[NEXUS] WATCHTOWER 17: Through Cloud, Shadow, Earth, and Flesh.

[Ashen Lilies]

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Far to the north, nestled in a valley bordered by tall grey mountains and pine forests, is the magnificent Lake Selene: a deep, crescent shaped lake of pure blue water surrounding a massive cliff of limestone, which juts out into the lake like the prow of a massive ship. Falling from this massive cliff are two great waterfalls, the massive Silver Falls, to the west, and the smaller Overlook Falls, to the east. Just west of Overlook Falls, a curious man-made protusion, and upon it, a massive spire surrounded by a fortress, built from stones cut from the same limestone of the cliff itself. Once polished white and gleaming, this ancient fortress is now stained with black and grey streaks, though no less magnificent than before, teetering perilously hundreds of meters in the air above cool waters of the lake below it. The top of the spire glows with a magical light, and a close look would find a bright nexus of magical energy hovering above the the white spire, forming a rolling spiral vaguely remeniscent of a great eye.

Carved the side of the limestone cliff is a wide path leading from the shores of Lake Selene, its cross-hatched surface providing firm purchase even when slick with wetness as it cuts behind the waters of Overlook Falls.

Why would anyone come to such a place? Surely nothing of value could be found in such a place, even as beautiful and magnificent as it is? Not true, for though it indeed once stood abandoned, a solitary monument to the great mages that once lived here, it has since been reclaimed by the Nexus organization known as WATCHTOWER.

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 morally relative members around.

The base is surrounded by a dimensional barrier, which blocks almost all forms of teleportation or interdimensional travel into or out of the base wall. Attempts to teleport from a point outside the wall from a point inside the wall will fail. Similarly, while one can freely teleport inside the base, trying to teleport to a point outside the wall to a point inside the wall will fail. The only way to cross the dimensional barrier is through a spell more powerful than the one that created the barrier (OoC approval required) or by physically crossing it.

OOC NOTES & RULES


No randomly 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). You're allowed to damage it, but destroying it just takes the fun out of it for all the other players. If you do want to run a plot in which Watch gets destroyed, though, feel free to run your idea through OoC to see if other people like it and are willing to roleplay it out!
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 FORTRESS


WATCHTOWER is an impressive place. The first thing anyone approaching it will see is the massive white limestone spire, reaching up into the heavens. The second thing they'll see is the wall. It's a rather impressive wall, made out of magically reinforced limestone like the rest of the fortress, over 12 meters tall and 4 meters thick. Two towers mark the corners of the wall as it extends from the cliff face over Lake Selene, and the gate house is large, square and solid, looming over the path leading up to WATCHTOWER.

Inside the walls is a large open courtyard, filled with grass and wild flowers. A gravel path leads from the main gates, splitting off to lead to each of the buildings within the fortress.

To the south-east, one of the wall towers has been extended to be slightly taller than the other three others. This is the Training Tower, and in front of it are the Training Grounds.

Turning north from the gates, right up against the cliff face on the center line of the courtyard is the monolothic Keep, built squat and strong, right into the stone of the mountain, with the exception of a tall spire, which towers high above the rest of the fortress, braced against the cliffside with heavy stone buttresses. At the top of the spire is the Eye, a spiraling nexus of magical energy which serves as the focus point of a powerful scrying spell capable of casting its gaze over the entire Nexus and beyond. To the west side of the Keep, also built into the cliff, is a secondary tower known as the Lab Tower. At its foot is a small forge built by Harnel for his smithing. To the east side, above the keep and next to the spire is an Airship Gantry, built into an open cavern in the cliff face. Below the the opening of the gantry is a vehicle lift for transport from the airship gantry to a door on the third floor of the keep, or to the courtyard. Near the bottom of the lift is a small stable for whatever animal mounts may be brought into WATCHTOWER, though their owners are required to take care of the animals themselves.

To the south-west side of the courtyard is a small apple orchard, dotted with small magic obelisks which enhance its growth and fertility, esnuring that it is always in fruit: spring, summer and fall (but not in winter). In the south-west corner another tower has been modified, with a small nexus of magical energy hovering above it. This is the Hospital Tower.

Near the keep, set directly into the cliff-face, is a large Bronze Door locked and inscribed with runes of sealing and warding, which leads to the Catacombs.

In the center of the courtyard, two low buildings serve as added Barracks Buildings, providing extra room for the growing membership.

Training Tower + Training Grounds
Converted from one of the defensive towers nearest the main gates, the Training Tower serves as the main training resource for WATCHTOWER members. The bottom floor of the tower contains a small armory full of basic weapons and armor for training. The upper floors hold a fully equipped gym. At one wall on the bottom floor is a secret Safe Room panel.

The Training Grounds take up much of the gate-side part of the Courtyard. Facilities in the Training Grounds include a small track, a shooting range, a modular obstacle course, and several rings for sparring.

Keep

Ground Floor


Main Room - Once the main hall, this cavernous room has been transformed into a sort of wide, square lounge area. There are several low tables and comfy chairs. And a TV! To one side is a 'fireplace' which is really just a stone recess occupied by the illusion of a fire, and several heating glyphs. 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 of light in the ceiling. At the back are three doors, leading to the barracks and the stairway. At one wall is a secret Safe Room panel.
Stairway - A small square room dominated by a spiral staircase which leads up the keep, to identical such small square rooms on every floor. Has two doors, which lead to the Main Room and the Dining Hall.
Dining Hall - A small dining hall, with two long tables. To the rear of the dining hall is a door that leads to a large kitchen and storage room. The kitchen has been refurbished to contain modern kitchen equipment.
Keep Quarters (East) - A long corridor that leads into several rectangular rooms. Each room was originally designed to house four bunks, but has since been refurbished to provide quarters for a single (or perhaps two) member(s). Upon being given to a member, a room will initially contain a single bed, a dresser with a mirror, a desk with a chair, and another larger armchair. All the rooms have 'windows' which are not actually real windows, due to being inside a cliff, but magically show what it looks outside anyway. These rooms can be modified by members every which-way, so individual member rooms may be very different from the standard.
Rooms

Room 1 - Cessie Mithar and Harnel Therishien
Room 2 - Room with Bathtub, belonging to Cessie and Harnel
Room 3 - Ilpholin Xar'Cha
Room 4 - Conrack
Room 5 - Decker and Butler B. Butler
Room 6 - Spyridon
Room 7 - Boris Krestyanov
Room 8 - Ithuriel
Room 9
Room 10
Room 11
Room 12

Keep Quarters (West) - A long corridor that leads into several rectangular rooms. Each room was originally designed to house four bunks, but has since been refurbished to provide quarters for a single (or perhaps two) member(s). Upon being given to a member, a room will initially contain a single bed, a dresser with a mirror, a desk with a chair, and another larger armchair. All the rooms have 'windows' which are not actually real windows, due to being inside a cliff, but magically show what it looks outside anyway. These rooms can be modified by members every which-way, so individual member rooms may be very different from the standard.
Rooms

Room 1 - DC
Room 2 - Jeremy
Room 3 - Triumphant Rose Guardian
Room 4 - Mr. Sirtch
Room 5 - Krystal
Room 6 - Marcus
Room 7
Room 8
Room 9
Room 10
Room 11
Room 12


Bathroom - A large communal bathroom accessible at the end of each barracks corridor. There are cubicles with toilets and cubicles with showers and tiny attached dressing areas. Hot water, too!


Second Floor


Stairway - A small square room dominated by a spiral staircase which leads up the keep, to identical such small square rooms on every floor. Has four doors, which lead to the Library, Planning Room, 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. Contains a panel which opens up a portal to the Safe Room.
Map Room - Once an office, this room has been converted to provide something slightly more useful to WATCHTOWER's needs. Still relatively sparse, it has a cupboard full of maps covering most of the Nexus, as well as most of its major locations, though some of them, such as Remnant HQ, for obvious reasons, and the maps of AMEN and HALO start to make your eyes hurt if you look at them too long, and change every time you blink or look away. The center of the room has a large table white table for maps to go on. If a slightly more high tech option is what you need, there is a computer in the room as well, with access to the WATCHTOWER database as well as digital copies of all the maps. Images form the computer screen can be projected onto a wall or the table, and there's a drawer full of miniatures to play with as well, if you're into that.
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 infimary is meant for general use and minor surgeries, and is not equipped for anything more 'heavy duty'. More extreme medical emergencies should be dealt with in the Hospital, and the Hospital is probably more convenient for such anyway, since unconscious and wounded people don't have to be dragged up a flight of stairs.
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. These four labs are intended for general use only, and are identical to each other. Personalized member labs for larger projects go in the Lab Tower.


Third Floor

Stairway - A small square room dominated by a spiral staircase which leads up the keep, to identical such small square rooms on every floor. Has four doors, which lead to the Security Room, Rec Room 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 itself is also contained in this room. 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.
Rec Room - Once an arena for fighting, this roundish room has been turned into a rec room, for relaxing and having fun. I wonder what that says about WATCHTOWER. Like the Main Room, it has a bunch of couches and soft chairs and low tables and a TV, though the TV is larger than the one in the Main Room, and may or may not have several gaming consoles attached to it. There is also a pool table, because no Rec Room is complete without a pool table, dartboards, and cupboards with boardgames like Twister: HALO Edition (like regular Twister except all players are required to be female and also nude), The Game of Undeadtime and Magopoly. Generally, if it's fun, it can be found here. Though... not that kind of fun. Save that for the rooms.
Prison Cells - A 'C' shaped corridor that surrounds the Rec. The prison cells are actually along the inside of the C, and once could open backwards directly into the Arena, something that the Dillinites used regularly, to much enjoyment. Now that the Arena is a Rec Room, this capability has been removed. The cells are sparse, three walled affairs containing a chamberpot and a mattress. The front of the cells (facing the corridor) are 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 within the mountain, filled with mattresses and several months of consumables. Virtually impregnable, and accessible from the outside only via the secret portals scattered around the fortress. These secret portals may be triggered by the various panels located throughout the base, which can only be opened by members. The portal 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. The existence of this room is only told to members of Watch, and great pains have been taken to magically ward this room from detection, if anyone ever bothered to search so deeply within the mountain.
Escape Tunnel - A long tunnel that leads south. Its exit is a hidden trapdoor, on the south shore of Lake Selene.


