Vigil 8: Try jumping

[Shadowcaller]

Blanche's Barracks

A landline?
What was that?

...

No, Anika had to focus! She had a plan!

Now she just needed an excuse to talk to Blanche alone. "Umm..."

"Good since I need to... uhh, make out with you! Come one. Let's give Ava some privacy while she talks to her aunt." And so she attempts to gently pull Blanche into the bathroom and close the door behind them. She will then press her ear to the door so she can tell when Ava starts talking.

[Reinholdt]

[Blanche's Barracks]

"Anika's going to turn herself in," Ava says with a disapproving frown at the elf, clearly having tried to talk her out of such a foolish idea, to no success.

She raises a rather inquisitive eyebrow at the two. "I'm not going to be bothered if you want to make out out here," she'll say. Well no more than anyone who suddenly has to watch two people make out would be.

But she's not going to stop them from moving their intimacy to the privacy of the bathroom either. She's got a phone call to make. "Thanks," She'll tell Blanche, going to the phone and dialing up her aunt, diving immediately into the 'she's fine, no really, calm down auntie' prelude the conversation must take.

[Arkhosia]

Blanche's Barracks

"I- What? Anika-" And just like that, Blanche is pulled into the confines of the bathroom. She starts to say something, pauses when she sees Anika press her ear to the door, and opts instead to hiss it. "Turn yourself in? What the hell is going on?"

[Shadowcaller]

Blanche's Barracks

Anika turns to Blanche and scratches the backside of her ear as she seem to consider a reply. "Uh... so I went to this concert where a demon band was playing in Riverside." A beat. "You know what a band is- yeah, you do." The druid nods.

"So one of the members had killed like a million people and that's pretty bad right? Well, it turned out there was this demonic turf war going on and there were demon hunters coming after the band too. So... Ava, being one of the demon hunters, kind of... killed a bunch of people with a bomb which she had smuggled inside."

She gestures at the bathroom door.

"Then chaos broke out and I killed one of the demons going after that band and then a demon hunter killed one of the band members... uh, anyway. Ava got arrested but before she did she got demonified by one of the demons there- fey. It was a weird fey apparently."

Or so her sister claimed!

"Well, my plan was to undemonify Ava and then put her back into prison so she didn't cause a bunch of demon-trouble." A beat. "-fey, fey trouble. However, I... kind of got into an argument and then a fight with the guards. They're alright, just a bit roughened up. So now that Ava is undemoni- unfeyified, I need to turn over myself and, uh, eventually Ava. That's the situation."

She gives Blanche a lingering stare, trying to meet her gaze.

"So, should we still make out or...? So she doesn't suspect anything I mean."

[Rebonack]

[Nerd Talk]

"Distinctly possible, yes. Ideally I would need to engage in conversation with one of these demons to test the hypothesis, I have a few ways to determine whether the translation effect ignores a language as a matter of course or if it's a matter of intent on the part of the speaker," Geneva admits.

Which sounds like a point in favor of talking to the demon Ambrosia had mentioned.

"You mean the disruptive effect on the demon's spell-language? Well, at this point it's more of a vague idea than a hypothetical model, let alone a serviceable prototype. But as I learn more about the subject this may open new avenues of research."

Geneva looks visibly excited about the idea of opening new avenues of research.

She's such a dweeb.


[Snakes Alive]

Didn't she think the idea of eating something alive was gross earlier?

Maybe she changed her mind?

Or...

Something?

Lapis honestly isn't sure how strange snake people work.

"Okay I'll go get something for you I'll be right back!" Lapis says before drifting back out of the building to find some prey!

Hmm... let's see...

Ophidia will need to wait a few minutes, but Lapis will return in short order with a squirrel struggling in her grasp!

"Will this work there are lots of them in the trees and things."


[Word Among the Birds]

Hah!

Lapis has caught the bird!

It only took some reality shaking cosmic power but she did it!

