. "Which isn't to say he's not dangerous. He seems to be able to use and control stories to some degree." This is very far outside his area of expertise.

[Shadowcaller]

[Dragon Storm]

The dragon nods in confirmation to what Wenomir just suggested. "You've proven your wisdom yet again, Wenomir. Since yes, I'm ashamed to admit that he only gained control of me after I attempted to eat him, or rather his essence. Dragons like me can eat and digest spirits but his was too much to handle even for me. Therefore, as long as you don't repeat my mistake I don't think he should be able to control you." Her gaze suddenly shifts to Blanche again though. "Beware however, he can command other fey much like he commanded that dragon so any fey might actually be in the danger zone of his influence. Mister Spako not so much however unless you too eat spirits?" She glances at the other dragon, her tone suggesting that she's skeptical to this. "But if you have any kind of fey or spirit ward runes they might be able to counteract his other powers." A pause as she suddenly seems to recall something. "Actually, now that I think about it I know where you might be able to find such runes if you're willing to use a questionable source. The demons you fight have a strong hatred for fey and they too use runes to power their various machines. While researching them I did come across runes they used to combat fey in various ways. Not any I managed to employ but if you're a rune mage you might have more luck using them."

[5a Violista]

[Airship Gantry]

Awen assumes her name is known because,
well,
there's a couple explanations. Most likely, since the dragon is talking with Vigil leaders, it's likely she was told about which members were around.
So not much to think about.

The witch arrives at the airship docks, on her broom.
She asks anyone who's around if she can help fix whatever happened from the storm's effects. And then she ends up helping move things around, making sure things are secure and held up, and checking places that would have been a little more dangerous for someone who can't fly.

[Arkhosia]

Dragon Storm

"I'm not entirely sure how greatly, if at all, that would compromise our forces - but it's certainly a risk." Blanche feels compelled to respond here by nature of being addressed, though she's not entirely sure why the dragon is addressing her in the first place - perhaps she has mistaken her to hold some level of authority?

Still, while I don't care to consider working with demons against anything, there could be some value in trying to, er, seize assets for study? Though it could be rather provocative." Things between VIGIL and the demons seemed to have been somewhat quiet as of late. It wouldn't be ideal to worry about retaliatory attacks while pursuing another threat.

[Rebonack]

[Bird Hunting]

Lapis' lock just dropped off again.

Which is a shame since she really isn't sure why. Either way, as soon as the door opens she's going to try scrambling around the cyborg to get that bad old bird in her sights!

It's not getting away again!

Unless it hears the commotion and decides to bail.

Or the cyborg stops Lapis and the bird bails.

Or any number of things could go wrong with this situation, honestly.

It doesn't even occur to Lapis that the cyborg might react to her violently. In her mind VIGIL is a safe place and she doesn't have to worry about being harmed here.

[Gullara]

[DRAGON STORM]

"And you followed them all the way here too? Quite the commitment." Of course, Cessie isn't clear on the fact that Utayo probably also wanted her drones back from Thariza.
"But it seems everything has worked out so you're free to check up on them now since you've come all this way." She gestures at the dragon in the distance.

[DRAGON STORM]

"Please, I need to commendation for simply following up. It was the least I could do." Utayo offers mild protest. It's not as though she too part in the conflict herself. For practical reasons, but still, it is the case. "But yes, I think I shall. It was a pleasure, Commander Mithar." Utayo bows one more time to Cessie before floating closer to the larger group. She won't speak up to interrupt, however.

[Zefir]

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

Oh no.

Mia looks scared.

Did Lapis do something wrong?

She wasn't trying to do anything wrong she just wasn't sure how the box on the wall was supposed to come off and she panicked a little and oh no now the wall is broken.

"I'm sorry!" Lapis says, a little too loudly.

She didn't mean it!

None the less, she sits down when indicated and proceeds to hold very, very still.

Looking into her ears, Lapis appears to have pretty unremarkable physiology. There's no sign outwardly (or inwardly for that matter) that she is anything other than a half drow child. This unremarkable physiology has also lead to ruptured ear drums and in both of her ears and a cracked malleus bone in her left ear where her head was facing the lightning impact.

Ouch.

[Dragon Storm - Command Center]

To be true. Mia hasn't studied Drow. Her world doesn't have the varaity of races otehr fantasy universes have. You oly get humans and human hybrids like dryads there. No elfs or dwarfs or whatever. Sure some people may resembel at those but if you ask her she would have said thats just a person with more pointy ears or shorter etc.

"Nothing to troublesome." Mia says. It's hard to not talk when you aren't used to having deaf people around. It's like a habit to speak whings out.

At first Mia takes a drop of the silver liquid on her finder. Strangly enougth it seems to stay there even if that defy gravity. She then starts a short prayer which obviously charges the drop as it seems to become kinda alive, slightly moving. She then will go to the more damaged hear and put the drop inside of it. Should lapis allow that, tthe nanits, which the drop is, go to work. in mere seconds they repair the eardrum. They use their energy to create mass and then look up in the cells around the wound to geet the blueprint. It's like building a wall just on a very small basis. After that Lapis migth be able to hear, but her hearing might be even better since the nanits repair every damage, even old one. They then go for the malleus bone which I as a player don't know much, but the nanits are quiet smart and will be able to repair that as well, but it might take more time due to how complex the damage is.

"Can you hear me?" Mia then asks Lapis. Thought she is quiet confused how the girl can be calm and walking straight with that kind of ear damage. Thought Mia is maybe just a little bit taller then Lapis?