[NEXUS] WATCHTOWER 9: The Impenetrable Thread

[Ashen Lilies]

Jutting out of the side of Overlook Waterfall like some sort of weird catherdral that got turned on it's side and converted into a fortress, is the WATCHTOWER.
Who built it? Unknown (A sect of mages known as the Dillinites). What purpose does it serve? Unknown (Dillinite Forward Command Base). How do people even know about these things? A sort of sixth sense, really, which tells everybody in Acronymia when a new thread is created (Unknown).


Previously abandoned, the WATCHTOWER has now been refurbished, thanks to the constant attentions of the members. However, due to recent events it still bears several craters and battle damaged bits and the like.

The base is also now Dimension Locked, to members and non-members alike. Teleporters, and other such users of inter-spatial travel, will only be allowed to appear or disappear at or from the main gate, at the closest.

OOC NOTES & RULES


No destroying the place, or doing something to it that'll produce a similar effect (for example, no placing a massive time freeze on the entire area forever), unless it's part of an epic plot, and you've run it through me. You're allowed to damage it, but destroying it just takes the fun out of it for all the other players.
No godmoding/godmodding. Even if it's permitted in some ACRONYMs, it isn't in the WATCHTOWER. The occasional mishap's OK, repeated offense isn't.
Please try and keep posts longer than one or two lines of speech. Description is appreciated. One-or-two-liners that don't do much are OK once in a while - but not regularly.
If you want random smashy hahaN00BlulzFun, here's not the place. Anything spammy, random, or just plain annoying, can go! Of course, if your silliness is in moderation and well-roleplayed, and considerate of other players, then welcome in.
Romance/Fanservice/Secks/WOOHOO!/Whateveryawannacallit is acceptable here, but remember to curtain once it goes past the snuggling stage, and be aware that there may be IC repercussions for dropping the curtain whenever you're online, as this is a thread with a mission. And said mission does not involve ******* like rabbits.





THE BUILDING


Ground Level/First Floor


Courtyard - A courtyard, surrounded by walls. Bare, and pretty much uncultivated, the courtyard is filled with grass, wild flowers and bomb craters. A gravel path leads from the main gates (or rather, what's left of them) to the main entrance. Off to one side is a well and an small, overgrown apple orchard, dotted with small obelisks carved with faded runes that once, and now once more, having been reactivated by Sakura, fueled powerful spells of growth and plenty. Off to the other is what might have once been a vegetable garden, and a large animal pen, which is now an ad hoc stable building for the rare occasion people bring horses or other animal mounts to the WATCHTOWER. Near the building, against the cliffs, construction golems have built a wide lift, large enough to accommodate several vehicles, up to the Airship Gantry.
Main Room - A sort of wide, square lounge area. There are several low tables and comfy chairs. To one side is a 'fireplace' which is really just a stone recess occupied by the illusion of a fire, and several heating glyphs (restored by KR). No chimney, you see. Several torch brackets hang on the walls but are empty. Light here is provided (as in all rooms of the building) by glyphs in the ceiling. At the back are three doors, leading to the barracks and stairway. Near the fireplace is a secret panel that when pressed by an active member opens up a Doorway to the Safe Room. Non-members pressing the panel will have no result.
Stairway - A small square room dominated by a spiral staircase which leads up the tower, to identical such small square rooms on every floor. Has two doors, which lead to the Main Room and Kitchen.
Kitchen - A kitchen. It contains modern kitchen equipment. It's also square. Has a door leading to the stairway. Has never been visited. Ever. For shame, people. This room claimed in the name of Butler!
Barracks (East) - An 'L' shaped corridor, which leads off to several bunk rooms. Each room was originally designed to house four soldiers, but has since been re-furbished to provide a sort of quarters for a single (or perhaps two) member(s). A room initially contains a single bed, a dresser, a desk with a chair, and a miniature closed off bathroom area containing a toilet and a sink with a mirror.
Barracks (West) - An 'L' shaped corridor, which leads off to several bunk rooms. Each room was originally designed to house four soldiers, but has since been re-furbished to provide a sort of quarters for a single (or perhaps two) member(s). One of the rooms has become a miniature shrine to the Demon Dalachrech, Lord of Invertebrates. A room initially contains a single bed, a dresser, a desk with a chair, and a miniature closed off bathroom area containing a toilet and a sink with a mirror.
Showers - A shower room accessible at the end of each barracks corridor.
...
Wait wait wait, public showers? How barbaric! :smallyuk: Public MIXED-SEX Showers? How... Yeah, it's barbaric. :smalltongue:
NOTE: There are cubicles. The showers are 'public' not in the sense that WATCHTOWER members will be forced to look at each other naked, only in the sense that they are not present in the rooms. :smalltongue:
(Of course, there's nothing stopping members from buying themselves a nice little bathtub or something.)




Second Floor


Stairway - A small square room dominated by a spiral staircase which leads up the tower, to identical such small square rooms on every floor. Has four doors, which lead to the Library, Offices, Infirmary and Labs.
Library - A large room, with a large window that overlooks the courtyard. In the center of the room is a statue, perhaps a shrine to some long-forgotten god of knowledge, that has been covered with a purple cloth, and a sign that warns 'Do Not Remove Upon Pain of Death.' How strange. Radiating out from the statue are masses upon masses of shelves, upon which sit books on all topics, but mostly magic. At one wall is a secret panel that when pressed by an active member opens up a Doorway to the Safe Room. Non-members pressing the panel will have no result.
Offices - A sparse room that doesn't see much use. The office contains a back-up mainframe, as well as filing cabinets where hard copies of important information (and member forms) are stored. The offices also provide storage space for the dozen or so Construction Golems that were left behind.
Infirmary - A stark white clean room, with several partitions. Each segment contains a bed, as well as various medical equipment both magical and technological. The beds themselves are sturdy, quite comfortable, and also have straps if restraining the patient is necessary. There are several shelves in each section containing medicine and healing herbs and stuff.
The Labs - Previously where the Dillinite mages performed unholy experiments and summoned volatile beasts. The first room is a semi-circular one, which leads to four labs which are separated from the 'main' room by thick blast doors and decontamination chambers. Access to this room is restricted to Members only, or guests accompanied by a Member, as determined by a magical handscanner. The four labs vary wildly in appearance, due to the differing styles of the resident MAD SCIENTISTS (and mages). Each one, however, contains magical interface panels linked to computers, which can be used to control laboratory functions.




Third Floor


Stairway - A small square room dominated by a spiral staircase which leads up the tower, to identical such small square rooms on every floor. Has four doors, which lead to the Security Room, Arena and the two Vaults.
Security Room - Access restricted to Members only, as determined by a magical handscanner. If WATCHTOWER were a ship, this would be the bridge. Overlooking the courtyard, this room is filled with magical interface panels which control the base defenses, internal and external, as well as the prison cells. Computer wires and ports interlink with the panels, converting mana signals into binary, allowing control from one of the computer terminals in the room for the less magically inclined. The computers are also wired to the WATCHTOWER mainframe, which is located in this room, allowing for access to the main database. The mainframe can only be accessed from the computers in this room. Internal defenses include magical forcefields in every doorway that can be activated singularly, or all together in an emergency. External defenses include extra strong magical forcefields on the main gate and doors, as well as magical forcefields over the windows. There are also a variety of cunning magical traps buried in the courtyard and the path to WATCHTOWER, that may be deployed for explosive effect. Forcefields may remain active for roughly 4 hours before having to recharge (for 24 hours), or until they are beaten down or dispelled. Traps take a roughly 12 hours to recharge. Simply dispelling the forcefield or traps (or indeed, any of the various glyphs in the building) only deactivates them. More powerful spells (like a Mage's Disjunction, for instance) must be used to get rid of them permanently. At one wall is a secret panel that when pressed by an active member opens up a Doorway to the Safe Room. Non-members pressing the panel will have no result.
Arena - A large, squarish (and yet also roundish) Arena. It's been somewhat refurbished as a training room/gymnasium, with some training equipment, a few dummies and bags and a weapon's rack.
Prison Cells - A 'C' shaped corridor that surrounds the Arena. The prison cells are actually along the inside of the C, allowing them to open up directly into the Arena. Something that the Dillinites used regularly, to much enjoyment. The cells are sparse, three walled affairs containing a chamberpot and a mattress. The rear wall is hinged, to open into the Arena. The front of the cells is barred, of course, and the bars can be magically charged or supplemented by a magical forcefield, activated from the Security Room.
Vaults (East) - An 'L' shaped room, this particular Vault acts as an armory, containing racks of weapons and armor (magical or not) left behind from the Dillinite days, as well as a few extra additions.
Vaults (West) - An 'L' shaped room, this particular Vault holds some gold, and also some of the artifacts, good or evil that WATCHTOWER have managed to procure. This vault has more security than the other vault, and has a handscanner much like the security room. Right now it contains:

A large block of an incredibly strong concrete-like substance, etched with runes of binding and sealing, warded against teleportation or dimensional irregularities, and a number of other things. Sealed inside are a pair of ceramic jars, similarly warded, which house the captured souls of Shepherd and Cynthia.





Basement


Safe Room - A large room located deep underground, filled with mattresses and several months of consumables. Virtually impregnable, and accessible from the main building only via secret Doorway in the Main Room, Library, Security Room or Observatory. The Doorway may also be used to return to any of these locations (even by non-members, if they entered through different means or as a guest). In the back is a small door that leads to the Escape Tunnel. There is also a large bronze door, locked and inscribed with runes of sealing and warding, which leads to the Catacombs. This room is teleport proof, scry-proof, psi-proof, spy-proof, teleprot proof, and whatever other proofs you care to imagine (including 180-proof!) save for Epic MagicTM.
Escape Tunnel - A long tunnel. It leads to a hidden one-way trapdoor further south, near the Taverna Generica.




Catacombs

A bunch of catacombs and stuff below the basement. Excitement and plots sure to be found here, as well as a viable avenue for a sneak attack. This isn't technically, part of the building, merely a network of DungeonsTM under it. NO probably has a tunnel leading into here. If not, they're being painfully lax with their network.



Observatory Level


Observatory - Accessible through a trap door at the top of the spiral staircase. The room is enclosed at the front half by a tremendous glass dome, which serves as the focus for the powerful scrying spell etched all around. In the center is a raised circular viewing platform, with more runes etched around. On three sides are magical interface panels linked to computers like in the Security Room. The computers here are partially networked to the Security Room computers, and allow searching to a copy of the Central Database. The computers and interface panels are primarily used, however, to control the view from the observatory. The scrying spell is capable of reaching across a large area of the planet, as well as deep space. Things can also be viewed from any angle, eliminating conventional obstacles, however things underground or inside buildings cannot be seen. The scrying can of course be severed, blocked or traced back to its source using magic. There is a door to the side of the Observatory that leads to the Airship Gantry. At the back wall, opposite the Gantry door is a secret panel that when pressed by an active member opens up a Doorway to the Safe Room. Non-members pressing the panel will have no result.
Airship Gantry - Jutting out the side of the cliff, and even slightly set into it for protection, is an large gantry, accessible from the Observatory, which acts as an airdock for WATCHTOWER's small (but ever increasing) airfleet. It's pretty awesome. There is room for expansion, and the WATCHTOWER construction golems have built a large lift so that land-based vehicles and mounts can be stored up here as well.

