Vigil 8: Try jumping

[Shadowcaller]

[Dragon Storm - An Aside]

"What is it doing?" Ambrosia inquires, not giving it more thought than she could afford right now. Still, it was something she found fascinating. If this was truly able to detect spirits from a distance it would be something she'd be interested in.
Could her spirit senses make anything of this device?

Wenomir's office - Kothar

Yup, yup, those were all the classic paladin things.
What he says gives Anika something to consider though.

"Wait, there's an oath?" She inquires while looking at Wenomir with a puzzled expression.

[Morty]

[Wenomir's office - Kothar]

"We don't have an oath." It's best to make it clear, otherwise Anika can come to the conclusion that there is one, but she didn't give it for some reason. "But our order stands between the people of the Nexus and threats to their safety. We fight for those who can't. It's fairly simple."

[Dragon Storm - An Aside]

Thariza just waits, feeling more relaxed to be out of Vigil. Even though she's never been to the island before and it's not the place where she died, being there made her anxious.

[After the Storm]

Wenomir rubs his forehead.

"Cessie doesn't appreciate being deceived. In truth, neither do I. I'm honest to a fault, as everyone will say, and I generally expect it of others. But I know you had your reasons, so I'll try to move on from this. Many people have something they need to hide. Have you been hiding the fact that you're a dragon all your life? Except for Thariza?"

[Shadowcaller]

[After the Storm]

"I told this already to lady Mithar but in the nexus Thariza would be the only one I told, yes. Back home those who raised me obviously know what I am, my adoptive father and a number of people who work for him. But ever since I adopted this human identity I've basically been hiding my true nature from everyone around me, yes." She pauses, seemingly hesitating. "Which, well, does include the family of this body." The scholar gestures at herself. "I'm not going to go into details but as lady Mithar had a long line of questions for me it's probably better if I tell it. I don't consider it especially relevant but to make a long story short, a family, my second family, had their oldest daughters life cut short and rather than accepting that reality they believed that they could use their wast fortune to reverse death itself. That's where my father comes in as while he couldn't reverse death as much as anyone else he did have me and he knew that I wanted a way to interact with human society..." Ambrosia runs her claw-shaped gloves through her hair. "So I entered her lifeless body and brought her to life once more in a manner of speaking." Her uneasiness seems to cease at this point and she folds her metal-clad hands together the best she can and seem to relax in her seat once more. "People do eventually tend to ask about my two bodies so I might as well tell you the truth right away. Since I do believe this was for the best for everyone involved."

[Morty]

[After the Storm]

Wenomir frowns. This information actually surprised him. And not in a very good way, he has to admit. Does that mean...

"Do you mean that the body you're inhabiting is dead? And there's a family out there who believe you're their deceased daughter, miraculously brought back to life?"

[Shadowcaller]

[After the Storm]

The scholar raises her hand. "Let me first say that I understand your reservations here but know that I was barely a teen at the time and I didn't fully understand the ramifications of what I was doing. It's one of the things I can never truly forgive my father for doing." She let's out a small sigh. "I was curious and desperate for company. There were no other dragons so while I did have people to interact with I constantly felt out of place. I guess I also really didn't..." Ambrosia pauses, as if searching for words. "I had trouble explaining this to lady Mithar too as it always come out as wrong. But you must understand that there's a bit of a mental divide between dragons and humans and at the time I didn't really think humans as, well, people."

With Cessie she had attempted to use a analogue of how humans had a harder time reading the emotional states of dogs and cats but she felt that hadn't gone over that well.

"That was on me though as I couldn't comprehend the ways you express emotions through expressions and body language which I was completely blind to back then. I did understand grief though and in that moment I just wanted to do something nice to this human family make them stop grieving. Since I did really bring her back to life in a way. This body is alive and the girls memories are with me even now." She gestures to herself but then shakes her head. "But no, I didn't really bring her back to life and I'm not sure I would have wanted to if I had truly understood what I was getting myself into. Since once I was inside her body and interacted with my new family I quickly came to understand humans a lot better and I was overwhelmed by it." The scholar looks away for a moment.

"I... do you at least understand where I'm coming from with this, Wenomir? Since by the time I realized the commitment I was making it was too late to back out. I even told my human mother at one point but she thought I was just confused. See, my father told them that he brought their daughter back with a vial of dragon blood, the very last one, and that it might cause some side-effects such as-" Ambrosia gestures at her horns again. "-which they were more than ready to accept. But apparently he had also told them that it might cause her to believe that she really had been a dragon which- well, ultimately I could have just left this body and shown them but I couldn't go through with that. I just didn't want to hurt them at that point. They had already lost their daughter once so it happening again-" She shakes her head. "I just couldn't do that to them."