The Spire

The Stairway - A continuation of the staircase that ran up the center of the main keep, this massive stairway makes up the bulk of the spire, snaking around the outer edges of the hollow structure in endless spirals of step upon step upon step. Landings up the stairway open out into the spire's obvservation decks, and all the way at the very top the staircase emerges out into the main observatory. For those that don't feel like climbing endless steps, twin pillars of light shine up the center of the spire. Stepping into one of the pillars will cause you to levitate up, the other will cause you to gently sink down. These pillars can be ridden all the way up or down, or can be stepped out of onto any of the observation landings.
Observation Decks - Up the length of the spire lie several observation decks, larger near the bottom, but progressively smaller up the spire. These stone constructions open up into the air above the keep and the courtyard, allowing an unparalleled view over Lake Selene and the rest of the fortress's surroundings. Just don't fall off the edge.
The Observatory - Walking up the last few steps of the vast staircase of WATCHTOWER's spire would bring you into this room, the observatory. The room is not large, and enclosed entirely in stone, in defiance of what the name of the room would have you believe. In the center of the room, however, is a small raised dais, in front of which hovers a vast silver mirror, edged with glowing magical runes, which serves as the viewing port for the massively powerful scrying spell at the top of the Spire. On three sides of the dais are magical interface panels linked to computers. 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 Eye - Hanging in midair above the top of the spire is this colossal writhing nexus of magical energy; a roiling maelstrom of primal forces strong enough to crack the mountain in two, bound and contained to power one of the strongest scrying spells in the Nexus. The scrying spell can pierce through most material obstacles and weak magical wards, as well as many technological methods of concealment. However, stronger magical defenses or purpose-built methods of concealment can defeat the spell even despite the powerful forces at work, as the spell primarily focuses on coverage and scope, able to reach across the entire planet, as well as into space, rather than defeating abjurations. The ladder and trapdoor in the Observatory will bring you to the top of the spire, directly under the focus of the spell itself. Due to the powerful magical forces at play, those emerging through the trapdoor will find themselves feeling an uncomfortable pressure on their spirit, as the spinning magical energies hammer at their essence. Coming closer to the focus of the spell intensifies the effect, to the point where trying to come in contact with the 'surface' of the nexus would result in death.



Barracks Building East

To the east of the Keep, this building holds extra barracks for members. It is constructed somewhat similarly to the first floor of the Keep itself: the front has a small sitting area and kitchenette, though neither are as large as the Main Room and Kitchen in the Keep; the middle of the building is a long corridor with rooms on either side; and the back is a communal bathroom like the one at the back of the Keep. The rooms are identical to the ones in the Keep, except contain real windows instead of magic ones (due to not being inside a friggin' cliff), and are so are slightly better for fresh air purposes (though the Keep is well ventilated anyway) but worse for security purposes, as you have some panes of glass in the middle of your stone wall. The rear end of the central corridor contains a panel which opens a portal to the Safe Room.
Rooms

Room 1 - Adir and Sakura Frescot
Room 2 - Shawna von Letters
Room 3 - Jasper
Room 4 - Vizekasadriz
Room 5 - Claude St. Aureon
Room 6 - Hildur Lange
Room 7 - Matt Vulpan
Room 8 - Klicht
Room 9 - Krayger
Room 10 - Cutter
Room 11
Room 12



Barracks Building West
To the west of the Keep, this building holds extra barracks for members. It is constructed somewhat similarly to the first floor of Keep itself: the front has a small sitting area and kitchenette, though neither are as large as the Main Room and Kitchen in the Keep; the middle of the building is a long corridor with rooms on either side; and the back is a communal bathroom like the one at the back of the Keep. The rooms are identical to the ones in the Keep, except contain real windows instead of magic ones (due to not being inside a friggin' cliff), and are so are slightly better for fresh air purposes (though the Keep is well ventilated anyway) but worse for security purposes, as you have some panes of glass in the middle of your stone wall. The rear end of the central corridor contains a panel which opens a portal to the Safe Room.

This building, in addition to member rooms, contains 4 reserved guest rooms, which are in general identical to the ones given to members.
Rooms

Room 1 - KR and Wenomir
Room 2 - Darcy Diavolo
Room 3 - Valeriya Waskensen
Room 4 - Mia Mechanicus
Room 5
Room 6
Room 7
Room 8

Guest Rooms

Room 1 - Ghoul
Room 2
Room 3
Room 4



Lab Tower

Set into the cliff on the west side of the base, the Lab Tower contains personalized member labs, for those more tech or magic or SCIENCE(!) inclined members that might want a personal space to work on their pet projects. The Lab Tower has four floors, with the first three floors each having three labs arranged around a central room. Like in the Keep, each lab has two doors for decontamination purposes, if necessary. A secret panel in the central room of each floor opens up a portal to the Safe Room when pressed by an active member. Non-members pressing the panel will have no effect, though they can still walk through the portal if a member opens it for them. Like the labs in the Keep, these labs can only be opened by members, and certain members *cough*KR*cough* may have installed extra security measures.

Labs - Players of members who have labs are free to write up descriptions of their labs to be posted here if they are particularly bored, or inexplicably popular and therefore sick of having to describe their lab over and over again.

Lab 1 - KR
KR's lab is kind of a mess. For all her genius and despite (or perhaps because of) her former existence as a robot, KR is apparently no big believer in a clean workspace. Workbenches are scattered with wiring and machine parts and the innards of half-complete or half-disassembled (it's hard to tell really) weapons and robots. Slightly more complete robots stand deactivated in every corner, and racks of weapons created on a whim and promptly discarded adorn most walls. A row of laptops remains on at all times, in strict defiance of the environmental movement, and a minifridge holds a rather dangerous combination of computer parts, drives, deadly chemicals and soft drink cans. A microwave sits on top of it, and on top of the microwave sits a stack of cans of soup and instant noodle cups, in case she gets hungry but doesn't want to leave her work for the moment (which is usually).
Lab 2 - DC
Lab 3 - Mia Mechanicus
Lab 4
Lab 5
Lab 6
Lab 7
Lab 8
Lab 9




Hospital Tower
The tower furthest from the main base, and thus mostly sheltered away from the, has been converted into a hospital building, with a nice view of the orchard. The tower, though not as large or extensive as a proper civilian hospital, pretty much lives up to its name. The first floor has several rooms fully stocked with surgery equipment, an x-ray room, and several other rooms filled with most of the kinds of things necessary for treating a membership with a distressing habit of getting shot, or stabbed with swords, or smacked with maces, or burned by magical fireballs, or bitten by horrendous demonic monsters, etc.
The upper floors, accessible by stairs or a lift large enough to carry a bed (as all of them are on wheels), contain several wards for recovering patients. Aside from the PC doctors, the Hospital is staffed by a number of drones, specialized to serve as surgeons, nurses and orderlies, so that patients here are always in good care. A secret panel on each floor opens a portal to the Safe Room when pressed by a member. Non-members pressing the panels will have no effect, but they can still enter portals opened by a member.
The small magical nexus at the top of the Hospital Tower serves as a second shield spell, giving the Hospital Tower an extra layer of defense in case the outer shield spell fails durign an attack.

Airship Gantry
Set into a purpose-build cavern in the side of the cliff to the east of the Keep is a large gantry, which is accessible from the third floor of the Keep or ground level by a small lift or a small spiral staircase. In addition, there is a larger vehicle lift from the ground level up to the airship gantry, allowing ground vehicles to be stored up there 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. (Thrown into the sun) 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! (Removed prior to aforementioned sun-throwing, and thus still available)

-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. (Because it was thrown into the sun)
Several generic hovercars and hoverbikes intended for use by members. They're unarmed and (mostly) unarmored, plainly intended for transport instead of combat.



Defenses
The internal defenses of each building include magical forcefields in every doorway that can be activated singularly, or all together in an emergency.

External defenses include extra strong magical shields on the main gate and a magical shield spell that starts at the walls and encloses the entire base. The Keep and the Hospital Tower have secondary shield spells, providing an extra layer of defense for those inside should the gate and wall be breached.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.

All the defenses are triggered from the Security Room.

The Catacombs
Generally sealed, by the large bronze door in the courtyard, the catacombs are a series of corridors and tunnels that lead deep into the mountainside. The full extent of these catacombs is unknown, and very little has been mapped of them. Whats inside? Treasure perhaps, but also danger. Cave dwelling monsters native to the mountains may dwell within, as well as magical beasts and abominations: descendents of failed experiments thrown into the darkness by the mages who previously inhabited the fortress.

((The Catacombs are a free area for anyone to invent their own dungeon crawls for WATCHTOWER members, should they so wish it. Anything and everything can possibly be found inside the mountain, at the plot GM's discretion.))


MEMBERSHIP

Membership at WATCHTOWER is a two-step system.
Prospective Watchmen should fill out the below form and submit it to any member.

Name:
Age:
Sex:
Species:
Profession:
Reason for joining WATCHTOWER:
Special skills/items you believe will aid/have decided to contribute to WATCHTOWER:
Other Information:

Additionally, prospective Watchmen must prove their worth to the organization. The proof is open-ended, and can be decided by any member, (Watchman or higher) with proofs ranging from a simple interview or test of skill, duels in the arena, even to accompanying a member on a WATCHTOWER mission. ((OoC note: Players of prospective members are encouraged to discuss the terms of their test in advance with the player of their 'interviewing' member, in order to find a test suitable to both players. Not everyone wants to run an entire adventure for a new member, but on the other hand, some people might find a simple interview or test too simple for their tastes.))
Prospective members who have been approved by a member become Watchman Initiates, and gain access to the base's facilities, including member quarters that they can personalize as they wish, as well as full access to the Labs, Safe Room, East Vaults (Armory) and vehicles from the Airship Gantry/Garage, but do not have access to the Security Room or West Vaults without another member present.