::Vehicles::

A large, heavily armored zeppelin of K-Corp design, captured after a failed attack on WATCHTOWER. It's been decorated psychedelic patterns painted all over the envelope, as well as a pair of angry eyes and mouth. The gondola, while not as eye-blindingly colorful, has a memorial to Butler B. Butler painted on the side. The zeppelin has a rather large cargo hold, as well as a separate bomb-bay, which can drop rather large bombs (though they are currently in rather short supply). It's armed with a rather heavy variety of weapons, including: two disruptor quad-cannons mounted in the aft of the envelope (one ventral, the other dorsal); two heavier disruptor quad-cannons mounted on either side of the gondola and two long-range flamethrowers mounted on the fore. The thing is powered by one of DC's zero-point modules, and can pretty much stay aloft and fire forever, carrying no fuel except for that which goes in the flamethrowers. It has energy shielding, though prolonged use cuts into the ship's energy supply significantly. Currently WATCHTOWER's only functioning aircraft, and is usually used for large scale assaults.
A smaller airship stolen from Lethargia, built for transport. It has controls, two seats for the pilot and co-pilot, and cages in the back for prisoners. It's currently in a state of refurbishment, (and has been for several months, due to KR's lack of proper materials). The combustion engines have been replaced by much simpler ones, seemingly powered by magitech, and everything that can possibly be simplified has been. The hull has been reinforced slightly, and is now both fireproof (up to several thousand degrees centigrade) and vacuum proof. The inside has been hollowed out somewhat, regular controls having been replaced, again, by much simpler ones, and benches have been added along the sides, for extra passengers. The center is dominated by some sort of receptacle, for what looks like a large cylindrical device that stretches from floor to ceiling, though the device itself is currently missing.
An alien spacecraft, hijacked by DC during an extraterrestrial invasion of Inside. Details in the spoiler:

-It's solar-powered and never lands, instead meant to sit in space and recharge. The solar power tech is enough that so long as it's kept charged, it shouldn't run out unless it's being used heavily.
-Its main weapons are high-efficiency laser cannons (basically, more shots than usual) with a single mass driver mounted somewhere. I imagine the bottom or something like that. He said it was better for ground targets due to being difficult to aim, so I imagine it's on the bottom or something.
-It has shields, with variable amounts of power able to be diverted to them. They're quite strong at max power, but this takes power from movement and weapons.
-The main method of boarding it consists of transporter beams (aka cliche 'abduction beams'.)
-There are, of course, airlocks.
-There are shuttle ports.
-The ship's actual frame/armor is pretty tough, though some of the interior is...flimsy at times, or so I saw during the hijacking.

And of course, the ship has an armory!

-Many laser rifles (can be dialed down for weak rapid-fire or dialed up for more powerful shots but slow-firing)
-Power armor designed for aliens
-Beam focuser modification for lasers (allows greater armor-piercing capability for the lasers weakens them a bit, they have to be dialed up fully to regain normal power)
-Deployable uni-directional shields (can be fired through from one side but not the other, lasts a minute maximum, can be depleted by enemy fire)
-Mines, grenades, and directional charges, probably fairly standard explosives or something since they weren't described much. The grenades are supposedly some kind of cross between frag and incendiary.
-Pickaxe/hammer-like melee weapons that use pistons to deliver a secondary shock to drive the pick in deeper. Designed to pierce armor.

Much of the armory (including all of the alien power armor) and quite a bit of the interior have been disassembled and/or removed by WATCHTOWER's rather large cohort of mad scientists for study, though some of it's slowly being put back and reassembled. As of the moment, it's non-functional.
Several generic cars and motorbikes intended for use by members. They're unarmed and (mostly) unarmored, and though somewhat futuristic looking (running on electricity rather than hydrocarbon fuels), are plainly intended for transport only.





MEMBERSHIP FORM

Name: (Include Titles and Aliases your character would be willing to divulge)
Alignment: (Your character may well lie here)
Age: (As a rule, we tend to frown on toddlers grouping up to fight Eldritch Abominations and psychotic liches.)
Sex: (People who answer 'yes' or otherwise engage in similar smartassery will be shot.)
Species: (If a dog or other animal/creature without thumbs, a pawprint is perfectly acceptable here. The other fields... get a scribe or something.)
Profession/Class: (Pretty straightforward, really.)
Power Level: (Recorded in case we ever need to put you down. :smallsmile:)
Power Source: (Natural, Supernatural, Science, Arcane, Divine)
Other Important Information: (General Warnings, FYIs and death-threats against those who would kick your puppy.)



FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS - Submit a Question today!

What the hell is WATCHTOWER's purpose, anyway?
An excellent question! And one that I've just noticed is not answered in the OP in any way! Which is terrible! Anyway, whereas GLoG concerns itself with redeeming evil-doers (and healing the sick and sheltering refugees etc.), HALO smites them and AMEN are them, WATCHTOWER doesn't typically concern itself with concepts of good and evil in any way. Rather, WATCHTOWER exists to deal with massive scale threats to the Nexus, like apocalypses or vast demonic invasions. Of course, given that evil-doers tend to be the ones who cause those things, WATCHTOWER tends to be pitted against the forces of evil more often than not, but is unlikely to concern itself with muggings, murders or exploding taverns. Also, calling WATCHTOWER a 'Good' organization is likely to draw the ire of some of the more omnicidal members around.



LIST OF MEMBERS


KR (http://tinyurl.com/2ff5apl) - Kid Kris
Darkcomet (http://tinyurl.com/23q37lv) - Darkcomet
Wenomir (http://tinyurl.com/27jzb8s) - Morty
Decker (http://tinyurl.com/27ph9na)- happyturtle (unofficial)
Dominic (http://tinyurl.com/24ypwvu) - billtodamax
Mipaff - Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins Inactive
Squeaky Shoes Man (http://tinyurl.com/2ecsfqs) - Reinholdt Deceased
Crodelus (http://tinyurl.com/29tp4f9) - Hyozo Inactive
Terrowin (http://tinyurl.com/28mw3su) - Earl of Purple
Briony Davena (http://tinyurl.com/23ftadl) - happyturtle Failed concept
Karuka Kurosawa (http://tinyurl.com/2bxpwym) - horngeek Deceased
Turtle Brightember (http://tinyurl.com/27ph9na) - happyturtle
Yamako - iElf
Darius Jaezred (http://tinyurl.com/24zuap4) - Darius Midnite
Kazio (http://tinyurl.com/2f4qs2g) - Beans
Shawna von Letters (http://tinyurl.com/2anueug) - The Bushranger
Jeremy (http://tinyurl.com/277owrq)- Wolfbane
Ilyena (http://tinyurl.com/24ywcjn) - The Moff
Sunny Evans (http://tinyurl.com/23ew7el) - happyturtle Honorable discharge
Merrak - VampireRot
Efrim - Snares
Butler B. Butler (restricted access) - Reinholdt
Catherine (http://tinyurl.com/2ev9lrl) - horngeek
Spyridon (http://tinyurl.com/2e2zc85) - FireFox
Ilpholin (http://tinyurl.com/279s9mg) - Reinholdt
Adir Frescot (http://tinyurl.com/2e43e9f) - Murkus
The Mask (http://tinyurl.com/26tqu6q) - Maxios
Keino (http://tinyurl.com/294q4lh) - Hyozo
Sakura and Sarget (http://tinyurl.com/27aegff) - Gulaghar
Haruki (http://tinyurl.com/2e9bbxw) - Haruki-kun
Cessie Laurana Mithar (http://tinyurl.com/4derrxj) - Shadowcaller
Harnel (http://tinyurl.com/4a78svc) - Harnel
Kate (http://tinyurl.com/45tgz6u) - Darklord Bright
Mr. Sirtch (http://tinyurl.com/3p3gvjr) - Lord Magtok
Valeriya Waskensen (http://tinyurl.com/42vmnes) - Murkus
Boris Krestyanov (http://tinyurl.com/42vmnes) - Dark Apprentice
Jasper (http://tinyurl.com/3bs55ug) - ThirdEmperor
Tic, Tac & Toe (http://tinyurl.com/3l33x22) - Gulaghar
Vizekasadriz (http://tinyurl.com/3tcoago) - Shadowcaller



ARCHIVED THREADS

WATCHTOWER 1: I can see my house from here! (http://tinyurl.com/2729fxq) 07/09/2009 - 13/12/2009
WATCHTOWER 2: Who Watches the WATCHTOWER? (http://tinyurl.com/28pakhb) 13/12/2009 - 09/05/2010
WATCHTOWER 3: Big Brother is WATCHing You. (http://tinyurl.com/2esov6k) 09/05/2010 - 30/07/2010
WATCHTOWER 4: Doing Nothing, With Style (since 2009) (http://tinyurl.com/2dh9rdc) 30/07/2010 - 12/09/2010
WATCHTOWER 5: 100 Rooms of DOOOM! (http://tinyurl.com/29je9eq) 12/09/2010 - 14/11/2010
WATCHTOWER 6: Like Justice League, but ON LAAAND! (http://tinyurl.com/6xbjxee) 14/11/2010 - 17/01/2011
WATCHTOWER 7: In the Face of Overwhelming Adversity, we Break Things. (http://tinyurl.com/4d7yhmc) 17/01/2011 - 13/03/2011
WATCHTOWER 8: It's Curtains for You! (http://tinyurl.com/3jbsal6) 13/03/2011 - 09/04/2011



This OP will be subject to updates, so even though major updates will be posted or generally mentioned in the Nexus OOC thread, it would be advisable that you check back regularly. Also, whenever this thread reaches 50, I'd ask no-one else start the new thread, at least until all the pictures are in, or until I say okay.

[Morty]

[Outside]
"Also, if there are many of these things, then there should be a lot of people looking for them, I would think. That would make it harder for them to be brought together as well. But hey, what do I know?"

That's what I figure as well. It's worth looking out for, but nothing urgent.

[Main Room]

Well, since Butler's alive after all, the Butler Avenging Mission is off. Or maybe it isn't. Whoever killed him still deserves a righteous smackdown.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Main Room]

Doesn't help that KR was deadtimed all this time while her player was caught up marathoning an (awesome) TV show... >.>

SO.....

Uh...

The highly annoying cat is around. Sleeping. Somewhere. Yeah.

[happyturtle]

That's what I figure as well. It's worth looking out for, but nothing urgent.

[Main Room]

Well, since Butler's alive after all, the Butler Avenging Mission is off. Or maybe it isn't. Whoever killed him still deserves a righteous smackdown.

"Well Butler is alive, but whoever killed him still deserves a righteous smackdown," Decker says. "Who's with me?"

[Morty]

[Outside]



"Also, if there are many of these things, then there should be a lot of people looking for them, I would think. That would make it harder for them to be brought together as well. But hey, what do I know?"

That's what I figure too. It's worth keeping in mind, but not urgent.

[Main Room]

Count me in. Wenomir nods.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Main Room]

"I'm in too."

Quick! Someone disagree with her so that the plot can end before Christmas!

[Reinholdt]

[Main Room]

*speakers crackle as a computer-like voice talks*
KR to the infirmary please. KR to the infirmary.

There. Hope you're happy. I had to install speakers just to pull that off for you. :smalltongue:

[happyturtle]

Eh, we'll just drag her along as a deadtime zombie. :smallsmile: Or maybe KR does some awesome moves and gets stuck in bullet time for the duration of the mission. :smallbiggrin:

[Morty]

Or they could split up so the GM of the plot has to wait only for one player at a time. I can't think of a reason for Wenomir to disagree, anyway.

[Ashen Lilies]

True true...

BUT FIRST!

[Main Room]

"Huh?"
KR doesn't remember the base having speakers... stupid Nexus just warping the base to suit its whims. She'll have to go about creating some sort of defense against that.

[Reinholdt]

The message makes no effort to repeat itself.

[Ashen Lilies]

KR heads up to the infirmary, then, wondering what's going on.

[Reinholdt]

[Infirmary]

And... nothing's there!
Except normal infirmary stuff.
>>
Sorry. Thought I'd have more time, but I dooooon't.
*gets whisked away*

[Ashen Lilies]

[Main Room]

And, slightly more pissed off than she was before, KR returns here. Yaaaaay?

[Morty]

[Main Room]

Somewhat perplexed by the whole situation, Wenomir says:
Right... so are we going, or taking someone else along?

