[Nexus] Outside XXIV

[Gullara]

This place is just as it sounds. It's outside.
Want a change of scenery? Go outside.
Always wanted to visit the beach? Come outside.
Looking to have a climatic fight on clifftops? Attempt outside.
Secret meetings being held where there's no cameras? Try outside.
Want an ambush without nasty base defenses? Yep. Outside.

Any and all are welcome here. There are no NPCs unless you bring them in. The major exception is the creepy eyed squirrel. The creepy eyed squirrel does not interfere with anyone. The creepy eyed squirrel is everywhere outside. The creepy eyed squirrel is always watching. The creepy eyed squirrel never sleeps. The creepy eyed squirrel can not be damaged, manipulated, or killed by anyone. The creepy eyed squirrel will eat anyone's very being who attempts to do so. Anyone can god-mode the creepy eyed squirrel. You may pet the creepy eyed squirrel at your own risk.

Other NPCs currently include:
The menacing crabs. These intimidating creatures are usually found by the shore.
The non-existant duck. You'll miss every time you shoot at it.

There is very little you can't do outside. However, like always, please follow the forum rules and general rules of conduct. Private conversations can be held outside. If it seems like a private (secret) conversation, please respect that. Those having such a conversation should do their best to indicate it as such. Otherwise, other characters may stumble upon you. Those desiring to spy in on private conversations should first PM those holding the private conversation, more out of courtesy than anything else.

There are many areas outside, and people can be in multiple places outside. In order to keep areas outside separated so there's no confusion, consider bolding your outside location at the start of each of your posts, like so:





Note Reinholdt and Calublufiok do not interact because they are in different areas outside. They could interact, if Reinholdt moves to the cliffside. Of course, various things like telepathy help bypass this. Also, please note outside has no major buildings, though minor ones crop up from time to time.

And most importantly, enjoy outside. That's what this is all about.

Outside now contains various Outside locations! Such as...

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[Dead Pine Lake]

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This lake lies in the middle of the forest. On the eastern shore, woodpeckers feast on the dead pines that give the lake its name. Sometimes one can find Lady Death here, the Aspect of Eve also known as The Grandmother, or Jedwiga.

(Please PM happyturtle if you wish to interact with Jedwiga.)

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[The Islands]

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An island cluster forms an archipelago along the coast. Some of the islands are settled, some not, but most are at least occasionally visited by the fishermen who work these waters.

[Gersemi's Island]

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Gersemi the seighkona lives on a small island in the archipelago with a single hut and a few sheep. Inside the hut, there is a single room, and a fireplace. A loom rests in one corner.

(Please PM happyturtle if you wish to interact with Gersemi.)

[Redbrick Falls]

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A mountainous, cliffy region with a prominent waterfall. A large quarry once was worked in these cliffs. Now, only a few scattered villages and solitary dwellings remain.

[Norosa, Great City of the Elves]

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A Lawful Evil city with an incredibly strong military and a very charismatic leader (Archmage Tyrion Lannister). It has a few CG resisters, but, otherwise, it is a city of peace and law, despite its evil nature.

[Brillian's Baneful Bestiary]

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A secret series of caves where a mad scientist lives. A mad scientist who creates mutant attack creatures. These can be purchased for the right price.

[Auxiliary MagCave]

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A relic from the days of the Age of Apocalypse, this abandoned cavern was once used by the infamous cyborg Magtok as a back-up laboratory and underground fortress, should Calublufiok have ever stormed the primary MagCave.

[The Katz Motel]

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Located in the middle of Nowhere, our roadside motel is the only decent place for miles near the Taverna that has a bed. Run by a suave anthropomorphic cat, there is a strict No Dogs policy.


A bellhop by the name of Bates is always ready to assist in carrying your luggage. Please ignore his constant mutterings about his mother. Other more unsavory employees can occasionally be found. Please try to avoid eye contact with them.

We at the Katz Motel wish to ensure you have a splendid stay. Any inconvenience due to randomly locking doors, giant spiders, secret passages, vampires, creepy paintings, and the occasional possession and subsequent exorcism are incredibly rare. Just look at our complaint cards! Not a single one mentions dying horribly in their sleep or becoming food for the monster in the basement.