To become a full Watchman, Watchman Initiate must perform in any Watchtower mission, or other 'real life' (ie, non-staged) situation, under the approval of a senior member (Sentry/Beholder rank or higher). This can be any sort of situation that proves the Initiate's ability to handle genuine danger/risk, and can range from fighting full, apocalypse level threats, to things as simple as spying on someone, scouting out a place, negotiating a thingy, or healing a severely injured person. WATCHTOWER doesn't have room for people who are going to crack under pressure, no matter how skilled they might otherwise be.
Watchmen Initiates who undertook a mission as part of their initial membership trial can forgo this step and become a full Watchman immediately, providing there was a member of appropriate seniority there to witness and approve their membership. Watchmen get the full run of the base, including restricted areas, and can approve new Watchmen Initiates.

WATCHTOWER is also accepting applications for cleaning, nursing, secretarial, maintenance, security, or other miscellaneous duties, without the full responsibilities of membership. Prospective staff members should apply to, and be interviewed by a senior member for suitability. WATCHTOWER staff members will receive quarters if requested, and will be allowed full run of the base except for the Labs, Vaults, Prisons and Security Room, unless as required and allowed for on account of their job.


LIST OF MEMBERS

Oracle (Commander)

DC (tinyurl.com/2bxfaad) - Darkcomet
KR (tinyurl.com/2c7mecv) - Kris on a Stick
Wenomir (tinyurl.com/2dwk9hr) (in denial) - Morty
Cessie Mithar (tinyurl.com/4ubfc2a) - Shadowcaller



Sentinel (Sub-Commander)

Harnel (tinyurl.com/4dmj5zn) - Harnel
Ilpholin Xar'Cha (tinyurl.com/22lcssh) - Reinholdt


Sentry (Lieutenant)

Jeremy (tinyurl.com/254xzx9) - Wolfbane
Shawna von Letters (tinyurl.com/29vtf2w) - The Bushranger
Catherine (tinyurl.com/25p33my) - horngeek
Adir Frescot (tinyurl.com/345n3zl) - Murkus
Boris Krestyanov (tinyurl.com/3cvbztk) - Rotting Baron


Beholder (Specialist) Roughly equivalent to Sentry, with added responsibilities.

Dominic (Doctor) - billtodamax
Darcy Diavolo (tinyurl.com/2bt22cg) (Infiltrator) - Happyturtle
Terrowin (Cleric) - Earl of Purple


Watchman (Member)

Decker - Happyturtle
Spyridon - FireFox
Valeriya Waskensen - Murkus
Jasper (tinyurl.com/4ecmpu9) - ThirdEmperor
Tic - Gulaghar
Tac - Gulaghar
Toe - Gulaghar
Mia Mechanicus (tinyurl.com/2dw4g9p) - Zefir
Jakob (tinyurl.com/3c7bbwl) - BladeofObliviom
Vizekasadriz - Shadowcaller
Mr. Sirtch (tinyurl.com/4dkj48c) - Lord Magtok


Watchman Initiate (Recruit)

Harin Grael (tinyurl.com/3fbrsg7) - C'nor
Nathaniel Hutchinson - billtodamax
Claude St. Aureon (http://tinyurl.com/7hsqnf2) (Doctor) - Frozen Messiah
Hildur Lange (http://tinyurl.com/brdl7f3) - Rotting Baron
Triumphant Rose Guardian (http://tinyurl.com/m67hwyb) - horngeek
Ithuriel - Gnrlshrimp
Krystal - KerfuffleMach2
Klitcht - LordDeathkeeper
Conrack - Mahonri Violist
Krayger - LordDeathkeeper
Marcus Hostilius Regulus - aric_kale
Cutter (Doctor) - Wolfbane


Staff

Butler B. Butler (tinyurl.com/292nd3q) (Janitor/Butler) - Reinholdt



Other Residents

Butler B. Butler (tinyurl.com/292nd3q) (Janitor/Butler) - Reinholdt
Sakura (tinyurl.com/4qq2fbs) (Wife of Adir Frescot) - Gulaghar
Sarget (tinyurl.com/4qq2fbs) (Treant of Sakura) - Gulaghar
Matt Vulpan (HALO Liason) - FireFox



BASE NPCS

Tower Servants (Player: Anyone)
Recently discovered by KR, these magical servants were created by the original inhabitants of Watchtower, but only recently re-awakened. They appear as ordinary humans of various appearances, some male and some female, and all of them different looking, though they share the same vaguely attractive, but neutral features. All of them wear form-fitting knee length grey coats, buttoned all the way up the front and embroidered with a single eye on the left breast, in addition to dark trousers and shoes. Though solid seeming, and able to interact with physical objects, closer inspection will reveal that their physical 'substance' is made up of thousands of tiny magic sigils, constantly shifting and moving past each other to create an illusion of solid presence.

The Tower Servants, though unable to speak, write or communicate beyond simple body language, have a limited intelligence and ability to learn, and a natural compulsion to clean, garden, arrange, and just generally make themselves useful at all times. They can also understand speech or written instructions and can thus be commanded to perform specific tasks or assist specific individuals, with tasks as complex as leading them to specific areas of the tower, doing laundry, putting items away in specific places, or even cooking basic meals.

They are unable to participate in combat of any kind, and will generally ignore intruders of any kind, though they cannot take orders from those they do not recognize as inhabitants of the tower. If a servant is 'damaged', either by physical force such as a sword thrust or by a spell, the servant will disappate, and reappear in 24 hours, seemingly unharmed.

Though mute and meant to be perfectly servile and unassuming, some of them may seem to manifest subtle personality traits. Whether this is a genuine phenomenon or just wishful thinking and a desire to project human traits onto inhuman (but human-like) constructs is uncertain.

A Perfectly Ordinary Cat (Player: Kris on a Stick)
This is a perfectly ordinary cat. A white cat. With a black collar made of some mysterious, stone-like material that's immune to scratching or chipping of any sort. A close look at the collar will reveal faintly etched runes in the stone, which seem to glow slightly in the presence of magic, and brightly in the presence of powerful magic. Despite being perfectly ordinary, the cat has a few powers. First of all, it can understand language, and speak any language that exists, in the realms of mortals or gods, with a voice that would sound perfectly androgynous to all those who hear it. Second of all, it seemed to have the ability to bypass any and all barriers, physical or magical, slipping through stone doors or forcefields of any sort as if they were air. This ability would only seem to work within the confines of the fortress, however, though this is hard to prove since the cat does not seem to be able to leave the fortress by any means.

The cat is highly bitter and sardonic, and will likely taunt any hapless WATCH members or visitors it comes across, though it will help them grudgingly if asked, and in fact seems to appear specifically when help is most needed.

The cat seems to be able to control the Seen Servants mentally, and exhibits some degree of control over the tower's magical functions, turning lights on and off or activating other forms of magic at a whim.


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
WATCHTOWER 9: The Impenetrable Thread. (http://tinyurl.com/3e2jb32) 09/04/2011 - 28/05/2011
WATCHTOWER 10: All Out of Bubblegum (http://tinyurl.com/3oqe54l) 28/05/2011 - 28/06/2011
WATCHTOWER's 11: Fighting Apocalypses Through Childbearing (http://tinyurl.com/3lumemd) 28/06/2011 - 19/08/2011
WATCHTOWER 12: Maturity Optional (http://tinyurl.com/82f48ha) 19/08/2011 - 4/10/2011
WATCHTOWER the 13th (http://tinyurl.com/8455exs) 4/10/2011 - 18/11/2011
WATCHTOWER 14: Now a Family Business. (http://tinyurl.com/7nb5rve) 18/11/2011 - 14/05/2012
WATCHTOWER 15: New and Improved! (http://tinyurl.com/9jr82nt) 14/05/2012 - 10/10/2012
WATCHTOWER 16: Quick and Dirty (http://tinyurl.com/lpqajmd) 11/10/2012 - 13/08/2013



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.

[5a Violista]

[Front Gate Volunteers]

The orc will lead the Watchmen away from the gate, towards the mountains.
[Front Gate Volunteers]

Conrack is among those led to the mountains. (Question: Will that be in this thread, or in the Outside thread?)

[Gullara]

As it so happens, none of the above (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15812191#post15812191).

[Entering Watch]

Arriving at Watchtwoer is an old member who's been gone for some time. It's Sakura, and she's not alone. She's pushing one of those double strollers with a pair of baby boys in it. The first seems more concerned with playing with the beads on his soother than paying any attention to the world around him. The other, however, is looking around with his inquisitive white eyes. On her hips, Sakura is holding a third baby, though this one is definitely older. A little girl that some here will remember as Laela. She's busy gnawing on her mother's flowery hair at the moment.

The dryad and her children stroll up to the main keep to head inside. She looks around for anyone that might be around on her way inside and when she gets there too.

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/5020/interactionwanted.png

[Devixer]

Entering Watch

Sakura might catch Boris while he's on his way to practice, carrying one of his sniper rifles. He looks at her and her children for a moment. He'd never really known Sakura all to well before she left Watch.

[Gullara]

[Entering Watch]

Sakura notices Boris and starts to move his way. She doesn't remember him well either, but that doesn't matter to her. She can get to know him now! "Hey there, um, it's Boris right? It's been so long since I've been here. I almost forgot what the place looks like."

[Devixer]

Entering Watch

Boris tucks his rifle behind his arm as Sakura approaches her, barrel pointed towards the ground. "That's right. I don't think you've been here since we renovated." He hesitates a moment, trying to remember her name. "Sakura, right?"

[happyturtle]

Courtyard

"It's like he doesn't remember we're a member of Watch and are at AMEN on Watch's orders." Ilphy says with a confused look. It doesn't make sense to her.

"But if I agreed to come here, I would know I'd have to face him too. She probably intends to sort things out."

Darcy sighs. "Yes, you're right. I know she's used to putting herself in danger. I'm just not used to it."

[Reinholdt]

Courtyard

"We grew up around it."