[happyturtle]

Main Room

"Probably the cat did it," Decker says. "Anyway, I'm going to timeskip the part where someone went to the top of the tower and looked around for the flying castle and found that it's flying over the city. It's preparing to help out the Remnant of the Empire's forces defeat AMEN so our arrival should muddle things up nicely. I guess it's the three of us and the deadtimed gargoyles outside who previously said they wanted to go. I'll make a portal."

[Ashen Lilies]

"Alright."
Says the character who is played by the player who hasn't been keeping up with anything in the past few days and therefore has only rudimentary knowledge of things mentioned in Decker's post.

[happyturtle]

Decker goes outside and tries to make a portal to Knaves castle.

Which is probably dimension locked, thus causing portal failure. I have poked Chaotic Bob for an answer on that.

If portals fail, we can either go by Gargoyle or Airship A. Airship.

[Morty]

Main Room

Sounds good. Gods know why the Empire was employing someone who kills people and sends their lookalikes to mess with apocalypse fighters.

[happyturtle]

Outside

Decker hisses like an angry cat. "Grrr... can't get a bead on them. Damn dimension locking. I hate it soooo much!"

((ooc answer received :smallsmile:))

[Ashen Lilies]

"We could take the Airship to get there. Its firepower and armor might be useful anyway, though its kinda lacking in stealth.

The Flying Saucer is an option as well. KR really needs to get the third airship finishes.

[Morty]

Wenomir sighs. If that's the only option... He hates airships, see.

[Gullara]

[Outside]

The nine foot tall gargoyles that could totally carry them up to the castle approach the group again after scouting or something.

"Alright, so what's the plan? We can probably get you up there if that's how you want to do it, but where do we go from there?" Tac asks and gets promptly smacked in the back of the head by toe. Quite a crack that makes.

"We go and lay the smack down is what we do." Toe says. He grinds his first into his palm to demonstrate. Then gets promptly backhanded across the face by Tac.

Tic just shakes his head. Well, atleast this display demonstrates how tough they are.
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS-zXgO7KRC2HAAOl1qKtSzycBDKA4G7_PwE4EFrU3AhD4__EuEHA

[happyturtle]

"Airship is good," Decker says. "KR can stay in the ship and be ready to use the guns which can be conveniently godmodded by others when KR's player is not around while the rest of us go look for Edict. But it's good that we have a backup way of getting down if we can't get to the ship in time."

[Shadowcaller]

Harnel is really enjoying washing her too :smalltongue:

[B]"Ok then. Thank you."

[Bathroom]

She chuckles as he washes her, "Thank me? Thank me later. You have to do something really special to measure up to this." She says, teasing him. She wouldn't want this to be some sort of competition.

Cessie then closes her eyes and relaxes. It takes some time, but finally she opens her eyes. "Okay... I think he got something now. Here goes nothing I suppose."

There is a brief flash of light as the physical illusion is applied and Harnel will find himself touching scales not feeling very different from his own.
She is also taller apparently and he can see a single horn coming from the middle of her forehead at the place he pointed out.
Her face appears to have flattened out a bit like his even though her lips and nose are still there, just slightly less pronounced. Otherwise her facial features are mostly unchanged though.

Her hands are clawed with blue scales running down her entire body which still regains it's mammalian features such as breasts and hips. Even her feet looks like Harnel's with three claws in front and one behind.

He will also be able to feel a tail next to his own.

All this is of course an illusion, if anyone would look at Cessie with true sight or similar effects, they can still see her human form, just surrounded in a layer of white light.

[Halae]

[Bathroom]

"Wow..."

Harnel grins extremely widely, and decides to try something. One of his hands moves into the water... and begins to rub the base of her tail, like he had gotten Cessie to do for him before, even as his other hand goes about feeling the scales along her arm.

[Shadowcaller]

[Bathroom]

"I guess you lik- WHOA!" Cessie exclaims as he starts to rub her there, her tail moving around wildly at the bottom of the tub.
"...you need to warn me before you do that." She says, sounding a bit embarrassed.
The mage then clears her throat and starts to feel her own scales. "This is... new. You like this?" She asks him.

[Halae]

[Bathroom]

Harnel puts his arms around her, feeling the scales on her stomach as he laughs. He hadn't quite been expecting that reaction. "I like it," he says once he's calmed himself down enough, "You always look good in blue," he says, "But are you sure you're going to be alright with those feet though? They're very different from what you're used to - you might have a bit of trouble with them."

[Devixer]

[Outside]

Boris shrugs at the sudden forming of new plans. He doesn't know this Butler person, and he doubts he'll be needed on this operation. "Another time, I need to take some notes. As soon as I can find paper..."

[Shadowcaller]

[Bathroom]

Harnel will find that she is attempting to wrap her own tail around his as they talk. "Ehh... well, I'm not even sure I can leave the tub like this. None of my clothes would fit and... well, it would be hard to be seen like this... the change I mean. Not the appearance itself." She replies, feeling her own horn, intending to explore this physical illusion she just created.

[Morty]

[Outside]

Fair enough. There should be enough paper in the library.

[Halae]

[Bathroom]

How much taller did she get, anyways?

Harnel's tail will intertwine with hers, wrapping around the base and down towards the tip, "You're not so different now than you were before. Of course," he chuckles, "You won't be wearing shoes like this. But if all else fails, you can wear some of my clothes until we get some for you for this form."

He laughs a bit to himself. This wasn't really the way he expected to get her into pants.

[Shadowcaller]

[Bathroom]

I would say she's around 5'9" now, so a pretty large change overall. She didn't just get longer after all.

"I... I was just planning to look like this in private actually. I mean the change... I'm not sure." She admits.
Then her tail hugs his and she let's out a contented sigh. "I could get used to that though..." Then she starts to look down at her own claws and the rest of the body. "Wow...I'm huge." The bathtub might be feeling a bit small by now with both of them in it.

Cessie let's out a chuckle as she see her own image in the water.
"Hard to believe I'm seeing myself here." She turns to him with a smile, still looking a bit taken aback by this whole experience though. "You really don't think I'm that different?" Her teeth also seem to be sharper.

[Halae]

[Bathroom]

Harnel smiles, "Well, you're bigger, and your face looks a bit different, but it's still you. Your dress may be a bit small on you like this." he'll hold her hand with his own and lean in for a kiss, "The way I see you, you're beautiful whether or not your in scales or skin."

[Shadowcaller]

[Bathroom]

And so they kiss, even that felt a bit different to her. "Thank you." She says with a smile. "Though you forgot the fact I'm also covered in scales, have claws on my feet and hands, not to mention a tail." That fact makes her grin.
She manages to put up one of her feet from the water and attempts to wiggle her claws which doesn't work very well.
"Yeah... I imagine those might be harder to walk in."

[Halae]

[Bathroom]

Harnel grins mischievously and reaches under her with his arms, "Why don't we try that out then?"

He'll then lift her out of the water, step out of the tub, and set her down on the tiles floor, standing as perfectly straight as he can manage. He'll have his arms around her stomach in an instant, ready to keep her from falling should she fall or be unbalanced

((All attempted, of course))

[Shadowcaller]

[Bathroom]

He will find her to be heavier. The world she comes from is a magical attempt to copy the laws of physics. This did not work as intended however so things like this are out of place. It only really makes sense to the ones making the world.

Like trying to make the real world in minecraft with real physics as well.

The mage herself looks very unstable, unused to both her new feet and tail, not to mention her added weight and length.
"Whoa... eh, yes. I think I need to train on this. How do you do it?" Her tail goes from side to side, trying to find a balance.

[Halae]

[Bathroom]

Harnel is silent as he thinks for a moment. His hands are still on her hips to keep her steady. He should more than strong enough to hold her steady until she's ready to walk on her own like this. After a moment, he says, "Alright, look at my feet."

He turns one of his legs to the side, his foot standing fairly still. the rear claw, the one that he doesn't stand that is more like a thumb than anything else, hangs above the ground without actually touching it. Cessie may be trying to stand on her feet like a normal human would, despite the fact that dragons stand on what is essentially their toes. The heel doesn't even come close to the ground, and that contributes to Harnel's height somewhat.

As for his tail, he's leaning forward a bit to hold her hips, and his tail has extended a bit further out than it normally would, attempting to keep his center of gravity from moving. after a certain pint though, about half way down the tail, it also starts swishing from side to side.

[Shadowcaller]

[Bathroom]

Cessie raises up on her toes, now standing even higher, her tail standing perfectly still now as the mage is attempting to stand steady.

"This is going to mess up my normal walk." She says with a chuckle as she then slowly turns to to him again, taking a few stumbling steps on the floor with her new posture. "Going to be hard to switch between these two when I change back. I would hate standing on my toes all the time." She takes a few steps forward, her tail swinging back and fourth as she attempts to maintain balance.

"It isn't that hard. Feels like it's going to be hard to run like this however." She says, glancing back at him.

[Halae]

[Bathroom]

Harnel smiles, "I've had over twenty four years to get used to it, just as you've had that long to get used to walking on normal feet, and now you're trying to get used to dragon feet. I don't expect it all to come easily, but you're doing fine so far."

He backs up to the end of the room and says, "Try coming over to me. Don't move faster than you're comfortable with, and I'll be right over if you look like you're going to fall" He's about ten feet away now, standing with hands on hips as he watches her move

[Shadowcaller]

[Bathroom]

"Human feet Harnel, not normal feet." She corrects him. But as she looks at him to the place she is supposed to walk to, she appears to realize something. "Err... maybe we should put on some clothes?" Cessie suggests as she slowly but surely make her way over to him.

She doesn't fall, quickly getting used to essentially walking on her toes. She had a few classes how to walk lady-like actually so she isn't completely inexperienced.

[Halae]

[Bathroom]

Harnel thinks for a moment, looking her up and down. Of course, his gaze lingers a bit on her chest and hips, but that's to be expected :smalltongue:

"Wouldn't the clothes you have in here be a bit... small for you like this? Or were you thinking of changing back?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Bathroom]

"I could technically create illusionary clothes for myself with the same spell." Cessie suggests, she herself trying not have her eyes linger on his special parts. It was something deeply seated in her mind.

"But... well, I'm not sure I could go out like this though." Now she is doing Harnel's equivalent to blushing, her tail still going from side to side as she's standing still.

[Halae]

[Bathroom]

Harnel looks concerned, "Why? what's wrong with this form?" he doesn't see anything wrong with it. He does note the tail though, and understand she's agitated or nervous, even if he hadn't been watching her expression

[Shadowcaller]

[Bathroom]

"It's... different. It's not the appearance itself but rather the change." She explains. "Maybe I could try though... just a little bit." Not really what she had planned when she assumed this form, but she didn't want Harnel to think she thought it looked ugly. She didn't really.

This would be quite... challenging.

"Could... could you perhaps buy me some clothes? For this form I mean?"

[Halae]

[Bathroom]

"Cessie," he closes what distance is left and hugs her, looking meaningfully into her eyes, "I'll buy some clothes for you like this, but are you sure? If it's just being in a different form that makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to go out like this. I understand wanting to stay in the body you're used to."

[Shadowcaller]

[Bathroom]

Cessie nods slowly, lowering her gaze to the floor. Harnel might have noticed that her eyes somehow looks even bluer now. Something she added with the illusion.
It still felt like she needed prove this to Harnel though, he wasn't ugly or any of those things he seemed to think of himself at times. "Just buy the clothes Harnel, we don't need to leave watch after all right?"

She looks up at him with a faint smile, her tail still going back and fourth.

[Halae]

[Bathroom]

She's worried about something, Harnel thinks to himself, but he isn't about to press her for it. That'd probably just make her angry, and she'd done this for him.

"Alright," he says, he lets go of her and moves over to the clothes he left on the floor, "I can go out and get some dresses for you. in the meantime I doubt you want to just sit around naked though. I can go and get some of my clothes for you to were if you want to get used to having feet like that."