And if you get bored, the owner will always be up for a game of sport, old boy.

((The Katz Motel is a horror filled place with the highest casualty rate of any motel in the Nexus area. Checking in is usually pretty easy and pleasant. Checking out is rare. Anyone can play the Motel and the NPCs within, free to invent their own horror. The NPCs within that can die usually only suffer death temporarily, the supernatural force causing the disturbances bringing them back to life for its own nefarious purposes. PCs get no benefit from this.))

[The Troll Cave]

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A cave in a craggy hill. The undergrowth outside is trampled completely flat, and there's not much wildlife. There's a burned patch where a fire is sometimes there. Inside are a few large caves, linked by surprisingly smooth tunnels that look like something big has been regularly pushing through them.

[Blind Cat's Bluff]

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A sheer cliff dropoff that travels straight down into the water, this is a favored point of people who commit suicide, romantics wanting to watch the sunset and anyone looking to get rid of evidence. The drop is pretty far and there are rocks at the bottom that spell almost certain doom, so watch your step.

PM Whoever's posted the current Outside thread if you wish to add locations to Outside.

[Murkus]

[Valley]

"I will probably come by very soon, then." Boris looks at Cornelia's blouse for a few seconds. "Would any particular time be preferable for you?"

"Um... sometime in the mornin? Afternoon, if ye feel like." Cornelia says, wondering when she'd have the most free time. The gunslinger nods eagerly.

Countryside

Yep. You know the civil war? Where I'm from, it was a stalemate. Entire U.S. pretty much broke apart, until it wasn't united at all, and then the monsters started showing up. Jasper shrugs, amused by Legion's reaction. From there, it got worse. Spent two years in the army, and saw all sorts a stuff. More than once, I had to kill the same enemy twice, and sometimes they couldn't be killed at all. Eventually, I got my hands on this- He points to his eye. -and found a way out, which I was more than happy to take. So yeah, I like civilization, although in some ways I miss the wildness of life back then. That's why I love the Nexus, it has both, civilization and freedom.

"Doesn't sound like there was a whole lot to miss." Legion says, giving a small frown. Still, amazement is obvious in her tone. She looks around, then. "Yeah, don't get a whole lot free-er than here. I mean, we rob banks and don't get arrested. How cool is that?"

[Ashen Lilies]

[Slaver Plawt]

The mage is currently behind a tree, she isn't stupid enough to look out from it her shield just was hit by an arrow. Instead, hearing she might be in danger she utilizes the ability to summon elemental energy (which includes cold, earth etc. 'energy' could be seen as a misnomer by our real life definition of it) and summons an rock elemental around her like an armor made of solid stone. Some air elemental energy keeping her breathing and cooling her down.

Meanwhile the water elemental charges Ezra like an tidal wave on land, it it manages to knock him down it finds no other choice by to attempt to force itself into the centaurs lungs.

Oh look! All the other guards ran away! Which means Keld arrived too late to make absolutely any difference in the battle! Yay.

[Slaver Plawt]

Solid stone of what kind? Such things may suddenly be called into question as stone meets steel. The steel of Keld's gauntleted fist as he simply attempts to slam it through the stone armor. And possibly grab Cessie. He's quite strong that way.

[Devixer]

[Valley]

"I'll come by early, then. So we can spend more time together." Boris smiles, and rests his hand on Cornelia's upper arm. "I'll probably be a couple of days. Think you can wait that long?"

[Murkus]

Valley

"Aye. M' sure that'll be fine." Cornelia says, wondering if she'll be able to stand waiting. She's rather obviously infatuated with the sniper. The gunslinger smiles. "Don't keep me waitin', tho."

[ThirdEmperor]

Countryside

Very cool. Jasper grins, drinking his second glass of champagne before pouring himself a third one. I dunno, it wasn't all bad, well... Yeah, it was all bad. But at least I have great war stories to tell.

[Devixer]

[Valley]

Boris widens his smile a little, and tries to pull Cornelia closer to him. "I don't think I could. I would have to wait as well, after all."

