VVVVVigil: Valorous Veterans Vanquishing Venal Vermin

[Reinholdt]

[A Cat and Heights]

"He is," Reinholdt affirms. All the Renards/Reynards are.

He also nods. "Oh yeah. That's the most stereotypical witch things I could imagine. I must say you don't look like a stereotypical witch though." She isn't hunched over with warts and stuff!

Rein frowns. "Does your laugh always hurt people? That would suck. Being unable to laugh." Unless she was malicious and/or sadistic. Then she could laugh all she wants. Maybe the laugh thing is why so many witches seclude themselves? Besides the whole burning thing.

[Arkhosia]

Early Morning Training

Blanche grimaces at the thought of facing something so absurdly strong - that genestealer sounded like an absolute terror to face, and Jezebel seemed fairly confident inn her ability to dispatch one. The idea that there could be something even worse wasn't terribly pleasant. "I think I've heard enough about the [shist] your home has to deal with. I'm not particularly fond of feeling inadequate." She responds rather dryly with a hand on her hip, snagging the previously-offered cup of recaff and taking a testing sip.

[Shadowcaller]

[Spooky VIGIL Encounters]

The only reply Wenomir gets is more cackling as Giga!Cora climbs on top of the broom and it starts to raise into the air. She seems to have a lot of fun at the warriors expense at the very least. Perhaps she's laughing at Lapis too. How mean!

[ELVES!!!]

"Uhh, yeah! I mean, I think so. Wenomir told me about it and I once saw a place with a bunch of books inside it, and there were people in there too!" Anika proclaims with a gesture so vague it could almost mean any direction or any building. "But otherwise there's the tavern of course. There's always at least one dude yapping about stuff in there. I just never stick around to listen for long."

A Visit

The journalist nods. "Glad to hear that. These are rather bothersome."
Faith's claws seem to twitch slightly as she gives them a look. "But the black stuff is actually just mud." A beat. "Not that I use them for digging." She reassures with a smile. "They just seem produce it." She waves the claw dissmisively. "Y'know, magically. Still don't want to get it all over people though, it's quite a health hazard." Faith now nods towards Laz. "But what about yours? Can I see?" Her eyebrow is raised. "No pictures of course, I'm just curious. They change if you get, ah, upset?"

[Zefir]

Spoiler

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Spoiler

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Early Morning Training

"I can't say I've heard anyone of fighting trees. Maybe on one of the Death Worlds, but I've been lucky enough to avoid stepping onto one of those." Jezebel admits after a moment of introspection. She'd heard of a lot of strange Xenos, but nothing like that. "The Orkz where I come from are born of fungal spores if that counts." She adds, turning the training hologram setting to show what she'd been facing before. The large greenskin, practically made of muscle and steel, stands tall and imposing with its crude cleaver. "That's just the normal "Boy", as they're called. I imagine your rifle might do something if you're lucky, but I wouldn't have any hope of it doing anything against a Nob or a Warboss. Even I wouldn't have much hope against one of the latter." She admits with a frown.

Early Morning Training

Blanche grimaces at the thought of facing something so absurdly strong - that genestealer sounded like an absolute terror to face, and Jezebel seemed fairly confident inn her ability to dispatch one. The idea that there could be something even worse wasn't terribly pleasant. "I think I've heard enough about the [shist] your home has to deal with. I'm not particularly fond of feeling inadequate." She responds rather dryly with a hand on her hip, snagging the previously-offered cup of recaff and taking a testing sip.

Early Morning Training

"It is just good that we are here together. if something like that warboss appears we can deal with him together." she says. Mia will hand back the mug. This drink isn't for her even thught she is still in her pyjama and maybe a bit sleepy. she yawns.

[5a Violista]

[A Cat and Heights]

Awen dismisses the concern with a dismissive wave. "No, not all the time," she claims. "It has to be intentional."

...
After a bit more thought, she adds: "Or, if I'm not paying attention. That happens sometimes, too." Luckily, she's not really the type to laugh a lot so it's fine.