Ilphy tilts her head. "You're not? Weren't you Watch's infiltration go-to person for some time?" Darcy used to be in danger plenty, didn't she?

[happyturtle]

Courtyard

"I'm not used to the person I love being in danger," Darcy clarifies.

[Reinholdt]

Courtyard

"I see." She guesses that dragon bard she once caught and rode whose name she can't quite remember wasn't in dangerous situations often.

"But I'm here and more than safe."

[happyturtle]

Courtyard

Darcy hugs Ilphy. "Hopefully. But we don't really know for sure, do we? If she dies, what would happen to you?"

Darcy's dragon bard boyfriend mostly just hung out in taverns, as I recall. I don't remember much dangerous stuff. Or his name. :smallredface:

[Reinholdt]

Courtyard

Vinny?

"I'd... feel it but be ok?" She says reassuringly. Except she doesn't really know and she's not good at the lying for someone else's sake thing.

Hugs!

[happyturtle]

Courtyard

Zanilsomethingorother?

"I guess the main thing now is to keep me from going and punching DC in the face." Darcy says.

[Terumitsu]

Front Gate- A Little Later

Klitcht shakes his head.
"No, this was fine, thank you. Are you, erm, okay?"

((Pardon yet another delay))

"If I knew I'd tell you." she said. It wasn't an urgent, splitting pain but it certainly was an annoyance. "Feels the same from before but not strong. Probably nothing some painkillers wouldn't do away with but it feels similar to pulling a muscle. Maybe that thing you did earlier wore off?" Ghoul asked, taking her hand away from the side of her head. It was currently ebbing now at least so it wasn't going to inconvenience her as much for a short while.

[Gullara]

Entering Watch

Boris tucks his rifle behind his arm as Sakura approaches her, barrel pointed towards the ground. "That's right. I don't think you've been here since we renovated." He hesitates a moment, trying to remember her name. "Sakura, right?"

"Yep, that's right. And yeah, I did notice that there's a few different things around." Sakura looks around while saying that. "I've been busy, though. With the babies and all. I should really visit more, though."

As if in response to being mentioned, Laela spits out a couple petals from her mouth and looks at Boris. She reaches out toward him, her little hand opening and closing. She's not the least bit shy around people.

[Reinholdt]

Courtyard

Zanilsomethingorother?

"I guess the main thing now is to keep me from going and punching DC in the face." Darcy says.

Courtyard

Zanny. Close enough.

"That probably wouldn't be a good idea." Ilphy suggests. "I don't think he likes being touched." Or punched. Probably mostly punched.

[Devixer]

Entering Watch

Boris backs off a bit from Laela. Probably for the best, really - he's carrying far too many lethals weapons on his person to let an infant touch him. "We had new towers built, to allow for more facilities," he says. Having a full firing range was nice.

[Gullara]

[Entering Watch]

"Neh!" Laela tries to grab at Boris a bit more before giving up and grabbing hold of her mom's dress instead.

"Yeah, there's one for training and some more places for people to sleep right? I heard about a lot of this from Cessie and Harnel when nit happened. I've been living with them for a while now." Sakura explains.

[Devixer]

Entering Watch

"That's right. I spend most of my time at the training tower." It's actually nearly all of his time when not on assignment, but who's counting? Boris reaches up to rub at the scar on his face, in a rather sudden movement.

[happyturtle]

Courtyard

Zanny. Close enough.

"That probably wouldn't be a good idea." Ilphy suggests. "I don't think he likes being touched." Or punched. Probably mostly punched.

"Also, he could just fling me across the room before the punch connected," Darcy says.

[Reinholdt]

Courtyard

"Yeah... I remember getting a belt to stop that because I thought he'd do that to me over KR."

[Gullara]

[Entering Watch]

"Like to keep your skills sharp, huh?" Sakura notes the suddenness of the movement, and looks at the scar again to see if it looks like it should still be hurting. Even so, she asks. "You okay?"

[happyturtle]

Courtyard

"Yeah... I remember getting a belt to stop that because I thought he'd do that to me over KR."

"Which one of you has it now?" Darcy asks. "Though I don't guess it would help if he flings things at you instead of flinging you directly."

[Devixer]

Entering Watch

The scar looks like it should constantly be hurting - several of his left teeth are exposed and then skin above and below are still scarred. Probably from an old gunshot wound.

"I'm fine. It just flares up now and then," Boris says.

[Reinholdt]

Courtyard

"I do."
Admittedly, Ilpholin has shown in the past to mix pronouns when talking about herself and her other self, so that could mean either one. It's tough being two people at the same time!

"Not so much, no."

[happyturtle]

Courtyard

"I guess if you could defeat Prometheus and Gordon, you can handle DC. But I want to be there too." Darcy says.

[Reinholdt]

Courtyard

"Well... all right, I suppose. I doubt we'll only be talking to DC anyways." Most likely there'll be an entire meeting. "But that's not til tomorrow right?" Ilphy asks, hugging Darcy in close. Until then, she has all day with Darcy now.

[Gullara]

[Entering Watch]

((O.o I never knew about that scar.))

"Okay. Have you had a doctor look at that? Maybe they could help." Sakura says. Even now she doesn't know the exact capabilities of modern (or futuristic) medicine, but doctors are supposed to be the ones that deal with this sort of thing.

[Devixer]

Entering Watch

"No," Boris says. Normally he'd leave it at that, but he guesses that Sakura might want an explanation. "It's my mistake, I will carry it."

[The Bushranger]

"Well, your... double sword... seems to have the range and leverage of a longsword, but makes you need to watch out or else that second blade will cut off your legs," Wenomir says with a shrug. "I suppose it might look impressive in a choreographed fight."

"It does require additional care, and is perhaps best in Flynning," Shawna allows. "However there are circumstances in which I might find myself best advantaged by utilising such a device, or with my plasma swords joined into a double blade, and thus it is best not to allow myself to become too out of practice."

[Zefir]

((Well, I assumed they'd already done their shopping offscreen, if that's alright))

[Training Grounds]

Shawna doesn't flinch as the blade whistles close to her nose, allowing Wenomir to step back as she spins the double-ended blade in her hands and then steps back into closer range, seeking to get inside his reach as her hands flash out rapidly, right then left, blades almost singing in the air.

((I know, I just forgot why they want to shop. I mean where did they want to go after the shopping))

[Main Gate]

"So what now." Mia ask a bit confused like she forgot where they wanted to go.

[Gullara]

[Entering Watch]

"Oh, well if you're sure." Sakura doesn't quite understand that, but she knows well enough not to pry. The dryad glances at him gun and guesses where he was going. "I'm not holding you up right now, am I?"

[Devixer]

Entering Watch

"Not terribly, I suppose," Boris says. "Just going to keep my aim sharp at the range."

[Gullara]

[Entering Watch]

"Ah. I'd come along with you, but I know for a fact that shooting that would be way too loud for the kids." Sakura nods toward the gun. She's had her fair share of experience with firearms.

[Devixer]

Entering Watch

"Then I suppose I will not keep you," Boris says. Even if he put a suppressor on his rifles it would still probably be too loud. "You probably want to see the rest of the tower."

[Gullara]

[Entering Watch]

"Yeah, and hopefully I'll get to see some other people too. It was nice seeing you, Boris. Have a good time practicing." The dryad gives him a parting smile before heading off toward the keep again. Who else might she see.

More http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/5020/interactionwanted.png

[UncleWolf]

Next Day

Ronai smiles a bit and gives a small bow. "Yes, that would be perfectly acceptable. As I have said though, I have been sent to serve as liaison. As such, it would be more prudent for me to live here if at all possible. A lack of trust is to be expected, so I have no problems with a security check as long as my mind is not touched. It has been safeguarded heavily and I'd rather not suffer from unwanted intrusion. It'd be most unpleasant." He admits.

Training Grounds- Cutter

Cutter nods and gives a small smile before backing a dozen feet away from Wenomir. He closes his eyes for a moment, but within that time, his skin seems to bubble at first, turning into a rapid boiling as it steams off. When it's finished, the doctor is drastically changed. His body looks like glistening muscle without any skin and covered in thick bony plates. He seems to have grown a second pair of arms, and all four hands end in thick razor sharp talons. The strangest change though, is his lack of eyes. Most of his face has been replaced by smooth bone except for a too-wide mouth full of hundreds of needle-teeth.

When he's done, he gives a nod to Wenomir, falling into a defensive stance with all four of his arms up in a boxing defense and his toes dug into the floor to give him better stability.

Entering Watch

Sakura might see someone who's been deadtimed for quite a long time trying to start a small garden of herbs. Jeremy is too focused to notice her approach, but appears to be grumbling in distaste at one of the seeds, mumbling something about dill and a distinct hate of the taste.

[Gullara]

[Entering Watch]

"Glad to see someone's doing some gardening after I left. I felt bad leaving it all." Sakura comments as she approaches Jeremy. She's never going to get to see the inside of the place now is she.

[UncleWolf]

Gardening

Jeremy looks up and smiles a little. "My family's always had a knack for it." He admits with a wistful sigh as he stands up. "Glad to see you're back though, despite my attentions it probably suffered somewhat. I've mostly been keeping to myself lately, so I can't exactly bring you up to speed." He adds with a shrug.

[The Bushranger]

((I know, I just forgot why they want to shop. I mean where did they want to go after the shopping))

[Main Gate]

"So what now." Mia ask a bit confused like she forgot where they wanted to go.

"After we acquire fresh clothing, we then perhaps head to a tavern," Shawna suggests.

[Gullara]

[Gardening]

"Oh don't worry too much about that. I'm just visiting to take a look around and see who I can talk to while I'm here. I don't come around here nearly often enough, but well, you know." She looks down at the twins in the stroller. And then of course there's Laela at her hip.

[UncleWolf]

Garden

Jeremy smiles down at the children and reaches into his pockets for a strawberry sucker, offering it to Laela. "They're beautiful." He tells Sakura with genuine cheer to his voice.