[Morty]

[After the Storm]

"Who is your father?" Wenomir picks one question out of several that occur to him. It's a good thing Ambrosia seems to acknowledge what he did was wrong, otherwise this would get awkward very soon. "Someone that girl's parents believed capable of accomplishing miracles, that much is clear."

[Shadowcaller]

[After the Storm]

"He's a powerful businessman, as you might already have guessed. Though likewise, I'm sure you've already gathered that he doesn't trade in the usual kind of goods. He specializes in the exotic and bizarre, things no one else is able to provide. Which incidentally was how he found me originally. Or should I say stole as he doesn't exactly make a secret of his methods to me. Though in that case I feel his actions were justified as I very much prefer to be with him than the fey despite everything he's done." She let's out a small sigh as Wenomir might also guess it wasn't the only thing she hasn't been able to forgive him for.
"Still, it would probably be more accurate to call him a crime lord than a merchant considering that he does more than just trading goods. He's built up a shadowy empire of spies, thieves and other 'undesirables' in society and most of them probably don't even know that they're working for him. He has something of a reputation for going after nobles which I can tell you is more than just cause they have things he wants. So of course the deal he made with my new family was simply to get a foot into high society and he even used me as a spy until I tired of his games. It's one of the reasons I decided to start up life as a traveling scholar actually. To get as far away from all that as possible."

[bc56]

Wenomir's office - Kothar
"I agree that," Kothar affirms. He nods. "I am shield of goddess Tlacua. Defend others is sacred duty." He's very enthusiastic. He means well.

But does he make the cut?

[Shadowcaller]

Wenomir's office - Kothar

Anika made the cut so surely Kothar would. Her presence there only seems to attest that as she gives Wenomir the thumbs up.

[Morty]

[Wenomir's office - Kothar]

"Indeed." Wenomir hears this from many recruits. The desire to protect is a common motivation. "It is customary for candidates to undergo a test before they join. We need to get your measure and see what you can do. I think..." He rubs his chin. "I will give you a training dummy and ask for some volunteers from our recruits. They will try to strike the dummy and you will protect it as though it was a civilian in your care."

[After the Storm]

Wenomir rubs his face. Ambrosia's father sounds more and more like bad news.

"That does explain a thing or two," he admits. "Is he likely to pursue you and try to get you back to working for him?"

[5a Violista]

[CATastrophe]

Even with the danger passed, the panic doesn't immediately disappear. There's still heavy breathing, elevated heartrate, and hissing and tense snakes.
To solve that, she tries to calm down by taking deep breaths and looking upwards and grabbing a cloth to tie over her hair and cover up the snakes.

"Oh. Um...I. I...n-no, they got down on their own."
The witch gestures down at the two foxes on the ground and the one tangles in her extendy hair.

After a few more breaths, Awen gets around to answering Lapis's question. "No, I don't mind. Um, and make sure to ask her what she wants you to do with them, too" she says.

She gets down lower so that the one in her hair can touch the ground, and so that she can see all three out of the corner of her eyes.
And reaches down to pet – wait, first, she takes a moment to wipe the blood off her hand onto her dress – pet one on the head and behind the ears. "Just...just tell me if they're going to run off." Since she's closing her eyes as she waits for the stress levels to fall.

[Shadowcaller]

[After the Storm]

"Unlikely. First of all, he knows me far too well and while he has a lot of bad qualities, not respecting my choices isn't among them. However, it's likely that I'm being watched. Not right now of course but I know that he's keeping tabs on me, even here in the nexus." She shrugs. "I can't do much about that however. In my father's eyes it's probably just to keep me safe, which is why I'm concerned that he's become aware what transpired here between me and the rag king. His feelings regarding fey are about the same as his feelings regarding nobles so you can probably imagine what he might think about one who hurt his own daughter." The scholar makes an dismissive gesture. "Not that I'm sure what he would do about it but I'm almost afraid of finding out. He can get... creative when it comes to vengeance."

[Ironsmith]

[CATastrophe]

Oh good.

Lapis has succeeded.

And oh no!

Now Miss Awen is telling her to come over really quickly and-!

Oh.

It looks like the foxes are okay?

Lapis was running over, but she sort of jogs to a halt and looks down at the various vulpins while a kitty licks her neck. "Umm... do you still need me to get them, Miss Awen? I don't think anything's going to bite them?"

