Serious Plots 10: Two digits too srs

[bc56]

Hawthorn Cabin
I don't have any. I suppose I can, uh, take Riftline. Groundtown is a dangerous place, Sekhmet knows, but as a nine foot tall monstrous reptilian creature, she has little to fear. She waits to see if Lokvah has anything else to say on the matter.

[Recaiden]

[Hawthorn Cabin]

Uh, Sekhmet, you don't have to wait here to talk to me. Lokvah thinks to her through the Hive's connection.
Have you just kind of let the Mother in the woods go along on her own, except for that magical connection you have? Because nobody told you different? There's a sympathetic tone to thee thoughts now.

[bc56]

Hawthorn Cabin
Uh, right. It just seemed a bit rude. Sekhmet sends back. I, uh, made her some workers and guards, or rather told her to make them, I thought she could take care of herself after that? So the answer is yes, Sekhmet has been leaving the Mother she planted out in the woods alone. She starts walking away from the cabin and towards the main gate of the campground.

[Recaiden]

[Hawthorn Cabin]

Oh, you'd know better than I would. Lokvah thinks, bashfully. She could count the number of times she's spoken to people outside the Hive on one hand....if she had hands, anyway. So no matter how much secondhand knowledge she might have, she won't just know that leaving but continuing a conversation telepathically could be rude.
"I can at least, uh, walk to the Riftline station with you." She'll walk alongside Sekhmet, hurrying a bit since she's not nearly so tall.

"Oh you did, good. So you're right, she can take care of herself, but only like, a basic ...degree? She won't reach her potential without help. At least, not without a lot of time. I think? Osa didn't mention much about circumstances like that."

[bc56]

Hawthorn Cabin -> Riftline Station
Social lesson time! Leaving the room, uh, mid conversation, even if you can keep talking from the other room, uh, makes it seem like you're not paying attention, Sekhmet explains. It applies to non-room areas too.
So, uh, then what should I do with her? That's the important bit here. What needs to be done for the Mother?

[Recaiden]

[ -> Riftline Station]

"I understand. You do have my full attention though, Sekhmet." Look how they're moving through this non-room area together.

"Well, first you should have her dig a pool." Like the very place Sekhmet was brought into the Hive, and the similar place where she was healed when she started having a ball of fire over her head all the time.
"And then you should get her enough food and nutrients to grow her spars. That will be easier with more workers, but to organize more workers, she'll need to hatch a Duke, you see?"
"Also Sophia thinks you should give her a name." Names are convenient for the more humanlike elements of the hive. Sure, you can just think 'that one' and supply the idea that identifies it, but there's still something to names.
"But it's funny you ask it that way. You might also ask what the Mother can do for you, right?"

[bc56]

Riftline Station
Sekhmet just has to stand here for a while. The next train to Skyside won't be here for another... 5ish minutes. The Firstborn makes an odd sight waiting patiently at the platform, but there are many such odd sights in the Nexus.
So, uh, what can she do for me? Sekhmet asks.

[Recaiden]

[Riftline Station]

A pair of odd creatures waiting for the train? That's every day at a lot of Riftline stops.

"Well..."
"...I guess on her own she can just grow food and do that magic familiar thing."
"But, indirectly, everything the hive can do. The princesses' healing and elixirs, the garden's metalwork, the weavers' weaving, dukes for transportation, the thinkers'...whatever they do."

[bc56]

Riftline Station
Uh, you mean by making those creatures to, uh, do those things for me, right? Sekhmet has to think about it. I'm not sure I have time to instruct her much. That much is true. Sekhmet is a busy woman.

[Recaiden]

[Riftline Station]

Uh, you mean by making those creatures to, uh, do those things for me, right? Sekhmet has to think about it. I'm not sure I have time to instruct her much. That much is true. Sekhmet is a busy woman.

"Uh, yeah." That's why people exist, Sekhmet, to collect weird creatures and put them to use!
"Hmm, it's not like she needs a lot of instruction, more that, you should spend a tiny span of time with her on a regular basis."

[bc56]

Riftline Station
Just spend time with her? Sekhmet asks. How much is "a tiny span?" And, uh, what would I need to do in that time? The train arrives. Fortunately, as Lokvah pointed out earlier, they can continue this conversation telepathically without being in the same place.