[Gullara]

[Garden]

Sakura lets the grabby little baby grab the sucker. Laela looks at it, not having any idea what to do with such a thing. But like with almost everything she gets her hands on, she puts it immediately in her mouth. Yum!

Sakura grins at the sight of that and turns her smile on Jeremy. "Thanks. They really are. They do keep my occupied day in and day out, though. Not that I ever mind. They're my little bundles of joy."

[UncleWolf]

Gardens

Jeremy watches the girl enjoy the sucker for a few moments before giving another small sigh, lost in thought for a couple seconds. "I've been thinking of bringing up the possibility with Shawna. Not sure how to approach it." He whispers to Sakura.

[Gullara]

[Garden]

Sakura giggles. "Oh really? I never knew you two were so serious. I might not be the best person to ask how to approach it, though." After all, it's not like Laela had been planned. "But I would just be direct about it. Don't pressure her, though."

[UncleWolf]

Gardens

"You wouldn't think looking at us, would you?" He asks with a small smile and shaking his head. "I suppose that'd be best. Thanks for the advice. Just have to work up the courage now I guess."

[Gullara]

[Gardens]

"Good luck with that then. I'm sure she'll be understanding at the very least." Sakura says encouragingly.

And then Cern chooses now to get fussy. He makes some small sounds of discontent at first, but then he starts actually crying. "Oh dear. Could you hold Laela for a minute while I see what's wrong?"

[Deathkeeper]

((Pardon yet another delay))

"If I knew I'd tell you." she said. It wasn't an urgent, splitting pain but it certainly was an annoyance. "Feels the same from before but not strong. Probably nothing some painkillers wouldn't do away with but it feels similar to pulling a muscle. Maybe that thing you did earlier wore off?" Ghoul asked, taking her hand away from the side of her head. It was currently ebbing now at least so it wasn't going to inconvenience her as much for a short while.

Front Gate, Later

"Well, it really isn't good to do that sort of thing in a row. I'd suggest you go get some sleep. Soon, if not now." says Klitcht.

[happyturtle]

Courtyard

"Well... all right, I suppose. I doubt we'll only be talking to DC anyways." Most likely there'll be an entire meeting. "But that's not til tomorrow right?" Ilphy asks, hugging Darcy in close. Until then, she has all day with Darcy now.

"Not till tomorrow," Darcy agrees, and holds Ilphy close.

End scene?

[Morty]

"It does require additional care, and is perhaps best in Flynning," Shawna allows. "However there are circumstances in which I might find myself best advantaged by utilising such a device, or with my plasma swords joined into a double blade, and thus it is best not to allow myself to become too out of practice."

"Is there anything about plasma swords that makes using them this way less..." Wenomir's word of choice would be 'suicidal', but he decides to be a little more tactful. "...impractical?"



Training Grounds- Cutter

Cutter nods and gives a small smile before backing a dozen feet away from Wenomir. He closes his eyes for a moment, but within that time, his skin seems to bubble at first, turning into a rapid boiling as it steams off. When it's finished, the doctor is drastically changed. His body looks like glistening muscle without any skin and covered in thick bony plates. He seems to have grown a second pair of arms, and all four hands end in thick razor sharp talons. The strangest change though, is his lack of eyes. Most of his face has been replaced by smooth bone except for a too-wide mouth full of hundreds of needle-teeth.

When he's done, he gives a nod to Wenomir, falling into a defensive stance with all four of his arms up in a boxing defense and his toes dug into the floor to give him better stability.


Well, that's... not really disturbing as far as Wenomir is concerned. He's seen far worse. He raises his sword above his head and begins circling Cutter slowly.

[Zefir]

"After we acquire fresh clothing, we then perhaps head to a tavern," Shawna suggests.

[Somewhere]

"Ok." So mia will head for her room to take on the new clothes. They will meet later at the entrance.

[Shadowcaller]

Next Day

Ronai smiles a bit and gives a small bow. "Yes, that would be perfectly acceptable. As I have said though, I have been sent to serve as liaison. As such, it would be more prudent for me to live here if at all possible. A lack of trust is to be expected, so I have no problems with a security check as long as my mind is not touched. It has been safeguarded heavily and I'd rather not suffer from unwanted intrusion. It'd be most unpleasant." He admits.

Next Day

"I see. I'll be sure to mention that to our psychic." Though she suspects DC already knows this. "In any case, I'm sure you understand I must search you before you enter. I'm going to let a elemental pad you down. Do you understand?" If he confirms she will summon a water elemental to do just that.

[Gullara]

[Next Day]

A swirl of water appears in the middle of the air and quickly condenses down into a stable form. The elemental before them is feminine in shape, fairly detailed but not taking on every aspect of the human form. The most detailed part of her is her face. Between that and her overall shape, she resembles Cessie a fair bit. Of course, the only reason she's not see through is because the turmoil of the water within her. She looks to Cessie for instruction.

[UncleWolf]

Next Day

"I understand." Ronai says, dropping his small bag a few feet away and stepping aside to let them search that as well. "Are you the only one needed for my confirmation, or do others need to decide too?" He wonders.

Training Grounds - Cutter

Cutter slowly turns with Wenomir even as he lowers his lower-right hand closer to his hip and all four hands curl into fists. He still waits for Wenomir to make the starting move, but his guard does appear to be exposed somewhat now.

Garden

Jeremy smiles and tries to pick up the little girl. "How are you, little one?" He asks as he tries to set her on his shoulder.

[Shadowcaller]

[Next Day]

"I will mention it to the others of course but I would lie if I said liked your presence here. The nature of this organization has made them rather paranoid you must understand. They must always be at alert for small things that could turn into nexus-wide catastrophes. None the less my confirmation should be enough for now." Cessie explains to Ronai before turning to her elemental and feels like she could face palm, how had she not noticed it was practically naked again?

The sorceress will once again summon a water robe to dress it in, hopefully Ronai wouldn't pay it much mind. "Could you search him please?" She asks it once it's less naked.

[Gullara]

[Next Day]

Naked without any of the details that clothing is meant to hide! (For the most part.) Silly Cessie.

As for the elemental, she looks reluctant. Feeling down anyone doesn't seem like a very desirable prospect. "Must I?" She says, looking to Cessie again. She looks rather uncomfortable with this instruction.

[Garden]

laela takes no issue to being picked up by the new person. She's not shy! In fact, she immediately tries to grab hold of his hair when it's in reach. "Ah gah!"

Sakura, meanwhile, picks up Cern and bobs him and checks to see if his diaper's full. No, not that. And he just ate before they came here... She stands again and bobs him up and down. maybe he just needs some attention.

[UncleWolf]

Next Day

"If you'd rather, I can empty all my pockets and strip down." Ronai offers, completely unashamed. "I've had clients ask for such before and it doesn't bother me." He adds with a shrug. "I can also list everything in my bag if required. This way you feel safe and don't have to touch someone you don't desire to. There are things a pat-down would miss anyway" He suggests, already starting to unbutton his shirt.

Gardens

Jeremy chuckles and doesn't mind when his hair is pulled. Sensing her excitement and noticing Cern's needy nature, he holds the palm of his hand up into the air, calling together a small wisp of nanites that surrounds him to form a sparkling orb that seems to spin in air.

[Shadowcaller]

Next Day

The sorceress fakes a cough, realizing it probably had been a bad idea giving the elemental her own personality. Now who was going to do her dirty work?

"Eh... perhaps I should just summon another elemental to make the security check?" She suggests, her gaze starting to drift away from Ronai once he starts to unbutton his shirt. "There is really no need for that."

[Gullara]

[Next Day]

Well that's a relief to hear. Though the elemental is more put off by Ronai taking off his clothes. Does he not know the meaning of modesty!

[Garden]

Laela abandons Jeremy's hair and leans out of his grasp to try and grab at the lights. Ooh, pretty! So distracted is she, she doesn't even notice when the sucker falls right out of her mouth. Oops.

Cern, however, doesn't pay the lights any mind. He's apparently determined to be fussy. It's s mystery why... Right up until when he spits up over his mom's shoulder. "Oh, ew. That's what I get for forgetting the cloth." She bends over and retrieves a cloth from her baby bag in the stroller, which she uses to wipe his mouth and then her shoulder.

[UncleWolf]

Next Day

Ronai pauses after the second button, revealing scattered blue scales beneath the shirt and raises an eyebrow. "An earth one would be heavy handed, a fire one too destructive, and an air would would feel things rather more personally I think. Unless I'm getting it wrong somehow."

Gardens

Jeremy lets the orb be grabbed, but she'll find it's really really light and easily played with and squishable. As the orb is moved, he snaps the sucker out of the air. "Anything I can do?" he asks, holding the treat for later for the little girl.

[Terumitsu]

[Front Gate, Later]

That seemed like rather sound advice save for one not so minor detail... But that likely could be solved with a question or two. "I'd like to make a stop by the medical wing if there is one before doing that." she said. At least she suspected there was one given the size of the place despite not having been directly introduced to one as of yet.

"Might as well see about if this is just a physical ache or not while I'm there. For all I know, it could be cured with a bit of aspirin. Would probably help me fall asleep at that." she said, musing with a bit of irony that she would probably be sleeping throughout the day purely by accident this time around. It was an upset to her usual schedule, yes, but Ghoul wasn't going to let such a small thing like that bother her.

[Deathkeeper]

Front Gate, Later

Klitcht provides instructions to the infirmary, although he's never been there himself. He bids Ghoul good evening and takes his leave at this point unless she wants him around in the infirmary.

[Reinholdt]

[Front Gate - Tomorrow]

Ilpholin, demon queen and leader of AMEN is riding Mister Squiggles up the path to the entrance.

[happyturtle]

Front Gate - Tomorrow

Darcy should have told DC that Ilpholin was coming. She knew she should have, and she really really intended to. But Ilphy was so pretty, and DC so scary that... it sort of... didn't happen.

So it might be a surprise to the Watch leaders that she's on her way, unless Ilphy did the notifying.

At any rate, Darcy will run down the steps and out the door to greet Ilpholin and...