Among the clothes on the floor is a towel, which he begins drying himself off with before putting his clothes on.

[Shadowcaller]

[Bathroom]

"I'm not sure... I guess I could, they are likely too large for me however." The mage wasn't exactly sure how well he washed his clothed, he was a warrior after all. They weren't exactly known for their hygiene. But he had seemed quite clean during the times they had been together... how did half-dragons sweat anyway?

She attempts to step back a bit which she succeeds with, though just barely, it was a lot harder then walking forward.

[Halae]

[Bathroom]

Actually, Harnel doesn't sweat. Sweat is the body's way of cooling itself down, but red dragons have developed past the need by being completely immune to heat. He simply doesn't, so the only reason his clothes would get dirty is if actual dirt got on them. Dragons without immunity to heat though? they still don't sweat. Their scales lift up to allow air trough to the skin - not entirely up, of course, but enough to allow for some air flow, which cools about as well as the sweat they lack.

"That's alright, I think. the legs of pants can be rolled up at the ends so they don't drag with a belt to help fit around your waist if they're too large, and a shirt doesn't matter as much for that since it would just seem large. Besides, they're already built to deal with physical differences... like a tail," he smiles at her, then pulls his shirt and pants on as he talks.

[Devixer]

[Library]

Boris now arrives here, humming some sort of tune. "Hmm... paper, paper, paper... and for that matter, pens..." He searches throughout the room, until he finds something suitable.

[Shadowcaller]

[Bathroom]

No sweat is both good and bad, sweat do create pheromones which is good for mating, but on the other hand, sweat is gross. :smalltongue:

"Err... yes." She says a bit embarrassed, her tail finally stopping to move as she realizes she have one at the moment., touching it lightly with both her hands.

"I do wear pants underneath my dress you know so I'm not completely lost when it comes to them." Cessie then argues, holding her tail still for once. "Uh... so hurry up, I'm not going anywhere."

[Chaotic Bob]

[Library]

Brother, I see one.
Claim him, Sister. I shall find another.

While Boris moves around, a slight wisp of shadow quickly darts away from a book-case.
It takes as inconvenient a route as it needs to, in an effort to avoid being noticed, hiding behind chair legs, or piles of books.

In the end, it seeks simply to rush over and merge with his shadow.
Beyond that, there will be no other outward effects.

[Halae]

The whole 'no sweat' thing also relates to his whole 'smells like burnt stuff' thing. The food he eats gets broken down by elemental energy, which for him is fire, so he usually smells like a burned version of whatever he ate last, Since he doesn't have sweat to make him smell. Actually, if cessie were to search his room, she'd find a pile of sticks hidden under the bed - Harnel chews on them because he likes the smell of woodsmoke a lot more than he likes the smell of burnt food

Harnel chuckles and rushes out the door. He quickly gets to his room, gathers up all his clothes (Of which he doesn't actually have a lot) and rushes back to the bathroom.

In his arms, Harnel has the cotton shirt and leather pants combo that Cessie found him in Trog's with after his escape. The bloodstains are gone from it and the holes have been stitched up. Two other shirts, a sweater and a tee-shirt are there, and also another pair of fatigue pants and a pair of jeans, all of which is sized to fit Harnel. He also brought a belt, just in case. [B]"Take your pick, I suppose."

[happyturtle]

Airship A. Airship

Decker boards the airship, and the pMainframe AI pilot prepares to take off once everyone has boarded. Yay!

[Gullara]

[Airship A. Airship]

Three gargoyles board the airship with a silly name. They're ready to kick some butt.

[Shadowcaller]

[Bathroom => Harnel's Room => Bathroom]

"I could always lie in the bath until you come back too, I don't think my skin would dry out in this form right?" She asks him, seemingly learned to control her tail a bit more. It betrayed her worry.

She takes up the cotton shirt and looks at it though. "So you saved this?" The mage giggles. "This means your better at sewing then me." Cessie wasn't all that good at practical things beyond the few things she had learned during the years of adventuring. Of course, when you had magic you didn't need many other skills. Not as far as she were concerned at least.

[Devixer]

Library

Boris probably wouldn't notice the shadow making it's route towards him. He's a little busy at the moment.

At about the time that the tiny bit of darkness merges with his shadow, the Russian manages to find a desk with plenty of blank paper. He takes a short stack, as well as a pen, and starts to head back down. He'd rather take his notes in an enclosed area.

[Halae]

[Bathroom]

"My father taught me that you have to take care of your equipment. That includes your clothes, so I picked up sewing as well, for whenever it ripped or got cut." Harnel shrugs. It had taken a long time to learn how to sew despite his claws, though his scales protected from needing a thimble. At the time it hadn't seemed that remarkable to him, and it still didn't really

[Chaotic Bob]

[Library]

After the first shadow merges and Boris leaves, another shadow slips out of the library, keeping to the darker edges of the halls.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Main Room => Airship A. Airship]

KR boards! And goes over to the helm, making sure everything is in place.

[Shadowcaller]

[Bathroom]

"The more skills the better." Cessie replies with a smile, of course, all skills could be replaced with magic. <.<

Then she tries on the fatigue pants, having some trouble getting in her tail into the hole. "Having a tail is more complicated then it looks isn't it? Sure hope there are dresses for this..." She pauses a bit, finally managing to get her tail into the hole. She she moves it up and down a bit, starting to get rather good at this whole 'standing on your toes' thing.

"Uh could you perhaps buy some... more private clothes too if you know what I mean? Not just underwear, but... the clothes we talked about if you know what I mean?" She asks him as she starts to put on the cotton shirt.

She might have made a hole in the legs of his pants with her claws. Not really used to them either.

[happyturtle]

Airship A. Airship

Wheeeee! If we handwave Wenomir on board, then we can take off!

Except for, well, the fact that the owner of KNAVES is deadtimed. So probably not.

Kris, if you could give a brief summary of AAA's offensive and defensive capabilities, it would be most welcome. Or link them if they're already written up somewhere. >.>

[Halae]

[Bathroom]

Harnel watches as Cessie pulls his pants on - and rolls his eyes when one of her claws slashes a gash in the knee of the left leg, but he was expecting this, and smiles the entire way through. Once she has the pants on he kneels down to roll up the pant legs at the bottom so they aren't interfering with her already slightly impaired ability to walk. Cessie's hips though are apparently wide enough that Harnel's pants won't fall off her so easily. All of his clothes smell like woodsmoke, just like him.

Harnel grins when she requests the private clothes, "Yeah, of course I'll pick those up." as he stands up, he inclines his head to give her a kiss - It's not nearly the steep dive his head had to make before, what with her having gained about six inches in height, which I imagine is nice for both of them

[Ashen Lilies]

* A large, heavily armored zeppelin of K-Corp design, captured after a failed attack on WATCHTOWER. It's been decorated psychedelic patterns painted all over the envelope, as well as a pair of angry eyes and mouth. The gondola, while not as eye-blindingly colorful, has a memorial to Butler B. Butler painted on the side. The zeppelin has a rather large cargo hold, as well as a separate bomb-bay, which can drop rather large bombs (though they are currently in rather short supply). It's armed with a rather heavy variety of weapons, including: two disruptor quad-cannons mounted in the aft of the envelope (one ventral, the other dorsal); two heavier disruptor quad-cannons mounted on either side of the gondola and two long-range flamethrowers mounted on the fore. The thing is powered by one of DC's zero-point modules, and can pretty much stay aloft and fire forever, carrying no fuel except for that which goes in the flamethrowers. It has energy shielding, though prolonged use cuts into the ship's energy supply significantly. Currently WATCHTOWER's only functioning aircraft, and is usually used for large scale assaults.

The disruptors are the standard Star Trek style disruptors that fire green energy blasts which tear stuff apart at the molecular level, for those interested. The flamethrowers are roughly equivalent to napalm, and there are no bombs loaded.

[happyturtle]

Horray for laziness! It delivers the information right into my lap!

[Shadowcaller]

[Bathroom]

It's rather nice for her at least that doesn't feel like a child next to him anymore. This form had it's advantages after all.

"Thanks, I'm sure you can pick up something suitable. Meanwhile I'm going to attempt to work these legs out." She replies as they break off the kiss, smiling.

Of course, she also planned to get some thing from her room, but that was another matter.

[Devixer]

[Library=>Stairway=>Barracks]

Boris heads to his room now, humming that same song. Upon reaching his destination, he closes the door of his room, sits down at his desk, and takes one of the pieces of paper. He writes a few words in Russian, and then starts to make a few sketches.

[Halae]

[Bathroom => Outside]

"Alright, have fun learning to use your legs - I'm going to head out shopping now. Try not to fall over too much!" he jokes. He checks and makes sure his coin purse is strapped to his belt, then heads back to his room once more, carrying the clothes that Cessie hadn't decided to wear. He'll gather up his weaponry and such and head out through the front door.

((Rather than RP him shopping, I'm just going to handwave it. I have to deadtime for a few hours, so Harnel will be out for about that long. I'll try to get back online before you deadtime as well, SC))

[Shadowcaller]

[Bathroom==> Cessie's Room]

As Harnel leaves, the mage awkwardly starts to make her way to her own room. She locks the door behind her and starts to inspect herself in the large mirror standing within the room.

Especially inspecting her tail and her face, she quickly turns human again to compare the two forms.
Harnel might find her like this once he returns.

[billtodamax]

There's a few thuds on the front door of WATCHTOWER as a small drone, about the size of a grapefruit, with small helicopter blades allowing it to hover, bangs itself on the front door.

On it's small screen it displays a 16-bit face smiling happily.

[Halae]

[Entrance]

As Harnel comes back to the WATCHTOWER, carrying what must be at least six bags, he gives the drone a look, "Can I help you?"

[billtodamax]

You certainly could!

...

Oh right, continuing to converse! Well, do you know someone called Harnel? He looks a bit like you actually, scales like yours. The floating drone thing says, buzzing around happily.

[Halae]

[Entrance]

Harnel quirks an eyebrow, "Yes, I'm Harnel. What's the issue?" Harnel feels a bit odd talking to something the size of a piece of fruit and-

Iggy. It has to be.

"What does Iggy need me for?"

[billtodamax]

Success! It pulls a little loop-de-loop to show it's joy, while it's screen shows an even wider and happier smile. He wanted me to find you, then do this! The little robot says, its screen changing to a view of a warehouse with large wooden crates being opened by a tired looking man and a tired-looking Iggy.

Hello! Sorry about the wait. Says a female voice, who the camera now centers on. Are you Harnel? Iggy says he wants you to test out a new cockpit design later, but now to come pick up your armour. She's dressed in plain and servicible clothes, and has a necklace with a small silver skull hanging from it. I don't think the armour was to protect you from the cockpit, but you never know with Iggy. She says, with a smile.

[Halae]

[Entrance]

Harnel grins, showing sharp teeth. "Heh, no, the armor was unrelated. It's my payment for doing tests for him, like the cockpit for example. Who are you?"

[Cessie's Room]

Cessie will hear a knock at the door, alerting her to the fact that her scaly man has just returned

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

She changes into her half-dragon form once again and goes to open, knowing Harnel's knocks by now. "So how did it go?" She asks with a faint smile as she opens the door.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Harnel will lift up his arms - and the six different bags he's hoding, three in each hand. and they're all filled with clothes.

Cessie's eye might be drawn to a bag near the back, however, that's made of a pink material, whereas the rest are made of brown. "The woman at the dress shop kept giggling at me and saying the dresses were to small when I asked about getting them fitted for tails." he looks a bit exasperated at that, but there's a smile on his face

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

Have Harnel even been in her room to this point? Currently there is an air elemental cleaning the room by sucking up all the dirt into itself, a lot like a vacuum cleaner. Unlike most vacuum cleaners however it's pretty silent.