But maybe something is about to bite them! Lapis just isn't sure what would be doing the biting.

"Do you mind if I take a picture of the foxes and send them to Miss Eun, Miss Awen?" Lapis inquires. She's sure Miss Eun would like seeing pictures of all these cute foxes.

[CATastrophe]

Even with the danger passed, the panic doesn't immediately disappear. There's still heavy breathing, elevated heartrate, and hissing and tense snakes.
To solve that, she tries to calm down by taking deep breaths and looking upwards and grabbing a cloth to tie over her hair and cover up the snakes.

"Oh. Um...I. I...n-no, they got down on their own."
The witch gestures down at the two foxes on the ground and the one tangles in her extendy hair.

After a few more breaths, Awen gets around to answering Lapis's question. "No, I don't mind. Um, and make sure to ask her what she wants you to do with them, too" she says.

She gets down lower so that the one in her hair can touch the ground, and so that she can see all three out of the corner of her eyes.
And reaches down to pet – wait, first, she takes a moment to wipe the blood off her hand onto her dress – pet one on the head and behind the ears. "Just...just tell me if they're going to run off." Since she's closing her eyes as she waits for the stress levels to fall.

[CATastrophe]

Oooh yay, headpats! The foxes like that. To the point where the four of them are almost tripping over each other to rub their faces against Awen's hand, chittering playfully. Thankfully, they don't seem like the type of creatures that get jealous so much as needy, and they're all content to sort of take turns after it becomes clear that they're getting in each other's way.

If Lapis goes to take a picture now, and Awen is cooperative, the two of them are going to find that the foxes are very photogenic, seeming to naturally fall into position without needing to be told. They're also going to find them rather excitable after the fact, running around Awen and continuing to beg for her attention.

The other thought-form, on the other hand, just shuffles and rolls over in Lapis's arms. She's had enough excitement for one day.

[Rebonack]

[Bird Hunting]

Oh.

Hmm.

This is all quite fascinating.

"It's a surveillance drone of some kind," Geneva says, surprised at the countdown message.

Oh no.

Do you know what this means?

It means birds aren't real!

Or at least this one isn't. But they knew that already, honestly.

She's also curious about the fact that it was speaking in Equestrian. It certainly didn't sound like a pony's voice. The way it was pronouncing 'whn' wasn't airy enough. More like a human or a diamond dog trying to speak Equestrian. Now she's curious what will happen when it shuts down.

"Those feathers don't look like they're made of feathers either, Miss Felicity," Lapis helpfully points out.


[CATastrophe]

Wait, four of them?

They already made another?

It seems like they're making more foxes way faster than Miss Eun's cats are making more cats.

Speaking of cats, Lapis rubs the kitty under the chin a little bit, then takes the picture!

This image will be sent to Miss Eun's communicator as well along with a request to let them know what she thinks they should do with all these extra animals.

...maybe...

If there are too many of them they can ask Miss Sara what they should do with them all?

But Miss Sara doesn't treat them very nicely.

"I sent Miss Eun the message but she isn't replying I think she's busy maybe?" Lapis reasons.

[bc56]

Office Kothar
"I do that." Kothar sounds eager.to prove himself. This is a test he knows he can do well. It's his specialty, even. "Where go?" He doesn't need time to prepare, he's ready already.

[Earl of Purple]

Bird Hunting

Felicity goes to take a look at the feather, keeping an eye on the hoopoe as she does. "You're right, that feels like plastic. But the bird itself doesn't. This is... weird." Felicity is baffled, this hoopoe is not at all what she was expecting.

Five, four, three, two, one... After one, the hoopoe disappears. So does the blood in the vial and the feathers. Lapis can't sense the tag on it anywhere, and the readings of Geneva's machines means it didn't go anywhere. It also didn't go nowhere, either. It no longer exists save in memories, and a burst of energy as the hoopoe disappears will try to remove those, as well as any records directly pertaining to the hoopoe. Geneva's mental defences give her a good chance to shrug off the effect, as does Lapis' unusual nature. The machines Geneva was using, however, might be affected, and so is Felicity, who is looking confused at her now-empty hands. "What... just happened?"

[Gullara]

[Dragon Storm - An Aside]

"What is it doing?" Ambrosia inquires, not giving it more thought than she could afford right now. Still, it was something she found fascinating. If this was truly able to detect spirits from a distance it would be something she'd be interested in.
Could her spirit senses make anything of this device?