"But what would a stereotypical witch look like?" she asks. There's a whole lot of stereotypes for it, apparently. "My hair's got a tinge of green under the right lighting..." and snakes. The snakes are regardless of the lighting.

[Lord Magtok]

A Visit

The journalist nods. "Glad to hear that. These are rather bothersome."
Faith's claws seem to twitch slightly as she gives them a look. "But the black stuff is actually just mud." A beat. "Not that I use them for digging." She reassures with a smile. "They just seem produce it." She waves the claw dissmisively. "Y'know, magically. Still don't want to get it all over people though, it's quite a health hazard." Faith now nods towards Laz. "But what about yours? Can I see?" Her eyebrow is raised. "No pictures of course, I'm just curious. They change if you get, ah, upset?"

Saint Lazarus sighs and removes her gauntlet, same as she did last time. It's just a normal human hand, but very discolored and slightly bruised from the training she'd been doing earlier today. Nothing too out of the ordinary here, aside from maybe the flecks of blood under the fingernails. Even then, that's the sort of thing you expect from someone who has to eat people to survive, isn't it?

"They change if I'm going to die without them. I think I tore the hood off of some bad guy's car last time. I say I think, because I wasn't all there when it happened and there wasn't anything but blood stains left inside when I calmed down. So no, you're not going to get to see any claws," she answers quietly, with a sort of finality to it that suggests Faith probably shouldn't pursue this line of questioning any further.

[Reinholdt]

[A Cat and Heights]

"Oh good." Rein would hate to make a joke and then keel over in pain. Though now that he's staring blankly at Awen, no jokes come to him. Darn. Isn't that always the way?

Instead he starts waving his hand about, dismissively. "Oh you know, hunched over, warts, green, and ugly. I assure you, you're as far from ugly as it gets, so don't worry about it. I've met a beautiful witch or two as well. Three now I suppose." Maybe the barely green hair draws its origins from the other kind of witch.

"Anyways, I delivered the information I needed to, so I should probably get going. Thank you for your assistance."

[Shadowcaller]

A Visit

Faith politely nods and ignores all the incredible hulk jokes that could be made. "Yeah, it's okay. You can put the glove back on." She remarks while putting back her own, making sure to strapping the wrist belt tightly. "Are there any other questions you had for me? It doesn't have to be about me. I'm happy to answer any questions regarding the newspaper I work for or the other people with similar experiences that I interview."

[Morty]

[Spooky VIGIL Encounters]

Wenomir points a finger at the giant Cora and is on the cusp of ordering the anti-air defences on her. He might have done it, if the children weren't there. But using weapons on someone for pranks doesn't send the right message to them. Instead, he pulls his anger back and puts a tight clamp on it before returning to them. Of course, they're likely to be rather surprised by the change in his appearance.

[Murkus]

[Spooky VIGIL Encounters]

"...Wenomir?" Laela looks at him.

And looks.

Her young brain is having trouble processing this one. "...What are you gonna do? She's gonna get away!" At least her hair was back to normal...

[5a Violista]

[A Cat and Heights]

Awen bites her lower lip at the situation. "Thanks," she says, smiling, "but I doubt you'll say the same thing when I'm not wearing this veil and headscarf" and gloves and with her hair flailing around grabbing things and pulling them in to be bitten by snakes, and so on.

Looking down at the poorly-drawn sketch, she nods. "I'll make sure to pass along this information and tell people to keep a lookout for her."

With a wave and a "Bye," she heads off to pass this up the chain of command.

[Lord Magtok]

A Visit

"So you do make a habit of interviewing people with similar...experiences," Saint Lazarus repeats, stressing the last word as if it were some kind of awful euphemism. It might as well be, given Jenette's opinion on those experiences. The undead are absolutely loathsome, and then sooner she can stop being one, the better.