Everything is quite neat with a number of tomes laying over her desk. She didn't had checked out watchtower's library yet with she had reminded herself of doing.

The mage smiles nervously as well as she see the bags but chuckles loudly as she hears the half-dragons story.
"Well, you could try them on if you want." She says with a big grin on her face. "So how much do I owe you? No arguments please, I'm paying for this." She demands, still grinning.

[billtodamax]

Oh, I'm Betty, a cleric of Yun'Sthar. My husband and daughter and I are staying here until the city settles down a little. Betty explains. Iggy's already built a couple of robots to protect us, so we decided to pitch in. This little robot should be able to lead you to the warehouse. It's pretty run down, with a large sign with the word "MINE" written on it nailed to the front. Swing by whenever you're ready to pick up the armour. She says, with a happy smile.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Harnel has never actually been in Cessie's room, no. He's a bit surprised by how clean it is, and is now worried what she thinks of his own messy room. Not that that's a thing to worry about right now, but he'll probably clean up his room eventually.

"I'm paying for half, at least. Not uh... all of it's just for you," he says, looking mightily embarrassed. His tail swishes from side to side. He glances at the pink bag. Now what could be in there? :smalltongue:

[Entrance]

Harnel's plotclone says, "Sure, I'll come over in a little bit. I'll see you soon then."

And Harnel heads off to Inside while the other version of him is looking rather embarrassed in front of Cessie

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

"Oh?" She replies with an raised eyebrow, looking quite amused and curious. "So show me what you got then, put it on the bed, I can tidy it up later." Or rather have someone else to do it for her, like an elemental.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Harnel nods and puts the bags down on the bed. Most of the different bags have dresses sized for Cessie in her half-dragon form, but the sixth, that pink one, has things sized for both her human form and her half-dragon one... Things like lingerie, a see through dress in both sizes, and the like. When she sees that he'll- Is his face actually turning a deeper red? Actual blushing through the scales? No way, must be a trick of the light :smalltongue:

[Morty]

[Airship A. Airship]

Wenomir indeed climbed up onto the airship. Complaining all the while.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

Cessie have... seen such things before.
The mage then goes to check the clothes more throughly which causes a few raised eyebrows.
"This... is very special clothing." She says with a nod, turning to him and giggles a bit. "Did you buy any see through clothes for yourself as well?" She teases him.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Harnel bring his hand up to meet his forehead, and he sighs, he face still that darker red color, "No, nothing like that. They didn't have anything for men my size there, or with tails."

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

"Really? That's too bad then, would have wanted to see you in that." Cessie giggles again, not being entirely serious. But hey, half-dragon men in see-through clothes, thats something. :smalltongue:

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Harnel rubs the back of his head, smiling awkwardly, "Well, uh, what do you think of them? The dresses I mean? Will they fit?" They should. Harnel tried to make sure they would, anyways

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

"I'm sure they will." Cessie says as she gives him a quick kiss.
"Though I suppose I should try them on anyway, just to be sure." She goes to check the half-dragon dresses and then goes behind the screen in her room to get changed. Which is rather silly considering she have been rather close to him before, but it's just an habit she have.

"So they did have female clothes for my size with holes for tail in, but not for yours?" She asks as she stands behind the screen. How does half-dragon lingering look like anyway? I mean with a hole for a tail... can't be much left. :smalltongue:

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Harnel chuckles, "I'm kind of a lot bigger than you are. You're at least still in the normal human size range - It can be fairly hard to find clothes large enough to fit me sometimes."

Clearly, Lingerie made for people with tails goes over the tail too, to hold it up. Clearly. *Sage nod*

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

"So they have half-dragon clothes, but not any clothes in their size?" She ponders and then steps out of the screen dressed in dress that looks very much like one that she already have, just adapted for a half-dragon.

"What do you think? At least it's decent." Cessie says with a smile.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Eric sits down on the bed, waiting for her to come out from behind the screen. When she finally comes out, He'll smile and say, "It looks nice. The color makes a nice contrast with your scales." of course, his eyes go straight to her tail, but he doesn't give his opinion without actually looking properly.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

((Yeah, I think you don't sleep enough now. Unless Eric spontaneously teleported into the room in Harnel's place. :smalltongue:))

Her tail is just shifting slightly to the sides now when she have learned to control it a bit better. She seems to blush a bit when he mentions her scales though.
"Eh, yeah. I guess it do. I'm not used to being this... blue." Cessie replies a bit awkwardly.
((It's totally smurf!))
"Would be nice if I could change the clothes with the forms really. Not sure if I could go out like this yet..." She says, glancing at her mirror image which is currently showing her back and her tail.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

((Urk... I just woke up half an hour ago, cut me some slack :smalltongue:))

Harnel, who is clearly not Eric, says, "Take you're time about it. It's not urgent that we go out, especially with you still having trouble with your feet." he seems to find amusement in this fact. It seems he's been fingering some of the clothes tat are still in bags while Cessie was changing

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

"So what did you buy for yourself then?" Cessie asks, glancing at the clothes in the bags he have been touching.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Harnel looks a bit embarassed, "Well, you'll probably laugh at me for this..." he reaches into the bag he had been messing with and pulls out an outfit fit for a lord...

Wait a moment, this is a lot like the one Cessie got for him when they were on their way to the Serpent's Gaze

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

The mage stares at the clothes, "I... I thought you didn't like them." She replies surprised.
"I mean, with you being a warrior... you didn't buy them because of me did you?"

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

"I did," Harnel nods, looking a bit sheepish, "Not all these clothes are for you, even if you're the one supposed to be wearing them. I... well, I didn't want that to... you know, be all that I was dong. Some give and take is required, and I was only taking..."

"Besides, you said... that I look good in them."

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

"So you bought clothes you wanted me to wear and in turn you bought clothes for yourself that you thought I would want you to wear?" Cessie clarifies with a raised eyebrow.
Suddenly there is a chuckle. "Well, you and Aegnor are a bit different..." She says mysteriously.

"We agreed on no short shirts though right? So what clothes did you buy for me?"

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Harnel smiles at her, regaining his composure, "Just the dresses and the, ah, lingerie. Remember, what I wanted you to wear were those pants."

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

"The jeans you mean? The scales, tails and claws aren't enough?" She replies with a faint smile.
She still wasn't sure about the lingering, it seemed so indecent even if it was supposed to be underneath her normal clothes.

"By the way, what is your surname Harnel? I don't think you told me."

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Harnel smiles, "I told you once, when we first got these clothes," he motions to the outfit he got for himself, "My last name is Therishein. You told me your last name was Mithar at the same time. Why do you ask?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

"Well... I... we have a relationship Harnel, surnames are important. I mean... the fact that your noble might make it easier for my family to accept you." She tells him.
Now her tail moves back and fourth a bit again. Thinking about her family's reaction worried her deeply.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Harnel stands up and moves to give her a hug, "Cessie, are you worried about what your family might say about me?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

She hugs him back tightly, finding that much easier with her added height. "Y-yeah, I know I shouldn't... I have already gone through this with Aegnor after all." And Harnel was even more different.

"I don't know if they would..." She shakes her head, "Sorry, I just like my family too, but they aren't as important to me as you are right now. We have to see them eventually though."

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Harnel smiles reassuringly, "Regardless of what they might say, I'm here for you. Do you have a way to go and see them? I'd be willing to go whenever you are."

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

"No... not yet." She replies, still hugging him. Then she breaks off slowly. "Let's try to talk about something else, okay? I don't want to think about it right now."

"So... is there anything you want to do now?"

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Harnel smiles, "Alright then... how about, 'How in the world do you keep this room so clean'?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

"Clean? Oh th-thats easy." She replies, motioning to the air elemental that is still moving around them. "I'll let the elementals do most of the cleaning. If you want I could have them clean out your room as well." Cessie offers.

The elemental which is cleaning suddenly bumps into the desk, causing an pure black orb the half-dragon never seen before to fall down on a pillow bellow that appears to have been placed there just in case.
The mage stares annoyed at the orb and let's go of Harnel to pick it up. "Of course, they can be a bit clumsy sometimes."

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Harnel blinks at the orb, "What's that?" he asks, trying to get close enough to get a better look at it. His draconic side's love of treasure and valuable things has just kicked in. Now he's interested.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

It appears to be black, unnaturally so in fact as it almost seem to devour all light around it was well. "This? Oh, it's just a old project I have. I have been too busy with you to work on it lately though." She chuckles.

"I'm trying to gain immortality with it." She explains.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Harnel's brow furrows and he looks at Cessie with concern. "Cessie, this isn't one of those immortality seeking things that'll leave you undead will it?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

The mage stares at him in suprise, "What? No, no... if I would have wanted that I could have done so a long time ago." She explains, shaking her head.

"This is a different type of immorality, more akin to gods. This essence contains a the essence of one actually. All I need to do is to cleanse out that essence and then set in my own. Theoretically. I haven't found a way to actually cleanse out the essence however, until recently though." She lifts up one of the tomes which she shows him.

"Sakura nearly died when we got this book." Cessie says with a bit of a sigh. "I should only have gone there myself really."

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

"I'm sorry for worrying, but all the stories of people seeking immortality in my world end badly, usually involving undead."

And then she mentions Sakura and her being in danger, "Cessie, if you're going to be doing dangerous things like that, please, let me know. Maybe I can help next time, and some danger can be avoided." his brow is furrowed. Not the lighter topic he was trying for, huh?

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

Cessie appears a bit nervous, "Well, this was before I ever meet you Harnel." She explains.

There is a pause, her tail suddenly being perfectly stuff as she doesn't want it to be moving right now. "And uh... you meet Arik right? My brother?"

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

"Arik? Yes. Looks like a masculine version of you, though he's not nearly as nice." Evidently, Harnel doesn't know much more about Arik

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

She couches a bit, "Well... Arik happens to be one of those 'undead' as you call them. A lich specifically." Cessie explains. "This doesn't bother you... right? I mean, he's still a person, there is no difference between him and someone alive beyond the fact he's no longer alive in the traditional sense."

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Harnel thins about this for a moment, his hand coming up to his chin. Eventually, he asks, "You still think of him as a brother, right? Then I can live with it. I just don't really like him. More for his charming personality than anything else." He doesn't mention that this just makes Harnel like Arik even less. He's dealt with a lot of undead before, and it's never turned out well.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

"I know he's not the nicest of persons, even he knows that. He can't deal with social things at all, he just shuts everyone out. Except me of course. We have a quite... close relationship." She pauses briefly.

"I told you about my banishment right? The one that isn't in effected anymore? Well, it was about nercomancy, we were banished together for practicing it." She explains, figuring she could expand upon that 'no secret' part of their relationship.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

"Yes, you told me about that." he says, looking at her deep blue eyes. He's listening intently - he wants to know

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

Now for the parts she never mentioned to Aegnor, she had simply forgotten to mention them and now that he was gone, he would never know. But at least Harnel would.

"There is more, he taught me the basics of necromancy. It was much, but there was one ritual he focused quite intensely on, one I didn't know the purpose of until it was too late. I... I was the one turning him into a lich, he asked me, calling me the only one he could trust for it. That had been his plan all along I think." Cessie admits, still recalling how she had to carve out all the body parts of her brothers body. All the blood and the gore. She had only been 17.

"It... it wasn't pleasant, but thats the reason we got this bond Harnel." She states, her eyes closed momentarily as she still is able to recall what had happened that day. "Do you understand?"

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

"You were his student in magic?" He says, moving in to give her a hug "Cessie, I can't promise that I can like him, but I'm not going to stop you from being together. He's you're brother, and despite my feelings on it, you're close. I understand."

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

The mage nods, "Yeah... just so you know Harnel." She says, hugging him back. Many would have reacted quite differently when they heard he had made her make him into a lich after all.