[Dragon Storm - An Aside]

Thariza just waits, feeling more relaxed to be out of Vigil. Even though she's never been to the island before and it's not the place where she died, being there made her anxious.

[Dragon Storm - An Aside]

It's difficult for Ambrosia to make anything of the device. It seems to maybe have this low level feel of spirits hanging about it, but nothing she can grasp onto. It's further muddled by the fact that Utayo is entirely shrouded in that same feeling.

"It's... getting a read on the latent spiritual energy in the area. These forces tend to have a different character depending on where you travel, so this analysis will make it possible for my tools to function." Utayo explains. She's not sure how easy she is to interpret. It's always a challenge figuring out how to communicate concepts to people from other planes.

[Shadowcaller]

[Dragon Storm - An Aside]

"You must travel far and wide then." Ambrosia remarks if only to make conversation. She had never heard of anything like it before and her own readings of the device were inconclusive so she didn't really have anything to add.

It was something she would have to investigate further when she wasn't overcome by such an overwhelming hunger.

[Morty]

[Training Grounds - Kothar]

"Follow me, then." Wenomir will lead Kothar (and Anika, if she wants to tag along) to the training grounds. Once there, he claps his hands, causing various recruits practicing with their weapons and abilities to stop and look at him. "I'm going to need three volunteers to test a new member," he says. Three would-be heroes step up: one of them is a cat-person resembling a lynx, holding a long dagger and a buckler. Then there's a muscular wolf-woman with a long, two-handed and single-edged sword. Then there's a bipedal lizard of some kind, wearing a long cloak and holding a crystal-tipped staff. Wenomir places a training dummy near a wall.

"You three will try to damage this dummy or take it away. Kothar will do his best to stop you. All clear?"

[After the Storm]

"I won't complain about anyone going after the King in Rags, but collateral damage might be a problem." Wenomir frowns. "Your father doesn't give me the impression of someone who cares overmuch about collateral damage."

[Shadowcaller]

[After the Storm]

"More than you might think actually. Or at least any collateral damage that would suggest his involvement. Secrecy is a code he lives by and he's quite serious about it. But as much as I like to debate my fathers actions-" Her tone suggests that's the stark opposite of what she wanted to do.

"-there were more important matters I wanted to discuss with you. Foremost, I and Thariza had a meeting of sort with one of the demons, Jaccalish who I believe you should be familiar with, and I believe there are a few things you should know regarding the encounter. First of all, they were experimenting with the nexus planar nature and were capable of bringing in beings from other worlds at will it seemed. Though how much control they had of this process I'm not sure as before we could even come close to their temple there was an explosion and the entire area was thrown into chaos.

There were beings from all sort of worlds, none which I recognized besides what seemed to be a different version of myself which seems highly coincidental. Either way, we later discovered that the temple had been attacked by a group of humanoid soldiers that went in and stole critical parts of the device Jaccalish was using before getting out again. They had advanced equipment and seemed highly trained based on their description. Not sure who they served but killing demons didn't seem to be their priority at least."

She let's out a small sigh. "But that's not even the most important part. As I said, we actually spoke to Jaccalish in the spirit of diplomacy and they had an offer which revealed what I believe to be their ultimate goal in the nexus. They intend to bring what described as their 'home world' into the nexus, which is why they're experimenting with planar travel. It seemed like they were convinced that once this happened there would no longer be a need for VIGIL and the demons to wage war against one another as they would be too busy rebuilding their homeworld as it seemed to have been struck by some kind of disaster. Once that happened they were intending to through diplomacy ensure that no future conflict would happen between them and the inhabitants of the nexus. Naturally, even Thariza was skeptical to the viability of this plan."

[Training Grounds - Kothar]

"Should I go too?" Anika inquires as she's apparently still there. "I was looking for my bra but this seems cool." Ah yes, her bra-quest.

[5a Violista]

[CATastrophe]

Unlike Lapis, Awen doesn't think they're currently reproducing. Rather, she thinks the mother cat already had a full litter and it's just that the more shy one is just now showing up.

Well, if headpatting is keeping the three of them here and has managed to lure another one here too, it just makes logical sense that she continues, making sure to give them turns.

"She might be busy, yes," The witch thinks. "Also ask her how big of litters they usually have, so when she has time we can know if we should be on the look out for more," she adds and explains.

More importantly,
"If it takes a while for her to respond, we need to decide where to bring them. Back to where that cat you've got came from?" is her suggestion. No way Awen could take them, she doesn't have space or food for them.