[VampireRot]

[Most Definitely Not Suspicious or Haunted Mansion]

In the middle of nowhere, but still somewhere in the Nexus, there is a large and dark forest, void of normal life. All the trees have no leaves, nothing grows on the ground, and the only small woodland critter that lives there is a possessed green teddy bear. A long winding road, deserted by all normal travelers, goes through it. At the moment, the only vehicle on the road is a squat moving truck with "Eval Inc." printed in bold, red and black letters on the side. The truck moves steadily along the road, and eventually pulls up in front of a large and ominous mansion. The Gothic mansion is a generically huge and dark, with towers and spikes and gargoyles placed on every free buttress and pointed roof.

Two rotting corpses slide out of the truck and get a package from the back, a long and rectangular box covered in a black shroud. They shamble over to the door, carrying it between them. They knock on the imposing wooden double doors and wait a couple of minutes. Eventually, a half-dressed man only in his underclothes opens the door, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He has an almost literal mane of thick and unkempt black hair on his head, and more of it on his chest.

"What'd'ya want?"

"Good afternoon guv'. We're 'ere deliverin' dis 'ere package from some bloodsuckin' bloke called Rot."

"Oh. Give it here, then."

The hairy man reaches forward and grabs the covered coffin, easily lifting it on his own, and goes to put it down inside the mansion. He returns with payment for the zombies, muttering something about lousy vampires not paying for themselves. The zombies tip their hats and return to their truck, which immediately vanishes completely.

Lightning flashes and thunder booms, barely heard over a cacophony of harsh and evil laughter. Then the scene ends.

[happyturtle]

Slaver Plawt

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Slaver Plawt
Cessie's water elemental puts out Wagon 3. Yay!

Cessie's psychic reply from Whisper is nothing but snarling rage as she screams out her hatred of Ezra. The centaur gets back to his feet, having put out the flames on his tail, and starts strangling the fey girl, screaming back at her. His nose is broken and bleeding heavily, his face is badly scratched, and one eye is swollen shut: all damage done by a small girl who has no weapon but her own fury. How embarrassing!

[Slaver Plawt]

The mage is currently behind a tree, she isn't stupid enough to look out from it her shield just was hit by an arrow. Instead, hearing she might be in danger she utilizes the ability to summon elemental energy (which includes cold, earth etc. 'energy' could be seen as a misnomer by our real life definition of it) and summons an rock elemental around her like an armor made of solid stone. Some air elemental energy keeping her breathing and cooling her down.

Meanwhile the water elemental charges Ezra like an tidal wave on land, it it manages to knock him down it finds no other choice by to attempt to force itself into the centaurs lungs.

[Slaver Plawt]

Harnel's claw, which he was very likely going to gut Nayir with, stop in mid strike. "Fine." he says, both releasing Nayir and pushing him over. Harnel doesn't like Nayir, so he doesn't feel the need to be gentle in any way, but he's not going to take the life of a man who has already surrendered. That's just low.

Once Nayir is on the ground he surveys the battlefield in a moment - Seth, injured against multiple warriors, Cessie protecting herself behind a tree, Jasper up and helping. Enemies, Ezra, being attacked by Whisper and an elemental, the hobgoblin firing at Jasper.

He chooses the target he feels needs the most help - Darkrad firing at Jasper. Within moments, he'll be over to the hobgoblin, striking at him with one of those punches he's been tossing about

Slaver Plawt

Nayir reaches a hand up to rub at his throat, looking at Harnel.

"Bastard." He says, scooching back and looking around. Now that the half-dragon's running off toward Darkrad, maybe the glasshead could have a chance at escape.

Slaver Plawt

Thankfully, Jasper's smart enough to stay near cover, and ducks behind a tree as he sees the incoming crossbow bolts. He's not quite quick enough though, and one of the bolts strikes him in the side. Shouting something rather vulgar, he tears out the crossbow bolt and applies pressure to the wound, drawing his revolver with his other hand.

Scanning the area for targets he can hit without leaving cover, he spots Ezra and Whisper, takes aim, and fires a shot dead at Ezra's torso. Of course, Jasper is in pretty bad shape, so he might well miss.