[Recaiden]

[Riftline Station]

"Well, tell her about yourself, and check on her, and give her advice and instructions. But you can probably do that in like a minute over telepathy, once you get to know her a bit." Lokvah hops back when the train pulls into the station.
Good luck up there.
Oh, almost forgot. There's another stage of growth for Mothers after their spars come in, but, we don't know how to do it. Lost that information sometime after crashing in the Nexus. So let us know if you somehow figure it out. And ask Ekorak about any details; it should be, like, a natural at mothers and repositories.

[bc56]

Riftline Station -> ?
I'll, uh, talk to her when I get back, Sekhmet promises. But for now she rides the train off to Groundtown in search of the Firstborn.

[Recaiden]

[-> Groundtown Riftline Station]

The Riftline station might well be the best-maintained place in the slums underneath Skyside, but that's not saying a lot.
Just down the platform, some moderately giant rats are gathered around a campfire.
On the street corner, two groups of local tough guys are standing with guns and spells aimed at each other.
The other side of the street has a very high incidence of buildings with doors and windows boarded up.

The Firstborn are not making themselves obvious here. All Sekhmet sees is ordinary city chaos, and a slight feeling of being watched (though she probably is the tallest person to get off the Riftline car). She'll need a plan to find them.

[bc56]

Groundtown Riftline Station
This place makes Sekhmet sad. So many lost and hopeless people. But there's nothing she can do right now, and that makes it even worse.
The "Firstborn" looks around. No sign of others of "her kind" and she doesn't think she can just ask around.
Although maybe if she wanders for long enough, they'll find her?

[Recaiden]

[Groundtown Riftline Station -> Wandering]

The rats scurry away as Sekhmet passes, only returning to their spot of warmth once she's gotten a seemingly safe distance away.

Walking around with no particular destination, she sees plenty of lost and hopeless people, with the occasional hopeful one mixed in.
While passing by a 'playground' that is mostly weeds and rocks, with the swings stolen from the swing set and the slide now just a ladder to nowhere, she gets a particular sense of being watched.
But no one really seems to to be watching her. She's an outsider, sure. But she's also big and strange-looking, not someone anyone wants to mess with unless they have a plan.

However, if she's very perceptive, and remembers to look up, Sekhmet could find a patch of stationary haze in the air, a spot where if you look through it, the flying ships and hovering city in the background seem ever-so-slightly distorted.

If she's not very perceptive, probably the next thing that'll stand out is a kid trying to steal one of those gold bracelets right off her wrist.

[bc56]

Wandering Groundtown
Sekhmet is not very perceptive. But someone pulling a bracelet from her wrist cannot go unnoticed. She whirls around towards the (likely fleeing) kid and prepares to give chase, but stops herself.
The bracelet isn't real. It's part of the enchanted clothing she's wearing. Moving it too far from the rest of the set will cause it to disappear.
And even if it doesn't, it would be a waste of time and energy to chase that kid down, time and energy better spent finding the other Firstborn.

[Deathkeeper]

G'nichi's Home

A pleasant two-story building with white walls and a black roof, surrounded by a small but lavish garden overlooking a cliff above the Inside Bay.
Which is a thing that exists.
It is nice and probably expensive but not extravagant. Balconies sit below most of the windows and a set of very wide patio chairs sit on the back porch.
This is the home of a particularly odd and ill-fated creature, a former lizardfolk turned...dragon...qilin...qaglin sort of thing, doomed with Hero status for all time and a frustratingly interesting life. Today may prove that interesting is not always necessarily a good or bad thing.

[Shadowcaller]

G'nichi's Home

Ill-fated indeed.

How long can a home even stay pleasant when constant 'interesting' things keep happening to its owner?
Like today for instance as storm clouds start to blow in from the sea and thunder can be heard in the distance.

Then flashes of lighting can be seen.

Minutes later the thunder seems much closer and so are the flashes of lighting as the storm starts to roll over, bringing in the heavy smattering of rain as it starts pouring down on his roof.
Then something far more concerning breaks through the dark clouds and descend towards the building. The dragon making a full stop just outside the balcony with a single beat of its enormous raven wings.

Hopefully he's at home or there might not be a home anymore soon as the dragon looks quite upset. It is seemingly waiting for something though the way it now maintains its position in the air.

[Deathkeeper]

G'nichi's Home

The dragon shouldn't have to wait too long. After about three minutes a burly green dragon-man with a flowing mustache walks out in shorts and glasses.
He is soaked immediately.
He is stout burly, and generally big by the standard of everyone who isn't a gigantic dragon. With a sigh he moves his glasses into his pocket. Takes a deep breath, and,
"MA'AM, CAN I HELP YOU? YOU'RE SCARING THE NEIGHBORS." he shouts above the wind and rain.