"I'll be back for you, Boss Bird!" Lapis yells at the other smelly bird, tagging it for later tracking. Then she just needs to fly back to VIGIL and deliver this one to the lab and everything will be okay probably!

[Morty]

[Dragon Storm - An Aside]

More than one life... is she expecting cubs? Either way, she's clearly not as accustomed to fighting as she or Ambrosia, so it's up to them to keep her safe.

"Got it. Stay behind us. Hopefully we'll give the scarecrow-king's minions a what-for."

Utayo's drones will see the three creatures pick up their pace. However, the three travellers themselves can't hear or see them yet, even as they get closer. It seems they're blending into the sparse forest extremely well.

[Snakes Alive]

What is the boss bird, why was Lapis chasing it, where did she find a snake person in a cage and how did she sword a demon out of her? These are some fairly typical questions people around Lapis have to face. Wenomir opts to take a very direct approach to learning, which is why Lapis and Ophidia will see him approach them from some distance.

[bc56]

Snakes Alive
"Yesss, that'sss perfect," Ophidia grabs the struggling squirrel and opens her mouth wide, swallowing the poor creature down without even chewing. "Thank you." But in the meantime, Wenomir is approaching.
The mystery of the Boss Bird will remain unanswered, but the answer to the question of where one finds a snake in a cage is surprisingly straightforward: the prison cells. Lapis and the aforementioned person are apparently conversing in one of the prison cells.
It might be wise to check the prison records before letting anyone out.

[Shadowcaller]

[Dragon Storm - An Aside]

Ambrosia nods to Utayo, finding no reason to comment on that. "Then stay in the air. Thariza and I can handle ourselves. Just warn us if your drones see any more of them incoming, alright?" Since just three almost seemed insulting. Even if they were strong warriors she would have expected the fey king to at least try to get a numerical advantage. Or perhaps he was just counting on her exposing her dragon form again as soon as danger rared its ugly head? Well, she had managed to handle herself for a long time without using her true form so if that was the case his minions would pay dearly for his arrogance.

It did sound like they couldn't escape though so she would have to stand her ground. With Thariza getting her back and Utayo as their eyes in the sky she had no doubt they could handle three of them. Her greatest concern was that there were more that just waited for them to get engaged. In that case they would have to deal with them as quickly as possible and then flee. "Keep an eye out for more of them, Thariza. I smell a trap." The scholar remarks as she readies herself.

[Nerd Talk]

"Actually, I meant using a single language to coordinate your efforts so no one else could listen in on you. I feel that would be more applicable as a long-term project don't you think? Not that I'm saying sabotaging communication among enemies is a waste of effort. Though I should not considering little seems to be known about the translation effect one should probably be careful about messing with it considering how dependent everyone here is on it functioning." Ambrosia points out.

[Rebonack]

[Snakes Alive]

That poor squirrel.

Destined to be snake food.

"You're welcome Miss Ophidia I'm glad you liked it," Lapis replies without an ounce of suspicion or ill intent to speak of.

Then?

Waving!

"Hello Mister Wenomir! Miss Ophidia says that she's okay now that the demon is gone and she needs to go do something important so she wants out of jail," Lapis helpfully informs him.

Lapis is, for the record, in jail with Ophidia.

As is usually the case keeping Lapis out of literally anywhere is a monumental task.


[Nerd Talk]

"Oh, well, I do that already with the VIGIL communication devices," Geneva replies, tapping on her wrist computer with one talon. "The machines translate whatever is said into a rather obscure language from my home-world, encrypt it, then send the messages to the other devices which translate it on the other end. Even if the messages were intercepted and decrypted it would still be in a language that I'm quite confidant few of any people in the Nexus understand."

Double layers of security!

Geneva isn't going to say what the language is, though.

Since that knowledge in and of itself would be a security breach.

[Arkhosia]

Blanche's Barracks

Blanche's listens fairly quietly as Anika goes through the events of the night, but she certainly still reacts to it all. The mention of one of the band members having a huge body count certainly raises an eyebrow, but once the druid tells her how Ava got involved the catgirl's eye go wide.