[Slaver Plawt]

As the swordsman stabs at Isabel with his sword, the tip connects with her torso and fails to enter very far, although there's an audible crack in her plating. She hears the damage perfectly well, and she releases her grip and tries to back off swiftly. Meanwhile, Seth continues to try to beat down the remnants as best as he can with one good arm.

[Slaver Plawt]

When he sees Harnel charge, Darkrad flees. This is now officially more than he bargained for. He's a quite fast runner.
The last two swordsmen are knocked down by Seth.

Oh look! All the other guards ran away! Which means Keld arrived too late to make absolutely any difference in the battle! Yay.

[Slaver Plawt]

Solid stone of what kind? Such things may suddenly be called into question as stone meets steel. The steel of Keld's gauntleted fist as he simply attempts to slam it through the stone armor. And possibly grab Cessie. He's quite strong that way.

Ezra is walloped by a walloped by a water elemental and then hit by Jasper's bullet. He drops the fey, staggers back, and then is suddenly being drowned by the elemental, coughing and flailing. I think he's out of the fight, and will drown in 4 minutes, if the elemental remains in his lungs.

Whisper, satisfied that Ezra is getting his just punishment, even if it's by water instead of fire, returns to searching for Grass-bringer.

Since most of the fight (except Cessie and Keld) is over, I'll go ahead and reveal what is found in the wagons:

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Wagon 1: Purna's wagon, with Grass-bringer. Fled!

Wagon 2: Supplies

Wagon 3: Slaves (one human male, one elf girl, that Harnel has seen) ON FIRE!!!

Wagon 4: Slaves ('Up' and the troll woman)

Wagon 5: Slaves (6 slaves)

Wagon 6: Supplies

Wagon 7: Slaves (6 slaves) Empty, slaves rescued and at the forest's edge

Wagon 8: Empty slave wagon (formerly Whisper's)

All of the slaves are gagged and manacled, hands behind back. The keys will be found on Ezra. The woman called Up in wagon 4 is half dead from starvation and dehydration. The two slaves in wagon 3 have suffered a bit of smoke inhalation, but should recover quickly once put in the open air and ungagged. The rest are in good health.

Back at the forest's edge, Richard remains encased in glass, one goblin man is unconscious after losing his arm, one human man is unconscious from near asphyxiation, and the other three rescued slaves are healthy.

Whisper is distraught that Grass-bringer is gone, nearly catatonic with grief.

Since I'm travelling this weekend, please treat the slaves as npcs and Ezra as godmoddable (or dead, if Cessie chooses to drown him) and carry on without me.

[Shadowcaller]

Oh look! All the other guards ran away! Which means Keld arrived too late to make absolutely any difference in the battle! Yay.

[Slaver Plawt]

Solid stone of what kind? Such things may suddenly be called into question as stone meets steel. The steel of Keld's gauntleted fist as he simply attempts to slam it through the stone armor. And possibly grab Cessie. He's quite strong that way.

[Slaver Plawt]

Pure granite actually, though the elemental is actually very dense despite it's form and it's need to move. But if Keld is just running up to the mage and attempts to punch through her armor, he might find himself punched back by elementals granite fist with bone and armor shattering strength. It's most likely larger then him and also pretty determined to protect it's summoner, slamming him with a surprising speed as he attempts to get close.

Cessie won't drown the centaur however, the elemental will retreat from his lungs eventually and choose to just keep the centaur in place. I can't imagine him going anywhere any time soon after nearly having drowned though.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Slaver Plawt]

And, having contributed absolutely nothing to the plot so far whatsoever, Keld is now epically curbstomped. Brilliant.

[Reinholdt]

You didn't wait for me to do the new thread, so you killed the quote part of the post that you now have to put back in!
*shakes fist at Gulaghar*

Spacecraft

Um.... I don't think I can freeze myself without dying. But... If there is anything, I should be able to get rid of it. You.. Might want to look away. Or leave. It's your choice, but either way, it was nice meeting you. Sol says, taking a knife from his belt. He closes his eyes and concentrates, trying to detect if there's anything in his blood that there shouldn't be with his magic powers.