"I'm just going to come out and say it. I don't like being like this. I'm not a big fan of eating human flesh, and I intend to stop being like this as soon as I can. If this interview is about softening the image of the undead, I don't know how well that's going to work. I'm sorry if that comes as a disappointment to you." The apology actually sounds somewhat genuine, in spite of Jenette's open and unashamed contempt for the unliving. Faith's heart (or the inert lump of flesh that used to be her heart) is clearly in the right place, even if they disagree strongly on whether or not the walking dead should be treated like the monsters they are.

[Shadowcaller]

A Visit

The journalist first nods in response to Laz's first question. "Mm." Seemingly with no reaction to Lazarus obvious distaste for people she was talking about.


But Faith raises her hand already as she seem to realize what the knight is trying to say. She waits for her to finish before replying however. "No, no, you misunderstand. That's not my intention at all." She shakes her head. "If I could be politically incorrect for a moment then if I had wanted a cry story about how hard it's to be undead, I would have interviewed yet another vampire." There's a hint of bitterness in her tone. "Since frankly I think both you and I know there is a very good reason to why we're seen as monsters. I really don't want to shy away from the fact that most of the people I talk to have killed at least one person since they turned. Sure, a lot of them claim that they couldn't control themselves at the time, but that's even more a reason to be concerned, isn't it? So if you want to throw shade on the undead, I'm all for it. I would find the honesty refreshing at this point."

[Gullara]

[Spooky VIGIL Encounters]

"Um..." Cora gets a pretty perturbed look when Wenomir walks over. Bastion looks over her shoulder like he's seen a ghost... another ghost. "I think she got you too, Wenomir."

[Lord Magtok]

A Visit

The journalist first nods in response to Laz's first question. "Mm." Seemingly with no reaction to Lazarus obvious distaste for people she was talking about.


But Faith raises her hand already as she seem to realize what the knight is trying to say. She waits for her to finish before replying however. "No, no, you misunderstand. That's not my intention at all." She shakes her head. "If I could be politically incorrect for a moment then if I had wanted a cry story about how hard it's to be undead, I would have interviewed yet another vampire." There's a hint of bitterness in her tone. "Since frankly I think both you and I know there is a very good reason to why we're seen as monsters. I really don't want to shy away from the fact that most of the people I talk to have killed at least one person since they turned. Sure, a lot of them claim that they couldn't control themselves at the time, but that's even more a reason to be concerned, isn't it? So if you want to throw shade on the undead, I'm all for it. I would find the honesty refreshing at this point."

...Huh. Okay, that changes everything, doesn't it? Jenette clears her throat, and sets aside her initial reluctance to avoid going all-out on her monster hatred. It's okay, she has permission now, doesn't she?

"Alright. You're recording now, right? I...I mean I'm not the worst person in the world, and I do feel like I belong here in VIGIL, but it's not easy. As soon as I got bit, one of the first things I did was find an apartment in Skyside. Not because I needed to be closer to the sun or something, but because I had to have a regular, consistent, weekly supply of bad people who deserved to die in my stomach. It's horrible; some days I find myself worrying about what would happen if anyone ever found a way to fix the crime problem in Skyside. Would I kill myself first, or finally break down and start eating good people? Starving to death isn't an option, either; I'd wake up covered in blood and chewing on my roommate and my dog if I ever tried to stop eating. It's just...eating, every day, all the time. I'm so tired of eating, of my entire life being devoted to eating as humanely as possible. I miss being able to grab a snack from the fridge without committing a heinous act of corpse mutilation, y'know?"

[Shadowcaller]

A Visit

Faith nods, holding up the recorder to show that she just turned it on.

While Laz talk, she might notice that the journalist doesn't blink even once while she's explaining her situation. It's only once she pauses that the journalist seem to remember herself and blinks twice as if to make up for lost time and slowly nods as to affirm her understanding. "I've heard of the experience before and it's often nicknamed 'the hunger' even though it's not the same for everyone. Also goes by the name 'the beast', but I think that's romanticizing it. Maybe 'monster' would be more accurate. Either way, I feel sympathy with anyone that tries to remain ethical the way you do despite having to eat people. The struggle against the hunger you describe is... difficult." Faith pauses and scribbles something in her notebook.
"How long have you felt the hunger now, approxminately? Furthermore, do you have some sort of code determining whose 'good' or 'bad' or do you just rely on the general awfulness of Skyside? Since if you work for VIGIL you must travel outside the city too. Have there been any borderline cases?" She waves her hand as to dissmiss an incoming question. "If you don't feel confortable answering any of my questions, you can ignore them."