"So you're telling me you broke a domestic terrorist out of jail, brought her here, and left her unsupervised?! And just let her contact someone else?!" Her eyes blaze with all sorts of emotion - shock, horror, fury... well, mostly fury. Definitely the others there too. "Make out?! The hell kind of situation do you think you just dragged me in! We need to get out there and make sure she doesn't escape and get off the island!" Blanche moves towards the door. "First we deal with her. And then, we deal with you," she hisses.

[Shadowcaller]

Blanche's Barracks

It looks like Anika have at least partly expected that sort of reaction as she looks more sheepish and guilty than shocked. "...um, I did listen in to her just now and she does seem to just be talking to her aunt. But yeah..." Anika will move to open the door for Blanche, not really seeing the need to keep whispering at this point.

[Reinholdt]

[Blanche's Barracks]

"Uh-huh... yeah... yeah... just stay there for a few days, until we know it's safe from the goat monster... ok... ok, love you too. Oh, I gotta go. Bye. I know. I know. Byeee," Ava wraps things up on the phone as the two lovebirds exit the bathroom.

Ava still finds it strange that anyone would make out in any bathroom outside of seedy bars and clubs. Maybe it was a kink thing? Whatever. "All done? We're good on my end," the girl says as she puts the phone back properly as politely as she can, grateful for Blanche's hospitality. "No goat attack, so Auntie's going to be scarce for awhile in some place she says even I can't think of, so no demon can use my thoughts to find her."

That's a big concern/weight off of Ava's shoulders and she smiles with relief at the Vigilant Vigilites.

[Arkhosia]

Blanche's Barracks

"Stay by the front, try to talk her into turning herself in. Block her if she runs," The door opens and Blanche steps out once she's finished whispering directives. She glances back towards Ava and nods a little awkwardly. "Er -yeah," Ava might notice something new in her eyes - caution or wariness, maybe? Probably understandable considering she just mentioned the possibility a goat-demon was after her, of course.

[Shadowcaller]

Blanche's Barracks

"She's not gonna yield. Took all of me just to convince her to come here." Anika whispers back.

"...right, uh... yeah, we should set you up somewhere. Like a room or something. Just until we figure things out, right Blanche?" She looks to the catgirl.

[Reinholdt]

[Blanche's Barracks]

"A room. Sounds good," Ava nods in understanding.

"And after that, we begin our training, right?" She asks, looking specifically to Blanche as she imagines that Anika intended for Blanche to be the one to train Ava. Although, something about the way Blanche is looking at her is... unsettling. Not right.

There was just something off about all of this that Ava is dangerously close to putting her finger on.

[Morty]

[Snakes Alive]

"And you're keeping her company in her cell?" Wenomir sighs. Lapis acts much like any active, eager child of her (apparent) age, except she's got reality-bending powers. He checks the prison record. "It says here Geneva rescued you while we were fighting Sapphira in Inside? And possessed by a demon. I asked for a specialist outside of Vigil to come take a look at you."

[bc56]

Snakes Alive
"I don't think that'sss quite necccessssssary," Ophidia comments. "The demon isss gone, ssshould I not be ssset free?" Ultimately, she's in no position to argue. If Wenomir wants her checked out before she's released, she'll have to submit.

[Rebonack]

[Snakes Alive]

"Yeah!" Lapis replies, as if there were nothing the least bit unusual about this situation. "I didn't want her to be lonely after the demon went away."

Well there you go.

Lapis didn't want her to be lonely once the evil spirit possessing her was gone.

That makes perfect sense, nothing weird there.

Not even a little bit.

"She also wanted something to eat so I brought her a squirrel."

Sometimes friends bring their friends squirrels to eat.

"Miss Ophidia how come you go 'ssss' when you talk?" Lapis asks curiously. That really doesn't make a great deal of sense to her.