"Oooh. Does it require you burning your clothes off as an unwanted consequence or something?" Ilpholin says, licking her lips. If so, she totally wants to stay!

Of course, he's all diseased now, so even if he does solve the problem, she'd never trust him enough to curtain with him.

[Most Definitely Not Suspicious or Haunted Mansion]

Oh hey. I have a NPC that still has the key to that place. He really should give that to some adventurers or something.

[LOTRfan]

[Monster Infested Forest]

Near the border of the forest and the countryside surrounding Inside, five NPCs have gone missing in the past week. The border itself is exceedingly quiet; no animals have been seen for about a month, and not even insects could be heard.

If someone was to research this bizarre incident, they would find that this has been going on every forty two years. If there are any monster hunters out there, this may very well peak their interest.

[Skies]

Sure. Nicholas says, tossing her the salt.

"Thanks," Lwssa says, adding in the salt and finishing up the stew. She shouts out to the rest of the Cryxian's crew: "I made some buffalo and vegetable stew, if anyone wants any!"

She turns to Nicholas. "How much do you want?" she asks, grabbing a bowl and starting to pour some stew in. "And where exactly shall we practice sparring after dinner?"

[ThirdEmperor]

Skies

I'll take half bowl. Don't need to eat much, one of the the benefits of bein a cyborg. Nicholas says, grabbing a spoon. Would probably be best ta spar on the deck. That's where we're gonna be fightin, most of the time, so why not get used to the battleground.

[LOTRfan]

[Airship]

"That makes sense. Here you go," she says, offering him the bowl. Since no one else has replied yet, she'll make herself a bowl and sit down to eat. "What are your preferred weapons in a common combat situation?" She wants to know what she is up against in the sparring practice.

[ThirdEmperor]

Airship

Well, I can use a cutlass, but mainly I just punch things. Weapons are for when ya really want someone dead. Nicholas says, digging into his food.

[LOTRfan]

[Airship]

She takes a couple spoon-fulls of her stew. "I just wish we had a little more information on the pirates, honestly."

[ThirdEmperor]

Airship

That would be nice. What would be even better would be knowing where they park their ship. One bombing run and it would be all over.

[LOTRfan]

[Airship]

"If only," she replies, with a smirk. "I doubt we'd find that information, though. Have you heard of the Crimson Pirates?"

[ThirdEmperor]

Airship

Nope. Generic name though. Probably don't have any creativity at all.

[LOTRfan]

[Airship]

"Perhaps I'm misremembering what they called themselves, but I know they are the crew of this Crimson Tempest. Its one of them ships powered by a fire elemental. Perhaps we'll be facing off against them?"

[Earl of Purple]

Spacecraft

Sol finds ten centimeter-long larvae swimming in the arteries of his arm. They are long, but slender. There's ten more swimming up his leg since I think he got stung in the ankle as well. They seem to be headed towards his torso, where his organs are.

[ThirdEmperor]

Spacecraft

Er... Not quite. Sol says, blushing a little despite the seriousness of the situation. Nonetheless, he does have to take off his shirt, so he does so. If I do start burning though, um, you might want to run. I can be kinda.... Well, really dangerous. With that, he takes his knife and stabs himself in the arm, directly on the vein. Gritting his teeth and trying to keep himself from screaming, Sol uses his magic to try and draw the parasites in his arm out of his bloodstream through the wound, while at the same time keeping his bleeding to a minimum.

Airship

That's probably them then. Frankly, I don't know anything bout them, and it's probably best ta just prepare for the worst, hope for the best, then sit around here trying to guess what we're up against. Nicholas says, finishing his stew.

[Murkus]

Countryside


"Scars n' stories. How exceedingly macho." The Lady scooches over to Jasper and tries to put an arm around him, grabbing the sake to take another swig. "Tell me one."

Valley

"Tis good to hear ye're so eager." Cornelia smiles and gets pulled close. The gunslinger tries to give him another lengthy kiss, holding his arms. "See you then, love." With that, she'll start to button up her shirt and make her way out of the forest. Toward NO.