[UncleWolf]

Early Morning Training

"To be fair, I feel incredibly inadequate in comparison to many things back home." Jezebel admits as she turns off the training hologram and takes a sip of her ReCaff. "Ships that hold tens of thousands of people, Hive Cities with billions, monsters that devour entire planets, and giant space hulks made of fused ships and asteroids the size of small moons. It is a place of constant war and despair and I can honestly say I am exceedingly happy and pleased to have been able to get away from it for the most part." She takes another sip and turns her back to the table to lean on it while looking over the others. "But I suppose introductions are in order. I am Jezebel Tel'Vree."

[Ashen Lilies]

[ELVES!!!]

"Uhh, yeah! I mean, I think so. Wenomir told me about it and I once saw a place with a bunch of books inside it, and there were people in there too!" Anika proclaims with a gesture so vague it could almost mean any direction or any building. "But otherwise there's the tavern of course. There's always at least one dude yapping about stuff in there. I just never stick around to listen for long."

[ELVES!!!]

Rain nods enthusiastically.
"Yes, a tavern sounds perfect!" She says, sounding excited. "I worked almost all my life in my mother's tavern. That's where I learned all my stories!"

[Another Elf!]

Some time after her lunch date with Wenomir, a specific slender elf with white hair, silvery eyes, and pale grey skin (maybe lavender grey, maybe blue grey) decides to pay a second visit to the Vigil base. Thankfully, this time, she's not breaking into his house, but coming in the "official" way - taking a shuttle up after letting the crew know she'd like to meet with the commanders. She's dressed in stripped down version of her adventuring outfit - minus the pouches and other accoutrements she'd normally bring with her in the field, though she *did* bring a duffel bag, and a heavy, high-collared cloak, which has the twin benefits of being nice and warm, and also being a bit more smart and formal looking. Wenomir's gift to her is bound up nice and snug in the same wrapping Wenomir had given it to her in, though she'd since had it re-hilted by a reputable swordsmith.

She waits patiently on a bench in the main courtyard, sword across her knees, watching the various Vigil members walking past and going about their business. If any of them gave her a curious or appraising eye back, she'd pay them no mind. Unless any of them chooses to approach her, that is.

[Shadowcaller]

[ELVES!!!]

"Ohh, I'm running with an true proffesional then. Sweet!" Anika grins as she motions for Rain to follow. She's already heading towards the tavern. She will slam the door open (thankfully no one was on the other side) and step inside, giving Rain a look. "Anything like your tavern?" However, as she didn't spare the thought of even look inside when she opened the door, she might just walk into someone leaving or walking near the entrance.

[Spooky VIGIL Encounters]

Giga!Cora will simply fly away on her broom if no one stops her. Cackling all the way as she makes sure to be seen against the backdrop of the full moon while shouting. "Happy spooktober, lameos!" Then she's suddenly gone.

The good news is that the enchantment on Wenomir is temporary. The bad news is that it will still last three days (unless dispelled by something the player wants to work, otherwise the enchantment is too powerful).

[Earl of Purple]

ELVES!!

The tavern is a pretty standard adventurer's hangout, with large windows, a bar and wooden tables and chairs. The main difference is that, instead of a natural fire, the tavern is warmed by a system of modern white radiators. It's cheaper than shipping fuel up to keep small fires fed in all the rooms. The barman is a blue-green Argonian with a smattering of red feathers growing from the top of his lizardy head, wearing a white apron over denim jeans with a hole cut for his tail. Hanging behind him is a massive axe made from a strange bronze metal, with a large hole making up most of the blade and leather wrapped around a shaft of the same metal.