[Morty]

[After the Storm]

Wenomir blinks when Ambrosia moves on from the topic of her father to something else. If she was worried he'd be angry, it doesn't seem to be the case. His initial response is a deep lack of comprehension.

"...what the **** is that supposed to mean?" he asks, with a heavy, almost sad voice. "Does that creature think that giving the demons exactly what we've been trying to stop them from doing will mean we don't have to fight them anymore? Is it a trap or an elaborate way of demanding our surrender? And if it's messing around with dimensions, we need to stop it as soon as possible. But the demons' leaders seem functionally immortal."

[Shadowcaller]

[After the Storm]

Ambrosia clears her voice. "While I prefer to try to remain neutral I admit they're asking for a lot here. Even Jaccalish admitted as much and they're not even in complete control over the demonic forces so there's no real guarantees. Either way, despite my neutrality I can offer you some advice here. My experience at the temple have told me that while their leaders might be hard to kill their equipment is very much not. Indeed, Jaccalish bodies were in fact just equipment. Metal bodies made to house their spirits, which... well, I'm starting to see why these demons fear dragons so much. Indeed, I suspect we were made to be able to destroy them by the fey." She leaves the rest unsaid but there's some heavy implications there. "Nevertheless, those soldiers managed to cause a lot of damage with relatively little commitment so simply destroying their devices should probably ensure that they're never capable of accomplishing their goal."

[bc56]

Training Grounds
Kothar puts his axe away. He won't need it. He has a confident glint in his eye as he steps up between the three recruits and the dummy.
He's experienced enough to know there's several ways to play this. He could do what's expected, and use his shield to fend off the three of them as long as possible. Eventually, one of them would probably get around him, but he's pretty good at this, and he thinks he could keep going for a while, probably longer than the recruits could.
He could try to quickly incapacitate each of the recruits, but since he's not going to be hurting them, that's tricky. He could probably just disarm them, but their mage would be tricky to do that too, and it would leave the dummy open.
He could grab the dummy over his shoulder and run. While technically that would fulfill the mission, he thinks it's against the spirit of the thing, and won't. The game needs to be fair after all.

So option 1, with a bit of option 2 mixed in. He holds position near the dummy, using his enchanted shield to absorb spells slung his way while barehandedly wrestling off the melee combatants and trying to disarm them.

This will be fun. Even without his weapons, he's much stronger than he looks thanks to magical cheatery (and he already looks strong). "I am ready."

[Ironsmith]

[CATastrophe]

Wait, four of them?

They already made another?

It seems like they're making more foxes way faster than Miss Eun's cats are making more cats.

Speaking of cats, Lapis rubs the kitty under the chin a little bit, then takes the picture!

This image will be sent to Miss Eun's communicator as well along with a request to let them know what she thinks they should do with all these extra animals.

...maybe...

If there are too many of them they can ask Miss Sara what they should do with them all?

But Miss Sara doesn't treat them very nicely.

"I sent Miss Eun the message but she isn't replying I think she's busy maybe?" Lapis reasons.

[CATastrophe]

Unlike Lapis, Awen doesn't think they're currently reproducing. Rather, she thinks the mother cat already had a full litter and it's just that the more shy one is just now showing up.

Well, if headpatting is keeping the three of them here and has managed to lure another one here too, it just makes logical sense that she continues, making sure to give them turns.

"She might be busy, yes," The witch thinks. "Also ask her how big of litters they usually have, so when she has time we can know if we should be on the look out for more," she adds and explains.

More importantly,
"If it takes a while for her to respond, we need to decide where to bring them. Back to where that cat you've got came from?" is her suggestion. No way Awen could take them, she doesn't have space or food for them.

[CATastrophe]

The foxes are eager for attention, and galdly submit to the serial headpatting, but by the time Awen reaches the fifth one, the first has already lost interest in waiting for its turn and is now playing with a sparrow that landed nearby.

No, not "playing" in the euphemistic sense of "attempting to murder and eat".

"Playing" in the sense of "chasing around the clearing, stopping short of actually catching it".

The bird, being the flighty creature it is, does not enjoy this game for long.

...Hm. Does Lapis know how to play Chase?

Fox number one is going to try to find out.

[Morty]

[Training Grounds]

"You can, if you want," Wenomir tells Anika. "Your bra certainly isn't in my office, anyway." Anika is no doubt aware Wenomir keeps his office immaculately clean and any item that's out of place is likely to be spotted.