[Arkhosia]

Blanche's Barracks

"Yeah, er, that sounds smart. I... don't know about training, though I guess it depends on what you want to learn? Either way, we should probably speak to Wenomir about both of those." She glances at the clock on the wall. "He's usually just getting up around now - I can try to reach him." With that said, Blanche will grab her cell phone and head into her bedroom, moving out of sight as she starts to dial the Commander's number.

[Gullara]

[Dragon Storm - An Aside]

More than one life... is she expecting cubs? Either way, she's clearly not as accustomed to fighting as she or Ambrosia, so it's up to them to keep her safe.

"Got it. Stay behind us. Hopefully we'll give the scarecrow-king's minions a what-for."

Utayo's drones will see the three creatures pick up their pace. However, the three travellers themselves can't hear or see them yet, even as they get closer. It seems they're blending into the sparse forest extremely well.

[Dragon Storm - An Aside]

Ambrosia nods to Utayo, finding no reason to comment on that. "Then stay in the air. Thariza and I can handle ourselves. Just warn us if your drones see any more of them incoming, alright?" Since just three almost seemed insulting. Even if they were strong warriors she would have expected the fey king to at least try to get a numerical advantage. Or perhaps he was just counting on her exposing her dragon form again as soon as danger rared its ugly head? Well, she had managed to handle herself for a long time without using her true form so if that was the case his minions would pay dearly for his arrogance.

It did sound like they couldn't escape though so she would have to stand her ground. With Thariza getting her back and Utayo as their eyes in the sky she had no doubt they could handle three of them. Her greatest concern was that there were more that just waited for them to get engaged. In that case they would have to deal with them as quickly as possible and then flee. "Keep an eye out for more of them, Thariza. I smell a trap." The scholar remarks as she readies herself.

[Dragon Storm - An Aside]

Utayo nods and lifts further off the ground. She keeps her eye on the video feeds being fed to her. She's struggling to get more concrete info, but she'll call a warning when the the things coming after them are about to appear.

[Shadowcaller]

[Nerd Talk]

"Oh, well, I do that already with the VIGIL communication devices," Geneva replies, tapping on her wrist computer with one talon. "The machines translate whatever is said into a rather obscure language from my home-world, encrypt it, then send the messages to the other devices which translate it on the other end. Even if the messages were intercepted and decrypted it would still be in a language that I'm quite confidant few of any people in the Nexus understand."

Double layers of security!

Geneva isn't going to say what the language is, though.

Since that knowledge in and of itself would be a security breach.

[Nerd Talk]

"So it is already implemented, brilliant work." Ambrosia praises as she quickly realizes why she hadn't been told this before. Secrets were vital to keep an military organization going.

"And to circle back to our original discussion, that makes communication with VIGIL while you're talking to Jaccalish easier. Though I imagine that you will want to discuss the details of that with the commanders before we decide anything on that front. Though know that I'm willing to act as a neutral courier between the two parties."

[Blanche's Catrracks]

"Unless he's with Cass." Anika observes as she's suddenly reminded by her own attempt to wake the commander early. "Then he usually gets up later." She turns to Ava. "But hey, maybe you get to do one of his legendary courses now!"

[Snakes Alive]

Shanti comes strolling down the road dressed in her usual robe and carrying a violet satchel.
Her gaze meets Wenomir's and then Ophidia's. "Well, I am here now. How can i be of service exactly?"

[Reinholdt]

[Blanche's Barracks]

Ava's eyes glance towards Anika for a moment, then back to Blanche as the catgirl retreats to the bedroom, then back to Anika. "Yeah... sounds good."

There's a bit of an awkward pause that occurs when standing around in a stranger's domicile. "Well while you work out the details, I'm going to get a quick smoke... vape. Sorry, quit one, but ended up on the other." Ava shakes her head. "I'll be right outside if you need me," she says, heading for the front door.

[Shadowcaller]

[Blanche's Barracks]

Anika perks up as Ava mentions 'smoke'. She wasn't sure what a 'vape' was but she was already intrigued. "Could I join? Since I actually got something like that too and let me tell you, it's way better than those tiny paper-tubes." Of course, she didn't have her pipe on her this very moment but it was way bigger which meant it was better!