There's a lot of tables dotted around, many of them empty. There's also a few that aren't empty. An empty suit of full plate sits with its visor up, sitting awkwardly and making jokes with a pair of nearly identical humans, one wearing long blue robes and the other in leather. A lochaber axe, a glass staff filled with mercury and a long-barrelled musket lean against their table. A halfling wearing a loose cotton shirt and trousers is slowly maintaining a suit of platemail he's set up across his table, with a black-and-white tapir lying underneath. A scarred woman in mismatched military fatigues is sitting and joking with a lanky blue-skinned vedalken in white ceramic-looking armour, and discussing the merits of their guns; the human's are battered relics of a world lost to war, whilst the vedalken's are sleek and elegant looking alchemy-powered devices. A red-skinned Irekei and an orange-skinned orc are having a drinking contest, which the slender devilman appears to be winning.

[Morty]

[Spooky VIGIL Encounters]

Wenomir closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Time to make this sound a bit better for the kids' sake.

"She got me, yes. I chased her off and she reversed the changes on you, but did this to me before running away. I'll be fine. We should get you home to your parents."

[Another Elf!]

Wenomir goes out to meet his... girlfriend? Is this what Cassandra is to him now? Their relationship is still in fairly uncertain territory. But they seem to be headed there.

"Good to see you, Cass," he says, walking up to her. He's wearing his official Vigil surcoat and there's a longsword at his side. Much like the axe she saw when she broke in, it appears to be an entirely mundane steel weapon. "I see you've taken good care of my old sword." Is she here to learn to use it or for some other purpose? She'll let her explain.

[Arkhosia]

Early Morning Training

"Blanche Turath - er, Terenti-Turath," Blanche answers, looking a little more formal and composed. She perhaps doesn't quite know of the woman's position in the organization, but Blanche has heard the name before; she understands the woman's notoriety, if not who she is herself.

[5a Violista]

[Training Grounds]
Running Track

Zophiel the paladin heads to the training grounds to go for a run around the track.

He's bringing some weights to carry as he runs. After all, carrying weights is more representative of a normal running situation to him.

[Lord Magtok]

A Visit

"How long have you felt the hunger now, approximately? Furthermore, do you have some sort of code determining whose 'good' or 'bad' or do you just rely on the general awfulness of Skyside? Since if you work for VIGIL you must travel outside the city too. Have there been any borderline cases?" She waves her hand as to dismiss an incoming question. "If you don't feel comfortable answering any of my questions, you can ignore them."

"I've had it since I died, shortly after the bite. It's not hard to find muggers, thieves, and slavers in Skyside if you know where to look. The trick is when thugs start putting two and two together and start traveling in groups. I've had to vary my schedule a few times, target different districts. The last thing you want to be when skulking about like some urban legend is predictable. Someone's going to read this later though, so I can't talk too much about my methods." It's clear that Saint Lazarus has put a lot of time and effort into this. Far more than she's comfortable with, obviously. Becoming the boogeyman of organized crime in Skyside while simultaneously doing your best to not die or leave tracks that would lead people back to the apartment is hard. No wonder Batman needs so much money to make it work.

"When working with others in VIGIL...well, I've only been on a mission and a half so far. I usually don't stay out in the field for very long; I just go in, save the day, and hope nobody wants to celebrate over drinks after because I'll be too busy jumping across rooftops and lurking in alleys." Saint Laz shrugs. Sure hope Blanche over in Seaside doesn't get any comradely ideas later. Last thing she wants is Princess Hairball trying to be all buddy-buddy.

[Rebonack]

[Spooky VIGIL Encounters]

Lapis is still crying.

She doesn't want to be a sheep!

She wants to be herself!

Poor thing could probably use a hug...

It would be a pretty warm hug, too.

Just look at her!

A great big silly ball of wool is what she is. With those cute little braids and silly sheep-eyes.

[Zefir]

Early Morning Training

"Blanche Turath - er, Terenti-Turath," Blanche answers, looking a little more formal and composed. She perhaps doesn't quite know of the woman's position in the organization, but Blanche has heard the name before; she understands the woman's notoriety, if not who she is herself.