The recruits approach Kothar in a fairly predictable manner. The wolf-woman will charge him with her sword held high, while the cat-man will try to flank him and "stab" the dummy with his practice dagger. However, they will back away when Kothar tries to grapple them. They're not well-prepared for such a tactic. The lizard-like magician tries to cast some kind of spell on him, seemingly to slow him down, but it's absorbed by the shield. He hisses in frustration.

[After the Storm]

Wenomir rubs his face, seeming suddenly like a very tired man who has little hope for respite.

"This is a demand for surrender dressed up to let us maintain some dignity if we took it," he decides. "We could pretend it's just a concession to ensure peace. I wouldn't, because I like being able to look myself in the eye in a mirror. But I could." He shakes his head. "If actually killing Jaccalish is off the table, breaking its equipment to delay its plans is going to have to do."

[Shadowcaller]

[After the Storm]

"I don't think killing them would make the situation better anyway as while they don't seem to realize just how much they're asking from you they are the only one that are interested in talking which always account for something. Perhaps that could be explained to them while you're destroying their machines. Would drive home the point pretty well I think." She smiles, seemingly quite confident in VIGIL's ability to do so. "All I'm saying is, consider what terms you would give them other than unconditional surrender on their part. Is there anything you would be willing to give them in exchange their surrender? Just something to think about."

She raises a hand. "However, if there's one of those demons that's truly a threat to well- everything, you could always tell me about it. I can't promise anything and after the debacle with the Rag King I understand that my confident might seem misplaced. But know that I was attempting to free his dragon. If my intention had been killing it the outcome would have been different."

[Training Grounds]

Anika considers this offer for a moment. "I'll observe for now I think. Maybe I can get in later like a final boss. That'd be cool."

[Rebonack]

[Bird Hunting]

Geneva does in fact have pretty potent mental wards, however her mind was open thanks to her communication methods and she absolutely wasn't expecting get get assaulted by a memory erasing energy wave.

As a result she's left looking very puzzled.

What's she doing here in the lab with Felicity and Lapis.

She was testing something, right?

Maybe the effects of the dimensional anchor array on Lapis' unusual physiology?

"I'm... not sure?" she replies uncertainly.

Lapis, meanwhile, is utterly impacted. Like all empyreans she isn't made of smaller bits. Her memories are as fundamentally part of her as the chemical properties of a particular type of crystal is part of it. "Oh no the bird disappeared!" Lapis gasps.

"The... bird?" Geneva presses.

"Yeah the boss bird! You and Miss Felicity were doing science at it and then it disappeared!" Lapis clarifies.

It's probably worth asking-
-how far does the bird erasing memory wave reach?


[CATastrophe]

Lapis is still holding the kitty that may or may not be licking her.

"I need to take the kitty back to Miss Eun's room but I don't know what we're going to do with four-"
Oh wait.
"-five foxes?"

Yep.

They're multiplying really fast.

"Um... I'm going to ask Miss Sara because I think it's her job to do things with these animals maybe?" Lapis suggests. She drapes the cat over her shoulder so her hands are free so she can more easily send a message to Miss Sara.

LapisLazuli: Miss Sara Miss Awen and I found a kitty near the lake and Miss Awen was petting the kitty and then it was a fox and now there are five foxes I think it's one of your animals that got out maybe?

[bc56]

Training Grounds
If Kothar were swinging his axe around, he'd be likely to kill someone. He'll stick with grappling.
He goes for the wolf first, striking with a practiced jab at her gut and a sweep of the leg, then leaps immediately over to the cat, grabbing him by the shoulders and tossing him back away from the dummy. He just needs to keep them clear and have room to maneuver and block any spells coming his way.

Come to think of it, there's no stated time limit, so he'll just keep going back and forth between the two until they stop or he's told to.

[Earl of Purple]

Bird Hunting

The effect is centred upon the hoopoe, so side-effect things- like anything Felicity said to Geneva either when the hoopoe wasn't present or which weren't directly about the hoopoe- remain. It also doesn't go back super far; maybe half an hour. Geneva should remember the hoopoe from prior discussions, but everything she learnt today will be effected. It's also only a localised effect; if Geneva's been making backups every five seconds and sending them elsewhere, unless the connection happens to be open when the burst occurs the backups will be unaffected. So is the synth lady who owns the painting propped up in the lab.

"I remember... We knocked on that lady's door, looking for something Lapis was tracking." Memories the hoopoe wasn't present for, and which didn't directly involve the hoopoe, so mostly unaffected. Also might have been half an hour ago; time is weird.