"Hi, Mister Squiggles! I've missed you."

[Reinholdt]

Front Gate - Tomorrow

Ilphy thought Darcy was telling them/already told them! It was her idea!

*chitter chitter*
Good to see you Darcy. Good to be out and about too. I think I was gaining weight from all the henchmen.

Interestingly, henchmen mistranslates to monsters in some languages.
"Hello Darcy."

[happyturtle]

Front Gate - Tomorrow

Darcy's cowardice is a handy excuse for 'player didn't want to start a contentious scene with DC when we're about to rp a contentious scene after Ilpholin gets here'. *nodnod*

"Nonsense. You're as beautiful as ever!" Darcy says.

[Reinholdt]

Front Gate - Tomorrow

I figured she'd just tell Wenomir or Cessie personally. But no matter.

*chitter chitter*
Why thank you. You look well yourself.

I'm sure Mister Squiggles is blushing if he could.

Anyways, he resumes walking alongside Darcy to head in to Watchtower proper.

[happyturtle]

Front Gate - Tomorrow

Once inside, Darcy will put up the bat signal or whatever it takes to call a meeting.

[Morty]

[Meeting Room]

Wenomir will be there. He's wearing full armour and he has his longsword in the sheath on his back. He's markedly not happy and he's expecting trouble.



Training Grounds - Cutter

Cutter slowly turns with Wenomir even as he lowers his lower-right hand closer to his hip and all four hands curl into fists. He still waits for Wenomir to make the starting move, but his guard does appear to be exposed somewhat now.


Wenomir steps forward and makes a quick downward slash at one of Cutter's arm. It's not really intended to strike home - he's just probind his defences. He's ready to dodge all the while.

[Darkcomet]

[Meeting Room]

DC is present as well, and it's all too clear that he is incredibly angry right now.

By which I mean he has a beam gun out already. It's probably a good thing no one let him outside or he would probably be shooting with heavy weapons by now.

[Ashen Lilies]

[DC's Lab]

KR crosses her arms.
"Frankly, I'm this close to just making an announcement on the Wall that says you don't represent us anymore and then leave you to deal with the fallout of your idiocy on your own." She snaps, raising her right hand to show exactly how close with her index finger and thumb.
"Unfortunately that's a stupid plan and no one would agree with it, so I guess you keep your leadership spot. I'd like it if we could withdraw that bounty, but that would only make us look more clueless and indecisive than we do already, so thanks for backing us into a corner, DC. I guess we have to follow through on your idiot plan." :smallmad:

[KR and Wenomir's Room]

KR's eyes widen slightly. Crapcrapcrap, why did she suggest showing her magic!? Think of something! Think of something fast! She looks down, trying to appear totally wise and deep in thought and not panicking at all, but then notices her shirt is inside out and almost has a complete meltdown.
"Um.... um... givemeaminuteineedtopreparesomereagentsjustwaitthe rekaybye."

*SLAM!*

[Meeting Room]

KR is sitting at the map table, aggressively slumped over with her arms crossed on the table and glaring at DC.
"Just put it away already. She's coming here for some reason, and if you shoot her before I find out why, I will slam your head into this table repeatedly."
She's wearing her coat fully buttoned to hide her grease-stained shirt (having just come from the lab) with the collar popped up despite the summer heat, and is kicking the foot of the table repeatedly with her dragonscale boot.

[Reinholdt]

[Meeting Room]

Ilphy joins the meeting room as well, holding Ilpholin's hand as they sit down. I'm sure Darcy's on the other side of one of them. Mister Squiggles stands behind them and somewhat out of the way. Of note, he does have some things strapped to him. Like a hobo bag almost! Except Mister Squiggles eats hobos, so it might not be his. =x

"That reason, since KR brings it up, would be that a bounty has been placed on my head by my own teammates. It seems that I apparently lack the trust I need in order to complete the mission assigned to me by you. As such, I've fully scrubbed the mission and have returned to explain my actions in detail at which point you can decide the fate you believe I deserve."

[happyturtle]

Meeting Room

Darcy is standing behind the Ilpholins, with a hand on a shoulder of each. She'd threaten DC with some awful fate if he dares to shoot her love, but she knows she's the combat lightweight in the room. Anyone else at the table (except maybe Ilphy) could mop the floor with her, so she'd look pretty stupid tossing threats around. She'll settle for looking pretty angry, and giving DC the glare of "Ihateyousomuchrightnow". :smallmad:

[Darkcomet]

[DC's Lab]

"'Idiotic' is what I'd use to describe how we're apparently supposed to as merciful as GLoG now. You know, the organization indirectly responsible for multiple of Reinholdt's actions? We can't afford to play nice with traitors and attempted infiltrators. The end results of that have already been proven in the past, thank you very much. They are destabilizing influences that need to be stopped if we want everyone else to be ready for what we're really meant to face. I apologize only for not putting my foot down sooner."

[Meeting Room]

DC pointedly does not lose the gun, though he also doesn't shoot. Yet. He does, however, keep it pointed at Ilpholin the entire time.

"Traitor. Let me tell you why your story is bull****. One, you have next to never expressed any interest in consulting with us, when we are entirely capable of keeping in contact in a manner that is difficult to detect." He taps the side of his head to indicate what he means.

"Two, your plans not only went forward without any consultation from us whatsoever, you have actively been making AMEN stronger, which is not acceptable, in case you were wondering. Three, on top of this, your bioweapon attack caught our own assets in it, namely, my people in Riverside. Your forces even made a deliberate attack on my reactor in Westside when the defenses I had actually deployed against your attack were far more easily targeted. Four, you have displayed a remarkable lack of foresight or care, judging from the exploitation of the bioweapon you unleashed in an attack on Inside. Allegedly, that wasn't you, but I won't hold my breath. The point remains that had I not hired those mercenaries to interfere, things would be far worse there now. Your activities have resulted in the exact same destabilization we wanted to prevent.

The stupid politics are the only reason I haven't done far worse than put a bounty on all of your heads. I don't buy the duplicate gambit either, considering it would make spying on us awfully simple. You are either a traitor or simply an incredibly lucky idiot. Neither of which we want with that kind of power."

[Morty]

[KR and Wenomir's Room]

Milena waits patiently. She's too enthralled by the prospect of being shown magic by her idol to notice anything amiss.

[Meeting Room]

Wenomir leans on the table, peering at both Ilpholins with narrowed eyes.

"I'll withold any declarations about agreeing with DC or not until I hear your side of the story... but you better make it a good one."

[Gullara]

Gardens

Jeremy lets the orb be grabbed, but she'll find it's really really light and easily played with and squishable. As the orb is moved, he snaps the sucker out of the air. "Anything I can do?" he asks, holding the treat for later for the little girl.

[Gardens]

"That's okay. When you're a dad you'll get used to being thrown up on really quick, trust me." Sakura giggles and looks up at Jeremy again. Just in time to see laela going to put the orb of light into her mouth. "Laela, don't eat that!" She says and reaches to stop her, but the baby doesn't even hesitate in popping it in her mouth.

[Reinholdt]

[Meeting Room]

"The day you're allowed in my head Charles is the day I'm dead. But that goes two ways. I know you knew about the plan, seeing as how you were intended to find out just like everyone else. Any single one of you could have picked up the phone and told me to stop. Yet I heard not a ring."

"Any of your precious assets caught in the crossfire was unintentional and never ordered. Near as I can tell, you barely suffered a scratch anyways. As for the so called 'exploitation' of the bioweapon, I seem to recall Inside squashed that attempt without a single casualty, with minimal resources, and an overall complete lack of even blinking an eye. It's a shame I had the foresight and care to have a cure created at the exact same time as I did the 'weapon'. That said, you seem to have fully misunderstood the Riverside situation. Allow me to explain from the beginning."

"To start out I revealed the plan to an open AMEN meeting, knowing full well it would get leaked. In fact, getting leaked was every bit part of the plan." Who did the leaking was not. "Furthermore, I went to explicit lengths to ensure a cure was formed at the same time. In the end, I managed to argue out a non-lethal plague with a cure. Practically like getting strep throat. The point of this was rather simple. Minimize civilian count. The leak would ensure that people evacuated or took precautions. Those crazy enough to stay behind were almost certain to be strong enough to resist. In short, the city was flushed of non-combatants beforehand, ensuring their safety. Any still affected could invariably be cured."

"Beyond that, I convinced AMEN, perfectly capable of just teleporting in, to ride in on a sub instead. Because it'd be 'flashier'. More importantly it'd be seen, and we'd be seen teleporting. Once that was done, it ensured Riverside dropped teleportation blockers all over us, blocking AMEN's final escape route. All I needed to do then was draw away the last remaining defenders of the AMEN base, which I did thanks to a timely betrayal by Shayan." Removing Clegg from the base. "Should Riverside have pressed the attack, as I hoped, there was a high likelihood AMEN would have been devastated or worse. Mister Squiggles was on standby to call Watch, who I presumed would be at least watching the situation, to take advantage of the opportunity and destroy the home base. In fact, an entire program was written into the AI Mister Squiggles has there to turn the base in on itself and attack AMEN members, while leaving the door wide open for strike teams or bombings. In short, I set up the perfect opportunity to destroy AMEN forever." Should AMEN turn around and survive a Riverside assault, Ilpholin would have no choice but declare Mister Squiggles a traitor and sacrifice him. Hence why he would be the one calling. Plausible deniability. "Things didn't flow that way, unfortunately, but they still turned out very beneficial for Watch." More explanation soon! But this is getting long.

Mister Squiggles steps forth now and reaches into his hobo bag to pull out a data device, place it on the table and slide it towards the center. "That's the information you need to access and activate the program remotely if you decide to still use it."

She pauses briefly to allow DC to further his petty personal attacks on Ilpholin's intellect and motives along with anything else other people wished to interject now.

[Shadowcaller]

Next Day

Ronai pauses after the second button, revealing scattered blue scales beneath the shirt and raises an eyebrow. "An earth one would be heavy handed, a fire one too destructive, and an air would would feel things rather more personally I think. Unless I'm getting it wrong somehow."