Early Morning Training

"To be fair, I feel incredibly inadequate in comparison to many things back home." Jezebel admits as she turns off the training hologram and takes a sip of her ReCaff. "Ships that hold tens of thousands of people, Hive Cities with billions, monsters that devour entire planets, and giant space hulks made of fused ships and asteroids the size of small moons. It is a place of constant war and despair and I can honestly say I am exceedingly happy and pleased to have been able to get away from it for the most part." She takes another sip and turns her back to the table to lean on it while looking over the others. "But I suppose introductions are in order. I am Jezebel Tel'Vree."

Early Morning Training

"Mia Mechanicus. High Priestres of the church of Deus mechanicus. I'm working as an engeniere and also as a dooctor in the infirmary." she says. It's hard for her to get jezzables descriptions done,but a giant mech can never be bad.
"May I ask how you got here then? It appears like it was an accident."

[Murkus]

AMEN Debrief

Adir has to force himself not to take wondering peeks at 'Raven' and 'Ilpholin' while they ride along in the back. They make it back to VIGIL without much trouble.

"Where am I parking this thing, Wenomir?" He's not exactly familiar with the grounds. Is there even any way to reach the base in a truck, or are they gonna move to a shuttle?

[Morty]

[AMEN Debrief]

Wenomir has been silent, saving questions for when the possibly-fake Ilpholin has been stabilized and given proper medical care. He is not happy about the confusing aftermath of the mission, so his silence is of the disgruntled kind.

"I'll call a skyship big enough to carry your truck," he says. "Best not to move her more than we need to."

[Rebonack]

[Descending From The Sky]

This seems to be a popular activity this afternoon.

Descending from the sky, I mean, since someone else is doing it to.

No rocket boosters though, just wings.

Geneva Richards is incoming, slowing her approach considerably as she draws closer to the flying island. She's quite assured in her reaction time and maneuverability, but the skyship pilots tend to get a bit jittery when she comes rocketing in near her full speed. The hippogriff descends, wings beating, as she spots the odd bronze figure glinting in the sunlight. As far as she knows they don't have anyone at VIGIL that looks like that. Her memory is pretty good and her knowledge of personal is by no means exhaustive but she's pretty sure she would remember someone who looks like that.

"Ah, hello down there!" she calls out as she descends near the... robot? Person in powered armor? "Welcome to VIGIL?"

The hippogriff is pretty big, somewhere between the size of a lion and a horse. Certainly large enough that that someone could ride on her back. The fact that she's wearing clothing quickly dispels any notion that this is some mere beast. Her large lavender eyes are alert and intelligent and the edges of her beak turn up in a smile. Her front half looks akin to a harpy eagle with front legs a mix of bird and feline while the back half is that of a dappled grey and white mare. She has a lion's tail ending in a (currently folded) fan of feathers. She's wearing an old fashioned bombardier's leather jacket fitted for her unusual body type.

As she lands she sits down on her haunches and pulls her flight goggles off her eyes, letting them hang around her neck.

"Oh no, this isn't an emergency, is it?" she asks, suddenly looking concerned. "Should I go get someone important?"

[Halae]

[Descending from the Sky]

"Not an emergency this time, don't worry," the woman inside the machine says. She'll extend a large mechanical hand towards Geneva - whether the hippogriff is able to shake is a different matter, but whether she can or not, the pilot continues, "Katherine Marls. I'm actually here to discuss a plan I and an associate are going to be engaging in soon; we're currently planning a raid of the Skyside slave pens. The problem we have is that we don't really have the housing for the rescued slaves after we pull them out; we considered sending them to GLoG but it's essentially just an undefended campground, so we're making overtures to HALO and you here to see if we can't arrange a place for them to stay in the immediate aftermath that's a bit better defended against slaver incursions."

The mech itself settles into a resting pose, left arm hanging off the shelf provided by the hilt of the large curved sword, and its weight shifts to one side. It's a very natural stance, and distinctly biological - even most AIs wouldn't lean onto one side of their body like that.