She sigh a bit as they break apart, "But we were going to talk about something happier right?" Cessie asks, putting back the black orb where it belongs.
"Why don't you try on those lord clothes again?" She says with a faint smile. "You can pick something for me as well."

"...and then we can change back and join the others."

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

"Aright," he says, "How about... this one?" he picks up a dress that, while it should cover her won't be hiding much. Apparently he remembered that comment about wearing a see-through dress for Aegnor :smalltongue:

He will, however, start getting changed into the lord's clothing. It's still a bit too tight for him around the tail, be he intends to adjust that later. He actually holds himself with confidence and poise befitting a lord, trying to look the part for Cessie :smalltongue:

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

Well, Cessie isn't sure how she is going to look the part in a see through dress. "You know, I knew you were going to pick that one Harnel." She comments as she goes to change. Once this was done they could deal with what they missed during their time down here.

In any case she goes behind the screen and puts on the dress, she have of course her normal underwear under it... unless Harnel only bought lingering to her half-dragon form?

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

No, Harnel bought lingerie for both sizes. The specific transparent dress Harnel got for Cessie was for her human form. Of course, he probably got teased for apparently buying clothing for two women :smalltongue:

"What can I say? I'm a man of simple tastes."

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

"I'm quickly figuring out what your tastes are Harnel." Cessie replies behind the screen. Some moment later she have finished changing and walks out. It would be much easier once she got out of these silly clothes. <.<

"Well, here we are, for your eyes only." She says and makes a twirl in the dress and that lingering. I don't suppose Harnel bought some conservative underwear for her half-dragon form did he?
"Am I simple enough for your tastes now dear?" She asks with a raised eyebrow, feeling rather confident in these clothes as she had worn them before. As long as only Harnel was watching at least.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Oh yes, he knows at least that she wouldn't want to be wearing that sort of thing all the time, so he got her conservative underwear for when she's a half-dragon

Harnel looks her up and down, a silly grin on his face, "Wow," he says, and moves in close to her. Then he will move to take her hand and kiss it

[Devixer]

[Outside]

Boris shifts his newly used stack of papers so that they're neat and organized. He picks it up so that he has all the sheets, then heads back to the main room. Upon arrival, he says, "Anyone know where I can- oh, there's nobody here. Oh well." He sits down and waits.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

Cessie giggles as he kisses her hand, she did like to look attractive as much as anyone else. "What can I say? What makes this so special is the fact I wouldn't wear this every day like some people." She informs him as she puts her hand on his shoulder.
"Can you dance?" Cessie then asks him meaningfully, looking quite amused.

((deadtime now sadly.))

[Halae]

[Cessie Room]

"Of course, my dear," he says with a smile, standing, and places a hand on her hip, "but where shall we get the music for this dance?"

[Murkus]

[Courtyard]

I imagine a certain dryad riding a white-tailed deer arrives here. Sakura's probably still carrying Adir's clothes for him.

Though I don't know if Sakura got dressed. Hooray for public nudity!

[Gullara]

[Courtyard]

I really doubt she did. Not that she cares either. Darn fey. >.>

When the two fey approach, they, as well as anyone else around, will see the cherry blossom petals drifting lazily in the breeze. They're coming from Sarget, who is standing near the garden.

[Murkus]

[Courtyard]

Adir probably moves a bit closer to him, then. Still in deer-mode, he says, "Guess you were right, Sakura. Sarget's shedding too."

[Gullara]

[Courtyard]

Sarget chuckles and more petals rain down on the couple. He looks at them both with amusement.

"Sakura, your dress. You don't want to make the others uncomfortable."

"Oh, right." Sakura hops off Adir and starts to pull on her dress, leaving his clothes on the ground beside him.

"Did you two have fun?" The treant still sounds amused, but he gives Adir a meaningful look. The incident in the forest may have been forgiven, but it wasn't forgotten. Sarget is still willing to trust Adir though. As long as Sakura is.

[Murkus]

[Courtyard]

Adir shifts back, reaching for his pants and t-shirt but not bothering with the fatigue jacket. "I'm finding it's hard not to make the others uncomfortable, big guy." The stag flashes his silly grin. He gives a tentative nod, then, catching Sarget's look. "And yeah. We did. Talked a bit." A quizzical pause. "Say, Sarget, do you know my dad at all?"

[Gullara]

[Courtyard]

"Your father? Hmm..." Sarget ponders the question, searching his memory. "Yes, I do. I've met him before."

Sakura finishes dressing and listens to the two talk.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie Room]

"Of course, my dear," he says with a smile, standing, and places a hand on her hip, "but where shall we get the music for this dance?"

[Cessie Room]

"Ah, a thing we lack I'm afraid." She replies a bit disappointed. Her magic could not in fact create music. It could create sounds of course, but only very simple ones.
"Have you danced before though? I'm not sure I'm capable of it now when I think about considering the claws and the tail I possess at the moment." She gives him a faint smile.

[Halae]

((er... Harnel got the transparent dress for Cessie's human form :smalltongue:

We can say she's in the Half-dragon form if you want though))

[Cessie's Room]

"Ah, we don't need music to dance. We just need some rhythm," He will take the hand of hers that isn't on his shoulder, taking on a dancing pose, and will begin humming the notes to a song well enough that they should be able to dance to it.

[Shadowcaller]

((er... Harnel got the transparent dress for Cessie's human form :smalltongue:

We can say she's in the Half-dragon form if you want though))

[Cessie's Room]

"Ah, we don't need music to dance. We just need some rhythm," He will take the hand of hers that isn't on his shoulder, taking on a dancing pose, and will begin humming the notes to a song well enough that they should be able to dance to it.

((Ah... well, I never mentioned she changed back so you need to mention that sooner <.<. Let's just go with it for now. She's going to change back soon enough anyway.))

[Cessie's Room]

Cessie tries to move her feet awkwardly as well as he tail, but she isn't that good at dancing with it. "Eh, well I think I need to change back for this I think." She claims.

That begs the question though, didn't see the trouble inside were in while he was shopping?

[Halae]

((But I did mention it :smalltongue:
No, Harnel bought lingerie for both sizes. The specific transparent dress Harnel got for Cessie was for her human form. Of course, he probably got teased for apparently buying clothing for two women :smalltongue: But yeah, let's go with it))

[Cessie's Room]

Remarkably, Harnel didn't notice the chaos. For the most part, he's oblivious to the world around him, but serendipity evidently allowed him to traverse Inside unaccosted

((Translation: Whoopsie))

"Alright," he says with a smile, still humming.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

Right, Cessie changes back to her human form and her human clothes.
Then she will attempt to dance with him. The mage is only trained in early slow dance styles (read medieval dance styles) so if Harnel likes to try another type of dance, she might have a hard time following through.

"So where did you learn to dance? And how do you do it with a tail?" She asks him.
Of course, now that their size difference is greater, it might be slightly harder to dance. Not as hard for her to do it standing on her toes and with a tail however.

Harnel might notice she is still standing on her toes from time to time even as a human, if only that it makes her able to reach up to him a bit better.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Harnel looks at his tail over his shoulder, "That's something I don't really think about. I'm so used to using it to balance, it just moves the way I need it to. Like being about to fall over and lifting your arms to balance - It's not something you think about."

"As for learning how to dance? My mother didn't ask many things of my father or I, but him not dancing wasn't something she could forgive, so she taught me instead." Harnel chuckles. It's apparently a good memory. But then his expression darkens

"Cessie, can I tell you how my parents died?" He doesn't stop dancing. Harnel likes to move when he's saying something important. physical motion always just feels good, though he'll stop if she does

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

Here it came. It was good that they shared things like these, but this might be hard for him, even if it was a long time ago. "I... only if you want to Harnel. But I'm listening if you want to tell." She continues to move along with him as well. Her room might not be the best place to dance however as it's rather small.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

For the most part, Harnel is just sidestepping in circles in the middle of the room. it may be small, but it's large enough for what he's doing

"I was part of my father's mercenary army. My mother came along because she loved both of us, and because she could help fight battles, keep us safe. Dragons are extremely territorial and in many cases greedy. When another dragon found out that she was in his territory, that dragon attacked."

"It was younger and smaller than m mother, but it summoned demons to help it. The other dragon died, but the demons put a curse on my mother, to make her see everything as an enemy, and she started attacking the army. She killed my father in her frenzy." Tears are beginning to form at his eyes.

"She couldn't live with herself after that. She... Just lost the will to live. Without m father to hold them together, the company broke up, and she stopped eating when they didn't give her food anymore. I tried, but she refused whatever I tried to give her."

"She just... didn't wake up one day." he says, and stifles a sob, and wipes away the tears from his eyes, "I always felt like there might have been more I could do - maybe if I had saved my father, or gotten her to eat something..."

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

The mage had no idea it was still so real to him, but she could see why and why he hadn't told her until now. This must... she could not put any words to it. She hated sad stories as they nearly always made her cry, this was no exception. But this was real.

Two tears run down her cheeks as well as she nods. "I'm... not sure what to say Harnel. I can scarcely imagine how that must have felt." She says, pressing herself closer to him as the dance slows down.

"You can't blame yourself though, your mother made her choice, no matter how much we want to change it..." Cessie continues in a lower voice. The mage runs her hand across his back, trying to comfort him. It was so hard to see him cry. She had never seen Aegnor cry... not what she could remember at least.
"I'm sorry Harnel, no one should have had to experience that." She finishes with a tight hug, wishing she had been in the half-dragon illusion so she at least had been a bit closer to him.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

It turns out that Cessie doesn't need to be taller to get closer, as Harnel will attempt to pick her up with his tail and arms, as he's done before. This time isn't to kiss however, as he will move his head to her shoulder for a moment of two, and then turn to look at her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cry. Thank you for listening."

[AmberVael]

[Courtyard]

Sakura, may I ask you something?
Lirda whispers into Sakura's mind.
How can you support Adir's hunting if you're unwilling to do it yourself?

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

Cessie smiles at him, having been crying slightly as well. "Don't worry about it Harnel, I cry for less things then that." She sniffs a bit and nods approvingly. "Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me about that. It can't have been easy." The mage continues. "I'm glad you managed to live through it however."

[Gullara]

[Courtyard]

"I-" Sakura starts to respond, but gets an idea first. If Lirda can speak in her mind, why not reply the same way?

It's something he likes and has done his whole life. I'm not going to try and stop him, and it would be bad if I tried. I don't have to like it, but I understand why he does it.

[AmberVael]

[Courtyard]

I had wondered if it was something personal holding you back, rather than just an acceptance that he did something you didn't like.
Lirda explains thoughtfully.
Pacifism seems an odd stance to have, particularly for one so attuned with nature. Even the plants derive some sustenance from death, after all.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

He takes a deep breath to calm himself down a bit more, and no more tears are forming, "...You're the first person I've told about that. Thank you." he lets out a strained chuckle, "I'm kind of glad I lived through it too."

[Gullara]

[Courtyard]

I know that, but I don't want to hurt anybody or anything. Sakura explains. It's just that I don't like it. There's no other reason besides that.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

"I'm the first?" She sounds a bit surprised, "I... thank you Harnel. Thank you for trusting me with that.

They seem to have stopped dancing for now anyway, she sitting on his tail and all. "But... let's talk about something happier now shall we? Let's leave the past where it belongs. I'm kind of curious what the others are doing actually. We have been down here a while after all."

[Murkus]

[Courtyard]

"Your father? Hmm..." Sarget ponders the question, searching his memory. "Yes, I do. I've met him before."

Sakura finishes dressing and listens to the two talk.