Next Day

"Let's summon an air elemental then." These people were all too quick on stripping down. An air elemental appears and will gently pad Ronai down, sparing Cessie and the water elemental from seeing the part dragon strip down. It would have been so awkward!.

[The Bushranger]

[Training Room]


"Is there anything about plasma swords that makes using them this way less..." Wenomir's word of choice would be 'suicidal', but he decides to be a little more tactful. "...impractical?"

"Weight," Shawna answers promptly. "A plasma sword is, essentially, weightless, aside from its hilt and emitter of course. This makes it significantly more dangerous for the untrained, however for a user who is capable of maneuvering them safely, they give a great advantage in speed of combat."

[Somewhere]




"Ok." So mia will head for her room to take on the new clothes. They will meet later at the entrance.

Shawna changes as well, into something much like her old outfit: white, and fully covering. While waiting for Mia, she notes the commotion, and drifts to the [Meeting Room] door, listening in. And frowning.

[UncleWolf]

Next Day

The elemental will find Ronai to be mostly unarmed except for a pair of daggers strapped to his inner thighs and a small snub-nose revolver under his right armpit. Other than that, he's carrying several thousand dollars in a billfold, a pen, a pencil, a pair of tweezers, a nail file, a cellphone, and an expensive looking platinum watch.

In the bag, he has a crossbow with several bolts, a manicure/pedicure kit, toiletries, several thousand dollars worth of high-end makeup, extra ammo for his revolver, several strategy and tactic books, and a Go board with all the pieces. Other than that, he has nothing on him. "Satisfied?"

Training Grounds - Cutter

The Half-Horror twists slightly as the blade comes down, avoiding it by a sliver of space, and uses his upper right hand to try to tap the back of the blade as it passes to try and knock it off balance. As he does so, he'll step forward, rotating his upper-left arm downwards with his hand cupped to try and hit a specific nerve on Wenomir's upper thigh with the side of his hand. If that works, Wenomir should feel his entire leg go instantly numb and hopefully it'll fall out from under him.

Gardens

Jeremy can't help but chuckle as he turns the orb into a flutter of small butterflies to zip around the girl's head. "I know how it is. I've helped raise a niece." He admits.

[Shadowcaller]

Next Day

"I should probably scan all your electronic devices. But would it be okay if you just leave them outside for now? I really mean no disrespect Ronai, I personally don't think you're carrying anything dangerous on your person, but I know I would have to have a long discussion with the others if I just let you in. I don't you don't take any offense." She offers him an apologetic smile.

[UncleWolf]

Next Day

"I understand." The man says, pulling out his cellphone and offering it to her. "Only two contacts are in there, no names. One is to my "Matron" who is still at Room 34 and the other is to my contact within the Temple so I can explain what is going on. If you wish I'd rather leave, I can. My goal here is to provide a way that everything can be worked out smoothly, but that can only happen if Watch lets it."

[Shadowcaller]

Next Day

"You might as well have a look around the place while you're here and I did pick out a room for you." Cessie replies as she accepts the cellphone. Now what in the void was he going to do with all that make-up? Did he really use that much?

"So just follow me." She gestures for him and the water elemental to follow her inside the building so she can show him around. "May I ask what you know about Watch? I realize there might be a lot of rumors going on about us right now."

[Gullara]

[Gardens]

Laela giggles and swats at the butterflies. Pretty! Sakura chuckles at herself for worrying so much about that. "That little girl will put anything in her mouth. You gotta keep an eye on her all the time." The dryad reaches out and taps Laela's nose with on finger, prompting the baby to grab hold.

"So you're a man with some experience with kids then, huh? If Shawna wants some, she should count herself lucky. Me and Adir had no idea what we were doing." The dryad suddenly looks pained, but she quickly put on her smile again. By now Jeremy and most of the rest of Watch should know that Adir vanished.

[UncleWolf]

Next Day

Ronai picks up his bag and carries it inside. "I know enough to have a personal feeling about you all, but unless it becomes prudent to explain it, then it shouldn't matter what I think of this place." He says with a shrug.

Gardens

Jeremy notices the look and makes the butterflies vanish before trying to give Sakura a loose hold. "It'll be okay. We're here for you if you need anything, I promise."

[Gullara]

[Gardens]

Sakura sighs and nods. "Thanks, Jeremy. I appreciate that." She gives him a small hug, as well as she can with two children between them. "I'm getting by, though."

[Shadowcaller]

Next Day

"I can see why Jezebel picked you." Cessie comments but has no more to say on that particular subject for the moment. She leads him down to the barracks where he will be shown to the room furthest inside the building. Opening the door he will see a standard room. Nothing really out of the ordinary. "Here is where you will be staying. It's spartan but you can always give it a personal touch." The sorceress says as she looks around.

[happyturtle]

Meeting Room

Darcy remains silent, though much of what Ilpholin is saying is a surprise to her.

[Morty]

[Meeting Room]

"It would seem you overestimated the willingness of the Riverside factions to fight AMEN," Wenomir says dryly. "It's no surprise they took an opportunity to resolve things without further bloodshed. I'm not going to say 'no' to a chance to destroy AMEN's base, though."

He has no idea how much of what Ilpholin's telling them is true, so he's keeping most of his thoughts to himself for now.

[Training Grounds]

"I suppose that makes sense," Wenomir says. "I don't think I could use such a weapon effectively, since I've been trained in using steel ones. But I can see how it might work."

[Training Grounds - Cutter]

Wenomir disengages, having been prepared for a counter-attack, and steps backwards nimbly, using his momentum to make a quick jab at the attacking arm as he moves.

[Darkcomet]

[Meeting Room]

"Really. Really. You say you planned on it being leaked, when that only happened because we interfered." DC indicates Darcy over there to illustrate his point.

"Had we trusted you, at the very least Inside would not have the cure now, and Riverside would have been far worse-prepared. No preparations would have been made, because they simply would not have known. That is the truth of the matter.

Using a less than lethal disease is simple enough to explain. It provokes less hate from the population, allowing you to be seen as a force for something other than the raw destruction AMEN revels in. This is most likely why the shortsighted Riverside powers refused to press the assault. Had they been convinced of AMEN's true nature, I doubt they would have decided to play nice. No, it was a move designed to reduce the anger of the population to prevent you from facing far greater reprisals. It is an act of fear, not restraint.

And you claim to have wanted to draw defenders away-again, this would have been a moot point had we not known about the attack beforehand, which I've gone into already. Even then, you did not know Shayan would defect, making it even more of a moot point. As for that device, I expect it's loaded with viruses to cripple the systems of whoever uses it. Even if not, it is very much like an AMEN leader to put their people in danger in order to convince others to halt their reprisals.

This story is clearly tailored to the events that transpired, but it is not perfect. I can only hope that everyone else here sees through it as well."

[The Bushranger]

[Training Grounds]

"It is something that requires much practice in order to assure the safe and proficient useage of," Shawna agrees with a nod. "By the same token, though, you are much superior in using conventionally bladed weapons, than I am."

[UncleWolf]

Next Day

"I'll set my things out. Is there anything else you need of me? And I suppose you'll be locking the door behind you, but I could use some time to myself anyway." Ronai says, setting his bag on the bed.


Gardens

"If you ever need anything, just ask." He says, letting go and stepping back. "I'll even babysit." He admits.

Training Grounds - Cutter

Cutter pulls his hand back quickly, but continues to step forward, spinning deftly clockwise as he grasps a pair of his hands together so he can attempt to slam them hard into the swordsman's left shoulder.

[Morty]

[Training Grounds]

"I could learn how to use energy blades, but I won't," Wenomir says. "I prefer honest, solid steel."

[Training Grounds]

Wenomir twists his body, causing the hands to miss him by a hair's breadth, then thrusts the training sword up at them just as they pass by. One movement follows the other so quickly they almost appear to happen simultaneously.

[Gullara]

[Gardens]

Sakura chuckles a little, with just a bit more enthusiasm now. "I'll have to keep that in mind. With these three I think I'll need some good babysitters once in a while."

[Shadowcaller]

Next Day

"Very well, just tell me if you need anything. I'm here to make you feel more welcome." She says with a faint smile.

[UncleWolf]

Next Day

Ronai gives a small smile in reply, but shakes his head. "You're here because you think it's necessary and probably don't care for my presence. If it were for another group or another reason, then maybe it'd be fine. But thanks for the effort, that's all that really matters."

Gardens

"If nothing else, I can at least keep them fascinated by sparkling objects." He says with a grin before letting out a deep breath. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go see if I can drag Shawna off somewhere so I can bring up the kids thing. I...I just don't want to do it in Watch I guess. Doesn't feel like the right place. If it is decided we'll have one, would you mind being something like a Godmother to him or her? I mean, I don't exactly have a lot of friends here..."


Training Grounds - Cutter

The sword rises up between Cutter's clasped hands, near his chin, so the Half-Horror freezes before holding up his other two hands in a symbol of mercy. "Hiiii think hyu've got thissss won." He says, hissing due to the horrendous number of teeth in his new mouth.

[Gullara]

[Gardens]

Sakura's eyebrows shoot up. Well that's surprising. Just because she doesn't really know Jeremy very well. "Sure, Jeremy. I'd really like that." She says with a warm smile. "Good luck talking to Shawna."

[Morty]

[Training Grounds - Cutter]

Wenomir retracts his sword and steps back.

"So it seems. Well fought, although you seem unused to opponents as fast as I am."

[Shadowcaller]

Next Day

"Ronai, that's not true. I have no feelings against you personally and I hardly think I'd be fit to judge the rest of your organization just yet. This talk about blood feuds makes me raise an eyebrow. But as I understand it, that's between your leader and Watch, not the entire organization of Masks and I'd prefer to keep it that way until we have found a way to settle our differences." Cessie explains.

[UncleWolf]

Next Day

"Sorry, but serving an organization that worships a literal being of sensation and sex tends to make one disbelieve that you aren't judged the moment you show up." Ronai says with a small smile, not quite outright saying he didn't believe her, but also not saying that he did.