[Reinholdt]

[Blanche's Barracks]

"What do you ha-" Ava stops herself and shakes her head. "No. No, like I said. Trying to quit."

Ava doesn't need Anika's bad influence making her habits worse!

She opens the door and steps outside.

[Morty]

[Blanche's Barracks]

"Blanche? What is it?" If Wenomir hasn't been woken up by Blanche, it's clear he didn't expect to be called at this hour regardless.

[Arkhosia]

Blanche's Barracks

"Er, hey boss." Wenomir will notice there's a quietness to her voice, as if she's trying to avoid being loud enough to alert someone. "I think we're going to need you down here at the Barracks. Anika may have broken out a wanted terrorist from Riverside and I need some help trying to... confine or get information out of her without things getting violent, shall we say."

[Shadowcaller]

[Blanche's Barracks]

"Okay, but I can't let you go around unattended until you're an official member so don't walk off too far!" Anika exclaims as she waves to Ava before she walks out the door.
She will then walk over and listen in closely to Ava's footsteps to make sure that she doesn't start running or just keeps walking.

[Morty]

[Blanche's Barracks]

"She may have... what the ****?" This might be the first time Blanche has heard Wenomir swear. "This doesn't sound like something you can explain over the phone. I'm on my way."

[Snakes Alive]

Wenomir doesn't quite frown, but he's close to it. He doesn't trust Shanti or the snake-god she's had dealings with. But she is useful. And Anika's sister.

"Ophidia here was possessed by a demon while we fought a devil-queen some time ago. Geneva rescued her, but she had to be confined for her own safety. Lapis says she removed the demon from her. I'd like to know if that's actually the case and if she's safe and sound."

[Dragon Storm - An Aside]

"I'm always on lookout for more." There's an odd change in Thariza that Ambrosia is likely familiar with by now. Her old Iron Legion training is taking over.

As soon as she's done speaking, the woods around them erupt in motion and aggression. Utayo can warn the other two in advance, as her drones will spot the attackers, but the creatures move with frightful speed. Each of them is roughly Thariza's size, but they're not hunched over like a Charr is. They're lanky, wiry figures seemingly composed of twisting wood and dark, moss-like scales. Their heads are those of dragons, adorned with horns or antlers made of branches. Thariza looses an arrow, which becomes a streak of light that knocks one of them off its feet, then sends a pair of normal arrow at another one, causing it to stop as it tries to duck them. But the third one charges Ambrosia, seeking to gouge her with its claws.

[Earl of Purple]

Word Among the Birds

After being tagged, the hoatzin... just follows Lapis. No teleportation, or supernatural movement, or anything. Just flying a short distance away, keeping track of Lapis and following her like a stalkery stalker. If she drifts it'll lose track of her, though, since the hoatzin is apparently incapable of tracking people that move from one place to another without strictly speaking travelling through the space in between.

Snakes Alive

The hoatzin remains in the cottage upon the hoodoo, ten miles away. If Lapis needs to explain what the boss bird is and where it is at the moment.

[Rebonack]

[Nerd Talk]

"I'll speak with the commanders about it," Geneva replies. "The situation you brought to my attention is potentially serious whether their experiments are successful or not. And if I can get a piece of still-active demon spellwork to study I think that might give me some clearer ideas of the precise nature of their language's interaction with the Nexus Translations Effect. Maybe we can negotiate that during the talks."

This Jaccalish will probably want something in return, she suspects.

Geneva needs to check herself here.

The demons have caused a great deal of suffering in the Nexus but that is, near as she can tell, the result of their military organizations.

They don't strike her as being terribly different from any of the other unusual people who live here in the Nexus and painting them all with broad strokes likely isn't a charitable thing to do.

"Was there anything else you wanted to discuss with me? I think it would be a good idea if I briefed the commanders on your plan. From there we can decide how best to proceed."

Talks? Not talks? Explosions? Stay tuned to find out!