"Oh. Cool. Uh... just how old are you, Sarget?" Adir seems curious about this.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

"Yeah, you're right," Harnel gently puts her back down. "Shall we go find out where Sakura and Adir are? I have the strange feeling they're together," he says. They always seem to be together :smalltongue:

Harnel will change into his normal clothes, saving the formal clothing for another time, and as he changes he regains his composure. He walks towards the door and says, "Shall we?" before opening it for her.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

Cessie will go to change behind the screen as well. As she emerges from behind the screen however, she's dressed in a pair of jeans and a long armed (conservative) shirt. The half-dragon clothes laying safely tucked away in her wardrobe now.

"I suppose we shall." She says with a smile.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room]

Well, Harnel's feeling better. The smile on his face isn't as wide as it might have been at the moment. "You look really good in that outfit," he says, and he offers a hand to her, likely so they can hold hands

[Gullara]

[Courtyard]

"Over six centuries." Comes Sarget's rumbling reply. "I imagine that seems quite a long time."

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Room]

She takes his hand gently and squeezes it slightly. "Thank you, I don't think I will wear it every day however. It feels a bit tight." Which isn't so strange considering she never worn jeans before.

[AmberVael]

[Courtyard]

I know that, but I don't want to hurt anybody or anything. Sakura explains. It's just that I don't like it. There's no other reason besides that.

I don't know that it is a position you can afford to take, Sakura. But perhaps you do not have to fear the things I encountered in my lifetime.
Lirda seems a bit concerned, though it doesn't seem she's willing to push too hard on the issue.

[Halae]

[Cessie's Room => Courtyard]

"Fair enough," he says, and presumably they go and find Sakura and Adir in the courtyard

[Murkus]

[Courtyard]

Adir's eyes pop a little. "Whoah. You're definitely older than my dad." The stag puts on a thoughtful expression. "You know, Sarget, I somehow get the idea that you've been to the Nexus before. Especially given how long you've lived."

Then he spots Harnel and Cessie. Grinning broadly. "Afternoon, lovebirds!" He doesn't sound like he's in the mood to embarass anyone. Just mirthful.

[Gullara]

[Courtyard]

"I may have stumbled across it." The treant squints his eyes, as if concentrating. "It's hard to remember. It would account for some of the things I know, and I do remember speaking with someone who was from here."


Sakura frowns. She has encountered dangerous things that would hurt her, but it doesn't change her stance on the matter. I know, but it doesn't change anything.

[Shadowcaller]

[Courtyard]

Ah, Adir. She had almost forgotten about his annoying attitude. Besides, she still hadn't forgotten what he had done with Sakura.

The fey might notice she is wearing jeans at the moment however so Cessie might mistake his mirthfulness for teasing as that what she expects from him. "Please Adir, can you tone it down a bit? I'm just trying jeans for a day since Harnel suggested me to. I can try new things." The mage informs him with a serious voice.

[Murkus]

[Courtyard]

"Like what sort of things? And... who'd you meet?" Adir says to Sarget, a bit curious. But then his attention is drawn away by the approaching pair, and he keeps up his grin.

It falters when Cessie sounds so serious. "Uh. Okay." He says, responding to her whole comment. Then another, smaller smile. "They look good." He would say 'I wonder why he'd do that' with a wry glance at Harnel, but Cessie seems to be dampening his mood.

[AmberVael]

Sakura frowns. She has encountered dangerous things that would hurt her, but it doesn't change her stance on the matter. I know, but it doesn't change anything.

...I see.
Lirda suddenly shifts tactics.
I can understand your reluctance. I was never a combative person either- I was a great deal like you, in fact. But one cannot be defenseless, even if they hate death.
Do you have a way to defend yourself that aligns with your principles, Sakura?

[Halae]

[Courtyard]

Harnel squeezes her hand and looks at Cessie, saying, "Er, Cessie, I don't think he was teasing you there."

[Shadowcaller]

[Courtyard]

Cessie looks at Harnel and then at Adir again. "Oh... eh, I'm so sorry Adir. I thought you were going to say something about my jeans." She excuses herself.

[Gullara]

Sarget shakes his... head? Anyway, he can't remember who. The what is somewhat obvious, if Adir thinks about it. Everything the treant knows that he shouldn't.


"Oh. Hi Cessie, Harnel." Sakura says. She seems distracted.

I- Not really. I can run away though. Or stay away from dangerous things. And Adir would protect me.

[AmberVael]

Perhaps I could I assist you.
Lirda suggests.
You would be well suited to what I have to teach. But maybe this is not the time for such a conversation?

[Murkus]

[Courtyard]

Yes, but he wants to know more.

In any case, Adir leaves Sarget alone, focusing entirely on the group of humanoids. He gives Sakura a curious glance before saying, "No need to apoligize. I know I like messing with you guys, so..." He shrugs, smiling goofily. "Well, anyway, what's up?"

[Halae]

[Courtyard]

Harnel chuckles, "Actually, this is one of those rare occasions where we surface from getting lost in each others eyes to see what's changed in the world. How are you?"

Ironic, since the entire government system of Inside shifted and they were too busy with clothes and illusions to notice :smalltongue:

[Devixer]

[Main Room => Courtyard]

Boris hears conversation outside. Figuring he'll be able to get some help towards him getting the materials he needed, he gathers his notes again and heads outside himself. "Hello again, everybody," he says with a short wave.

[Shadowcaller]

[Courtyard]

"Greetings Boris." Cessie says with a short nod, once again proving she's much better then her player at remembering names.
"As for what we are doing... well, we were going to ask you the same thing. I suspect we missed something with all the time we just spend in our room." The mage explains.

[Murkus]

[Courtyard]

Adir grins again as Harnel returns that bit of wit. "Pretty alright. I think I'm gonna teach Sakura to use shock weapons. Nonlethal stuff." The stag shrugs. "You guys probably haven't missed much else. At least, not that I know of."

He grins at Boris, too, once he approaches. "Oh, hey. What's goin' on?"

[Gullara]

[Courtyard]

Well, I guess you could help me. Sakura says mentally to Lirda. But I do't know if you need to. The non-lethal guns would be good for protecting myself too. But yeah, we can talk about it later.

Sakura focuses on the surrounding group now, rather than staring off blankly like she had been. She goes to stand closer to Adir. "Um, we might have missed some stuff too. We were off in the woods."

"Hi, Boris."

[Devixer]

[Courtyard]

Boris shrugs in response to Adir. "Not much. Quite a few people left on some sort of airship, and I've been drawing sketches and notes for a project of mine. What about all of you?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Courtyard]

Cessie guessed it was okay that Adir taught Sakura about guns, it was a way for the dryad the defend herself at least. She needed no guns.

"Maybe we should find someone who does know then, I don't like to be out of the loop. Oh, Jasper is with AMEN by the way. Just since his girlfriend is with them, or so he claims."

The mage glances at Boris. "So what is this project of yours Boris?"

[Devixer]

[Coutyard]

"Well, the ghillie suit I had with me doesn't match the environment around here, so I have to make a new one," Boris replies without thinking that maybe the people here don't know what a ghillie suit is. "I was making a list of materials I'll need, and what I want the finished product to look like."

[Murkus]

[Courtyard]

"Ghillie suit? Like the leaf-outfit?" Adir grins at Boris a bit. "Cool."

[Devixer]

[Courtyard]

"Well, it's a little more complicated than a bunch of leaves." Boris responds. Then he smiles himself, and says, "But I will agree that it's cool. Although I may be a little biased in that decision."

[Halae]

[Courtyard]

"Camouflage, right? That's a good idea," Harnel nods in approval, "I can't tell you how many times being able to hide in the bushes would have been a good thing for me."

[Devixer]

[Courtyard]

"Camouflage was one of the first things I was taught during my training as a sniper," Boris recalls. "After all, when the enemy can't see you, you have all the time in the world to take them out." For a moment, he looks at one of his sheets of paper. "Only problem is that this is going to take weeks to make."

[Murkus]

[Courtyard]

"I imagine it'd be kinda hard to hide you, Harnel," Adir says, stepping over to look at Boris' sheet. "Weeks? Must be one fine suit."

[Halae]

[Courtyard]

Harnel chuckles and moves over to look at the sheet with Adir, "I never said I had the skill to hide."

[Devixer]

[Courtyard]

"It is indeed high quality, and there's no way to quicken the manufacturing process. I have to make it by hand." The sheet that Adir looks at will have a rough sketch of the torso section of the planned suit, with several arrows pointing to notes in Russian. "But that's fine. I like making ghillie suits. It's not hard, just time-consuming."

[Gullara]

[Courtyard]

Sakura is probably almost as hard to hide as Harnel. She's much much smaller, but is quite brightly coloured.

The dryad goes around to get a glimpse of the notes. It was interesting.

[Murkus]

[Courtyard]

Adir squints at the odd lettering, studying Boris' design. "Well, as long as you enjoy your work." Speaking of which. "Y'know, Sakura, nonlethal sniper rounds are a possibility. Like, really long range stuff." Maybe Boris could help teach her! Because Adir sucks at sniping!

[Devixer]

[Courtyard]

"I don't know of many less-than-lethal rounds for sniper rifles. I think morst of the types are loaded into shotguns and grenade launchers," Boris inputs. "I think rubber and tear gas rounds are the only ones that can be effective in a rifle." He would probably help teach Sakura how to snipe.

[Gullara]

[Courtyard]

Silly Adir. The only reason she initially took an interest in shooting was to be with him. Even now she isn't that serious about it, and the reason of being with him and it being something of interest to him remains prominent.

"Oh really? That's okay, I don't want to distract you from making your suit. Besides, I don't really need to be... shooting things from far away."

[Murkus]

[Courtyard]

"Okey dokey then. I suppose we don't really need two snipers around here." Adir shrugs. And doesn't have much else to say right now.

[Devixer]

[Courtyard]

"Unless we start going into situations that have that kind of range, I think I'm enough when it comes to snipers," Boris says. He wouldn't mind having a spotter, but he preferred sniping alone any day. "Hey, any one of you know where I can actually get the materials for this? Otherwise, it's just a pipe dream."

[Gullara]

[Courtyard]

Sakura glances at Adir. "Um, you can probably get what you need in the city. They have all kinds of stuff there. Me and Adir were walking down the market street one time. There were so many different things. It was amazing."

[Murkus]

[Courtyard]

Adir nods towards Sakura. "Yeah. Inside's got practically everything. I think Erin's Emporium sells combat gear. They might help."

[Halae]

[Courtyard]

Harnel nods, "I visited there a while back. It's where I got my gun and staff," he motions to the Particle Magnum on his hip and the Ori Staff attached to his back, next to his hammer, "I'm glad I was able to get someone else to make my armor though. that would have been insanely expensive." He looks perturbed just remembering how much that would have cost

[Devixer]

[Courtyard]

"Alright, thanks. I'll go get some things, find a map of some sort, and then I'll see you all a little later." Boris decided he'd question why the gun Harnel had looked more like a child's toy later.

[Murkus]

[Courtyard]

"Probly a good plan." Adir says, looking up towards the Tower. "So... where'd everybody else go, Boris? You said they left in an airship?"

[Devixer]

[Courtyard]

"Yes. Truth be told, though, I wasn't paying much attention, I was surveying the plants around here. I do remember hearing something about a person named Butler, though," Boris explains. "Afraid I can't be of much help, though. Sorry about that."

((And with that, I must deadtime. Night, all.))

[horngeek]

Meanwhile, there's a knocking on tha door! :smalltongue:

[Halae]

[Courtyard => Entrance]

"I think I heard someone at the front door. I'll go take a look."

In a few moments, Harnel is at the door, and opens it for whomever is knocking. He's wearing a blue tee-shirt and brown fatigue pants. He's also wearing a brown leather harness that wraps around his torso and waist that supports multiple weapons, specifically a Thunder Hammer, and Ori Staff, and a Particle Magnum, the former two being on his back while the final is on his hip. Also, in case the player is not aware, he is a half-dragon, and you can find his appearance in the link in my sig :smallsmile:

"Hello. Can I help you?" Harnel assumes a posture he takes with anybody he hasn't met - cautious friendliness. He'll start becoming surly and aggressive if the person is negative, and may warm up to them if they are friendly, but that remains to be seen.