Slaver Plawt

With the fight wrapping up, hopefully no one will noticed the glamoured glass-head moving at a slow jog into the forest. He's invisible now, and since Cessie's occupied, Nayir hopes she won't be able to spot him leaving.

[wxdruid]

[Ruby Cove]

There is yet another laugh from Kale, as he watches Vysada make a little bit of a mess out of the marshmallow.
He carefully slides off the rest of the marshmallow with his fingers and pops it into his own mouth.
"I'm glad you like it. I find a lot of stuff to make and do in my books. Turns out some people have made books for camping too.
I'm a bit partial to the cooked ones, myself..."
Extra little effort and warm.

Vysada will eat any marshmallows, cold or melting hot that come her way. She loves them all.

[Devixer]

[Valley]

Boris returns Cornelia's smile and kiss. When it breaks off, he helps her with the buttons of her blouse. "Do svidanya, Cornelia." After the farewell, the sniper will head back to Watch.

[ThirdEmperor]

Countryside

Jasper allows Legion to put her arm around him, sighing heavily. Alright. Let me try and remember one that doesn't end with anyone dying... He closes his eyes and thinks for a bit. Oh, yeah. Think you'll like this one. My unit was in Texas at the time, our commander had been killed a week ago and we were pretty much lost. Best we could tell, we were somewhere in the hill country, because, well, there were hills and trees. Now, after about two days of trekking, we realized we were being followed by something. Something old, old and terrible. Jasper says, completely hamming it up. We started finding claw marks on the trees wherever we made camp, heard things prowling around the tents at night, and the more we freaked out, the worse it got. After a week of getting nowhere, the forest wasn't even the same, it was pitch dark the whole day long, as though the sun had gone out, the trees seemed to move when we weren't lookin, and by what we saw of the wildlife, they were just waiting to eat us. Legion might notice Jasper shudders slightly as he continues with his tale. In retrospect, it's a great story, but actually living it was hell. It was about then I started to notice that our worst fears were coming true. If one of us worried about wolves, we'd be running from a pack of them by the end of the day, if one of us had nightmares, whatever it was would come true. The entire place was one big nightmare, and we saw more scary **** than I like to think about. None of us died, but Private Stetson lost his leg at the knee, and most of us were near breaking down from sheer terror. Eventually, I figured something out. That night, around the campfire, I told the most ridiculous horror story I could think of, a paraphrasing of The Jabberwocky, to be exact. And the next day, what do you think came whiffling through the tulgey wood?

[LOTRfan]

Airship

That's probably them then. Frankly, I don't know anything bout them, and it's probably best ta just prepare for the worst, hope for the best, then sit around here trying to guess what we're up against. Nicholas says, finishing his stew.

[Airship]

"Yeah, you are probably right," she says, as she also finishes up her stew. "Speaking of preparing for the worse, do you want to spar, now? I'll get around to cleaning the bowls, later."

[Murkus]

Countryside

Legion's eyes get wide, her expression very much interested. The Lady has no interruptions, she merely watches Jasper, obviously fascinated.

Then she gives a little smirk. "I guess none've you had a vorpal sword on hand, huh?"

Airship

Bellan's likely in the armory, cleaning and polishing the harpoon cannon lovingly.

[ThirdEmperor]

Countryside

Nope, but we had bullets, and that's all we needed. It showed up just as we thought we had found a way out, a stream running through the forest. Out of nowhere it clawed it's way out of the undergrowth, the most ridiculous, pathetic monster in the history of the West. You had to be there. It was so fat it could barely walk on it's spindly legs, and had a neck twice as long as it's body, so it practically had to slither along the ground. Jasper recounts, smirking slightly. For all of ten seconds we were stunned. Then we opened fire and sunk more rounds into that thing then we had used in the entire war, until we were one hundred percent sure it couldn't possibly be living. It might have been smart enough to use our fears against us, but it couldn't tell a scary story from a bad one to save it's life. Considering what it had turned into, probably didn't understand anatomy all that well either.

Airship

Sure. Thanks for the meal, by the way. Nicholas gets to his feet and walks out towards the deck, popping his knuckles as he does so.