[Shadowcaller]

G'nichi's Home

It takes a moment for the dragon to even notice him but when she does the rain and thunder suddenly starts to let up.

"Have you STOLEN from me?" There are no lips to move but its jaws aren't either. The voice somehow being projected like thunder through the air, loud and deafening.

But everything else is silent right now so at least it will be easier to reply. And it is a rather straightforward question at least.

[Deathkeeper]

G'nichi's Home

The dragon is probably too large and too high up to read the smaller person's expression, but he's very confused by the question.
"Um. No? I am sworn to uphold justice, Ma'am. Not a thief. Any riches I own were inherited or came from legitimate sources." Treasure chests in dungeons populated by undead are legitimate sources.
"You're uh. You're not with Syncope, right?" His bracelet is from Syncope's mother, and Syncope has appeared as a purple dragon-person before. But said mother is apparently very dead.

[Shadowcaller]

G'nichi's Home

"And to 'uphold justice' you broke into my floating sanctuary?" His home seemed far too expensive for someone who claimed to be so utilitarian.
"Explain your presence there now."

[Deathkeeper]

G'nichi's Home

Being fair, the house is fairly plain and understated. If it was definitely expensive, but it isn't loud about it. It's nice but not extravagant.
Ah. There we go. A few things click into place for G'nichi. This must be the honored master who-oh dear he's not dressed at all to be meeting someone this important. Hopefully as a dragon not currently wearing anything she won't be offended by his state of dress.
"I was there to check if it was abandoned or not. Which is why I spent several minutes knocking on the front door and calling for anyone. After Zee arrived to deliver pastries to any occupants I went along with her, whereupon we met your uh...tenants? And we continued to be there with them. We didn't take anything, and if you want recompense for the few boards that were broken that's fine." He recalls Zee being the one who broke more of those but that's not the point.

[Shadowcaller]

G'nichi's Home

"So checking if buildings are abandoned or not must be a hobby of yours then? Or is that also to 'uphold justice'? I'm dying to know what motivates you to go so far from civilization to satisfy this curiosity."

The dragon bares her teeth into a menacing grin.

[Deathkeeper]

G'nichi's Home

"Oh, I was far from the city because I was learning how to fly and I needed a lot of empty space for that. I bumped into the place by chance, to be honest." G'nichi flexes his wings despite them already being pretty obvious.
"So really I thought I might as well check while I was there. Say hello to any residents. And sure, I'd look around if the place was abandoned and wasn't sacred. All sorts of lost knowledge and treasure like to sit in abandoned places." He's not going to presume that this dragon would be interested in collecting such things.
Except maybe for the part where she lives in a floating castle full of old relics and books and such.

[Shadowcaller]

G'nichi's Home

"And you decided to test your flight that far out, that high up? I see." The library was resting on top of the clouds after all, but its certainly not implausible that he did that so the skepticism in her tone is somewhat unwarranted.

"But you seem to be a honest sort so if you beg me for forgiveness for invading my home I might just grant it."

[Deathkeeper]

G'nichi's Home

G'nichi stares at the dragon for a good few seconds, swallowing the sigh he so desperately wants to make. He bows deeply, his arms outspread.
"I beseech thee, Honored One for thy mercy though I may not deserve it. My violation of the sanctity of yon abode was not my intention. Prithee, grant me the succor of thy forgiveness."
He somehow manages to say this with a straight face without even the barest shred of sarcasm. He's a paladin, after all. He has to make requests like this as overly formal as possible.

[Shadowcaller]

G'nichi's Home

The dragon seems to peer at him as he bows before her, as if trying to gauge wherever he was being genuine or not.

"I think you shall also satisfy my curiosity and tell me what manner of being you are. A half-dragon? Dragonborn? Giant kobolt?"

[Deathkeeper]

G'nichi's Home

This time G'nichi does sigh, because that's a question that is very difficult to answer. Bahamut give him strength to continue dealing with this demanding dragon. Maybe this is what he should expect of them. Perhaps he's been spoiled by spending time with nice ones. Or by technically being close to one.
"I am a manner of hybridization between a green dragon and a qilin, Ma'am. My paperwork says Qaglin but that's just a shorthand." It would have been possible that the qilin parts were merely aesthetic if he didn't have several qilin-like traits. Xeni really managed to make this one go deep.
The dragon's prying eyes only makes him feel worse that he didn't dress for this occasion.