[Murkus]

[Entrance]

Adir... is here? I think? How did Harnel get from the courtyard to the gate without... already being outside? :smalltongue:

In any case. The stag is watching, probably standing near Sakura.

[Halae]

((Because!

*Dramatic pose*

His player is confused about the layout!

Besides, I was thinking he, you know, traveled there. With those appendages we call legs. :smalltongue:))

[horngeek]

It's the friendly neighbourhood Chief Diplomat!

"Hello. My name's Ledaal Idari, and I'd like to talk to your leader about... recent events."

[Gullara]

[Entrance]

I believe they were all at the garden, which is a bit off to the side of the entrance.

Sakura is idead standing by Adir, being neglected by her player at the moment. >.>

Also, it's worth noting that the unofficial leaders are generally unavailable. What with DC being gone and KK having terrible deadtimes.

[Halae]

[Entrance]

Harnel inclines his head. This one was to be friendly then. The back of his mind stays cautious though, and the observant may notice one of his hands stays close to where he can grab the staff off his back. Just a precaution.

Harnel doesn't like surprises.

"And I'm Harnel Therishein. Most of our people are out at the moment, but I can talk if you like. Technically, we don't even have a formal leader."

[Murkus]

[Entrance]

Wenomir's always available!

"Uh. Yeah. The closest thing to a leader around here is sorta... gone right now." Adir says, given KR seems to have departed on that airship.

[Shadowcaller]

[Entrance]

Cessie will come to greet Ledaal as well, WATCHTOWER don't need any stinking leaders anyway. "What recent events exactly?" Cessie asks concerned.

This is what she was fearing people.

[horngeek]

"The events in Inside, to be specific."

[Halae]

[Entrance]

"You should come in rather than just standing there." Harnel motions to the main room, which the front door connects to, "And I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific - Inside is a strange place. Has there been a large event we may be unaware of?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Entrance]

"Yes, I was worried we had might missed something. I'm afraid ourr personal lives have come in the way of duty. Something I wish to make up for." The mages states as she will allow the diplomat entry as well.

[horngeek]

Idari pauses.

...they have to be joking. "Massive explosions? You missed that?"

She'd normally be more... well, diplomatic. But she's completely shocked.

[Halae]

[Entrance]

Harnel looks at her for a moment, and considers telling the diplomat that take a look around and consider how far away from Inside they are.

His face grim, he says, "Human beings are much worse witnesses than most people think. You'd probably best tell us what happened." He can guess after a few things, but he doesn't mention them. It really comes too much from being in so many wars in the past

[Shadowcaller]

[Entrance]

This causes Cessie to look quite distressed, people had died when she had been here enjoying herself. "Yes... tell us. What happened? How many are dead?"

Watch is a fair bit from inside though.

[horngeek]

Yes, but given their name, Idari had assumed they'd... well, been watching.

Her mistake. "...I'm unsure of exact casualty figures, but the Empire took severe damage, due to the headquarters being the epicenter of the blast."

[Halae]

[Entrance]

Harnel thinks for a moment "Then most of the leadership for The Empire were killed, yes? In that case someone made their move, and I'm going to put my guess at AMEN."

He sighs. The Nexus wasn't exactly a peaceful place, but at east he'd been happy to get away from all the wars "Who won the battle, and how are the people taking it? What about the other organizations? And perhaps most importantly, how can we help?"

[horngeek]

"Yes, they did. AMEN lost, and there are... mixed reactions. That's actually what I'm determining, and if you could be on standby in case we need help of any kind, that would be appreciated."

She also evaluates his body language. She's trying to get a read on all of them, and she's rather good at it.

[Shadowcaller]

[Entrance]

Oh, they were watching things alright, just not... those things. <.<

"Wait, AMEN have invaded Inside and no one tells us until now? I thought there were alarms for these sort of things!" She exclaims, looking at Harnel whom apparently is thinking a step ahead of her.

"...I'm not sure what we can do exactly, people need supplies and I'm not sure how much we have of that, but I suppose we can go there to help to protect people at the very least." The mage claims.
Cessie is mostly worried which she shows quite openly.

[horngeek]

"Well, I'll talk to the people in charge, see what help you could give. The offer is appreciated, though."

[Ashen Lilies]

[Entrance]

Speak of the KR, and she appears! Well, a hologram of her, anyway, but it's unlikely that anybody would be able to tell without some sort of supernatural ability, or a good sense of spell or something. It's quite realistic, visually speaking.
"What's going on?"
Says the hologram.

[Shadowcaller]

[Entrance]

Cessie would most likely be able to tell this is a hologram as she can sense magic and it's structure.

"Hello KR..." The mage says briefly, obvious concerned about something. "Miss Idari here have some quite urgent news for you. Or rather the 'leader' of watchtower. Apparently the empire HQ have been caught in an explosion of some kind and AMEN have invaded inside. I think she could explain it better however as I just learned of the situation myself." She states.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Entrance]

KR nods briefly.
"Thank you, but I was already aware of the Inside situation."

[horngeek]

"And your response?"

[Ashen Lilies]

[Entrance]

KR frowns.
"I'm afraid I don't follow?"

[horngeek]

"Views on the event, actions relating to it, that sort of stuff."

[Shadowcaller]

[Entrance]

"Surely we are going something about this situation?" Cessie inquires. "Even if watch don't take stances politically we should at the very least help the victims."

[Ashen Lilies]

[Entrance]

"I see. I wasn't aware the Empire is accepting aid. I'm currently on a mission regarding an attack on one of our members, but the members here can take whatever steps they feel appropriate to the situation."

[Murkus]

[Entrance]

"Uh... we'd be willing to assist." Adir finally speaks up, looking at the diplomat interestedly. "I've been trained for evac scenarios anyway."

[Halae]

[Entrance]

Idari should be able to tell quite a bit about Harnel from his body language. He has the stance of a soldier, which would be obvious even if not for the heavy muscles that cover his scaly body. She may notice how, as he crosses his arms, it's both a posture that suggests suspicion and defense while still seeming fairly relaxed.

Harnel shakes his head. "It'll be just like any other war - Those with the means and without the scruples will be preying on those that can't defend themselves. Citizens will be panicking because the once safe neighborhoods are going to be without protection, and so easy for thieves to come in and steal things." his expression is still grim, almost to the point of being angry, "Unless the Empire gets a hold fairly quickly, the city is going to collapse in on itself from the chaos, or somebody with an ego is going to make a power grab."

He lets out a sigh, "Alright, I'll be back soon. I'm going to inside" he intends to go to the different zones and stores and take a look at what's going on in each of them, perhaps help if he can. And with that, he simply walks away, towards the city. Someone may notice an unusual tenseness to him as he leaves.

[Shadowcaller]

[Entrance]

"Wait, I'm going with you Harnel, it is a warzone after all. Adir could come along as well" Cessie says, intending to follow him. She would prefer if Sakura didn't go. She still remembered that happened with that shoggoth.

Cessie looks quite determined to do so in fact. She had been in these situations before. In Cessie's room the elementals are dismissed as this was a great deal more important then cleaning and she need to focus all her attention on it.

((I posted on your formspring Harnel by the way.))

[Murkus]

[Entrance]

Adir nods to Cessie, eager for a bit of battle or at least a mission, and looks at the dryad beside him. "Uh, Sakura, did you wanna come along? I could show you one of those taser weapons real quick."

[Halae]

[Entrance]

Harnel looks back at Cessie and shakes his head, "Thank you, but not this time, Cessie. I kind of want to be alone for a while."

Harnel looks a bit sad at that, but he wants to be alone right now. It's why he didn't invite anybody to go with him to Inside

((Ironically, I checked my formspring just before seeing your post there :smalltongue:))

[Shadowcaller]

[Entrance]

"I... okay." Cessie replies, sounding a bit surprised. "May I ask why however? If you don't want to answer thats okay, but your going into a warzone Harnel. Remember what I said about stupid risks?" She doesn't want to press it too far, but she was worried for him.

[Gullara]

[Entrance]

Sakura looks over at Harnel. "Well he wants to go alone, but we could still go and check things out. Yeah, might be a good idea to look at those weapons first."

*demands beanbag gun* >.>

[Halae]

[Entrance]

"I'll be staying out of whatever fighting is left by the time I get there. I just need some time to think." He gives her a strained smile and waves to those present, then continues walking to Inside

[Murkus]

[Entrance]

"O-kay, Harnel. Cessie, did you wanna come with me and Sakura?" Adir can understand wanting to be alone sometimes, despite rarely desiring it himself. "Yeah. I've got the perfect thing. Intimidating, quick, and it can't kill anybody."

The stag, unless stopped, runs off to grab gear for the both of them. And returns with... well would you look at that, a beanbag shotgun with a large cylinder. :smalltongue:

[Shadowcaller]

[Entrance]

Cessie sigh loudly as she watches Harnel disappear into the distance. She had the urge to send an elemental after him, but she needed to trust what he said.
"I suppose..." She will come along with Sakura and Adir. "More guns Adir? How did you pick up that interest anyway? The fey in my world only uses bows."

[Gullara]

[Entrance]

Sakura takes the gun, and likely a bunch of ammo, and looks at it curiously. "So it has some sort of special bullets?" She fiddles with it a bit, getting a feel for it.

[Murkus]

[Entrance]

"I used to use a bow too. A friend here in the Nexus helped show me the wonders of modern technology." Adir smiles at the memory of his teacher.

The stag also hands Sakura a bulletproof vest. "Yeah. It hurts like hell, but the worst it can do is cause some temporary damage. But, uh, try not to aim for the head."

[Gullara]

[Entrance]

"Oh, alright." Sakura fumble a bit getting the vest on, but is soon geared up with her gun hanging off her shoulder.

The nice thing about a beanbag gun is that in some ways it's more effective than a regular gun. Guns are almost too powerful for the Nexus, so they're less likely to actually hit their target. In short, the Nexus is silly.

[Shadowcaller]

[Entrance]

"Yes, I suppose these weapons are better the the ones we use back home. We don't have the same magic as you however." Cessie replies to Adir, watching Sakura putting on the bulletproof vest. "So why does she need that again? Your not going to use those things against each other right?"

[Murkus]

[Entrance]

Adir smiles as Sakura gets geared up, and then gives Cessie a weird look. "Uh... why would we do that? This is just in case we run into something nasty."

Speaking of which, Adir's bringing his regular assault rifle.

[Gullara]

[Entrance]

"Okay, I'm ready." Cessie gets a weird look from Sakura as well, albeit a more subtle on than Adir likely.

[Shadowcaller]

[Entrance]

"Ah, well it's good that you think of safety Adir. Should I wear one too then perhaps? I do have my shield, but just in case. You magic seems quite powerful too." Cessie suggests.

[Murkus]

[Entrance]

"Magic?" Adir says, confused. "Uh. S'just kevlar and a thin metal plate. High quality stuff. I think I got a spare..." The stag slips back into the barracks, emerging with another somewhat heavy vest. Which he tosses towards Cessie.

[Shadowcaller]

[Entrance]

The vest is stopped or rather slowed in mid-air and gently floats down to Cessie. "Well, it may or may not be magic in my world, I have heard that a few things that work in other worlds doesn't work here. Metal works though." She gives Adir a faint smile as she puts on the west.

The mage do look quite modern with jeans, a long-armed shirt and a Kevlar west instead of a dress.

[horngeek]

"Any assistance would be appreciated."

[Murkus]

Entrance

Adir returns Cessie's smile, steadying his weapon and turning to look at the diplomat. "Can you show us where we're needed?"

[horngeek]

"Not sure yet, but I'll call it in and see."

Which she does!

[horngeek]

"She wants to know what your terms are."