Gardens => Jeremy and Shawna's Room

Jeremy smiles at the dryad, giving a small bow. "Thanks again, Sakura. Hope the rest of your day goes well." He says before pulling another sucker out of his pocket for the little girl and heading to his room to try and find Shawna.

Training Grounds - Cutter

Cutter doesn't respond for a while as his skin begins to boil and steam, turning back to normal. "No, I'm not. Mostly I fight gun-toting SWAT style people who try to incinerate me because of my nature." He admits with a shake of his head. "While the swordblow wouldn't have killed me (neither would bullets), it would have slowed me enough to allow someone else to. And I can't afford to make mistakes like that. I just have to adapt and get quicker."

Gardens

Cessie might hear a man cough behind her at some point in her day. "Excuse me, Ma'am?" Cutter asks, a doctor's bag in his left hand as he tries to look nice and polite.

[The Bushranger]

[Training Grounds > Jeremy and Shawna's quarters]


"I could learn how to use energy blades, but I won't," Wenomir says. "I prefer honest, solid steel."

"Which is always an admirable quality. There is something comforting about a solid blade that tells stories," Shawna agrees with a nod.

She'll then, unless stopped, excuse herself politely, and head to her and Jeremy's quarters, the better to relax after her workout. Oddly, despite the strenuous activity, there isn't a drop of sweat on her.

[Shadowcaller]

Gardens

Cessie looks up. "Ah, you must be Cutter, one of our new members. Can I help you with anything?"

Next Day

"And what makes you think I'd judge people that worship such things unfairly? Back in my world we have a goddess like that by the name of Nega and one of her worshippers were one of my best friends." Cessie counters.

[UncleWolf]

Jeremy and Shawna's Room

Shawna will come back to find Jeremy already waiting, organizing his books. He sets an advanced electronics book on their shelf and proceeds to put up scifi omnibus next to it. He gives her a warm smile when she enters and stops doing what he's doing to try and wrap his arms around her and gives her a long kiss as his way of saying hello.

Ronai's Room

Ronai shrugs. "Then perhaps I've misjudged you, Mrs. Mithar. Most people I've met would make such assumptions, for better or worse." He admits. "I apologize for my quick judgment. You could say that my previous job has jaded me."

Gardens - Cessie

"Yes, you can." Cutter says before standing straighter and clearing his throat. "I'm the new doctor and I'd like to at least take your vital signs so I can establish a baseline for you in case you come into bodily harm or start exhibiting signs of an affliction. In order to treat you better when it is necessary to do so, I need to at least know you."

[The Bushranger]

Jeremy and Shawna's Room

Shawna melts into Jeremy's arms, sighing happily as she returns the kiss, wrapping her own arms around him and holding him tightly.

[Reinholdt]

Meeting Room

When you live with someone like the Thing in the Walls, who made it clear it can apparently spy on you whenever and wherever you sleep, you become cautious about sharing, even with Darcy.

"Unfortunately yes. But it was a probable scenario I steered towards and I recognize not the only result. However, Riverside did reveal the corruption present in Northside and ex-Southside." With some questions as to Westside. Wenomir can always have the data chip checked if he wants proof. The program was created well before the attack and is hard stamped with date of creation and any checks will find no tampering to falsify information.

Ilpholin turns to DC. "I'd have expected stronger arguments from someone whose spent so much time invested in thinking on how you hate me. Watch being the ones to cause the leak does not change the fact that it was intended. In the unlikely event no one shared, I'd have had Squiggles do it. Either way, you cannot deny that if I wanted that information to not be revealed, I would have gone about organizing the whole thing quite secretly and not held a meeting where any Moff-look alike or listening bug could participate. But you keep judging my actions as a 'traitor' on the basis that I'm a complete moron. For instance, the idea that I could place a piece of technology here and not somehow know that two separate technological geniuses would check it on a side system linked to no networks whatsoever to ensure its safety." The arguments DC put forth here require Ilpholin's stupidity to stand.

"You claim I am so utterly afraid of reprisal, yet here I am literally turning myself in, when I could be at home scoffing at your rallying attempts behind your back. You're right about one thing though. I didn't know about Shayan's betrayal. That's why I called it timely. Taking advantage of the situation to accomplish what I intended all along."

Ilpholin folds her hands in front of her. "As for AMEN's true nature, its... reveling in raw destruction. Riverside wasn't ready, but AMEN... AMEN was willing to talk things out. Peacefully. They accepted a hunk of empty wasteland without a fight and called in their greatest success. They had eldritch viruses that could eat right through any enviro suit and ancient dragons from the spawn of the world and they chose not to use them. They chose to allow talks. And now? Now they're constructing, building homes and strip clubs and clothing stores and being productive as a whole. AMEN's changed and I undeniably guided it there, as per my mission." The moralizing on the wall should be proof enough of that, no matter how correct or incorrect the arguments there are.

"Above and beyond that, I've backed AMEN into a corner. It has two roads it can take now. It can fall back on its old ways, terrorizing and destruction as it were, losing any all respect as a legitimate organization that it has earned. In which case it has three separate military powers surrounding it and guaranteed watching it to knock it down, if the resulting gang wars don't cause it to tear apart from the inside." The population Ilpholin purposefully left can become as much a hindrance should AMEN revert as it would be a boon if it doesn't. "Or it can make concessions. Play by just enough of the big boy rules to stand on it's own and be recognized and keep their victory and their face. Either way is beneficial for us."

"AMEN is vulnerable now thanks to me. It will either evolve or run away and be destroyed."

[Ashen Lilies]

[DC's Lab]

"I'm not suggesting we 'play nice', DC! I'm suggesting we not waste resources by getting sucked into an aggressive campaign that doesn't have a chance in hell of getting anywhere meaningful."

[KR and Wenomir's Room]

KR emerges after a few minutes, hair less messy and more properly dressed, with her t-shirt on the right way and wearing her boots.
"Right... um... let's go out into the courtyard. Outside. Yeah."

[Meeting Room]

"And in your opinion, which of these outcomes would be more favorable?" Says KR, patiently. She doesn't look entirely pleased, but at least she's held off on slinging accusations at Ilpholin so far. Traitor or not (and KR hasn't decided at the moment which one she truly is), Ilpholin has brought up some interesting opportunities which KR can't let drown under lesser questions of loyalty.

[Shadowcaller]

Gardens - Cessie

"Oh? What sort of tests would that involve?" The sorceress asks. "I'm afraid my knowledge about medical practices could be expanded upon."

Ronai's Room

"Sex is a fairly common thing to worship actually." Cessie replies. "I can name a fair number of religions where sex can be considered a religious experience. But there are people who judge such religious unfairly. I try not to be one of those individuals however."

[Morty]

[Meeting Room]

"I say that if AMEN wants to go straight and play nice, we should help them in this noble resolution by giving them an incentive. As in, we should destroy their volcano base so they're not quite as tempted to run wild and then hide like scared chickens in there when someone fights back," Wenomir says.

[KR and Wenomir's Room]

Milena nods solemnly.

"Yes, ma'am." She will obediently follow KR outside.


Training Grounds - Cutter

Cutter doesn't respond for a while as his skin begins to boil and steam, turning back to normal. "No, I'm not. Mostly I fight gun-toting SWAT style people who try to incinerate me because of my nature." He admits with a shake of his head. "While the swordblow wouldn't have killed me (neither would bullets), it would have slowed me enough to allow someone else to. And I can't afford to make mistakes like that. I just have to adapt and get quicker."

"I could spar with you a few more times, if you want to work on that," Wenomir offers.

[Zefir]

[Training Room]



"Weight," Shawna answers promptly. "A plasma sword is, essentially, weightless, aside from its hilt and emitter of course. This makes it significantly more dangerous for the untrained, however for a user who is capable of maneuvering them safely, they give a great advantage in speed of combat."

[Somewhere]



Shawna changes as well, into something much like her old outfit: white, and fully covering. While waiting for Mia, she notes the commotion, and drifts to the [Meeting Room] door, listening in. And frowning.

[Somewhere]

Mia's new dress is a bit simpler related to her high priestress robe. It still got some shine parts where gold silver or other metals are used, but it's only an accent.

"Ready to go."

[UncleWolf]

Jeremy and Shawna's Room

Once the greeting is over, Jeremy smiles at his girlfriend and reaches up to stroke her face. "I love you, you know that?" he asks, already knowing the answer but wanting to hear it again anyway.

Gardens

"The basics just require me to take your blood pressure, body temperature, heart rate, and respiration rate as well as measuring your height and weight. Age would help too, but isn't necessary." The doctor adds as an afterthought, not quite sure if she was one of the women who were so vain they lied about age.

"A full physical and mental examination would be much more helpful, as well as a bit of blood work to see if there are any vaccinations I can give you, but they aren't necessary either if you choose to opt out of that."

Training Grounds - Cutter

"Perhaps in a few days. I might be able to fix up something for myself in the way of enhancements." He admits as he pulls on his shirt and lab coat once more. "But I would appreciate the help in learning how to fight an armed opponent while being "unarmed" myself."

Ronai's Room

The liaison nods. "Again, thank you for your understanding. While I don't worship such a god, I still serve it's workings." He says, giving Cessie a clear moment to leave the room if she wishes.

[Shadowcaller]

Gardens

Cessie considers for a moment. "This might sound a bit strange, but would you be okay with a third-partner collecting that data for you? I was considering asking my husband or one of my friends to do it for you."

[Ronai's Room]

"Think nothing about it. I'm actually curious how exactly one serves your ideal exactly. In my world you only serve gods and nothing else." Cessie can't help but to ask. She really needs to keep that curiosity of hers in check sometimes.

[UncleWolf]

Gardens

Cutter blinks, not having expected this, but eventually pulls an automatic blood pressure cuff from his bag. "Ma'am. For the most part, all I have to do is put this on your wrist, watch you for a minute, and we're done except you telling me your height and weight. It takes literally one minute. Do you really need someone else to do this? If you get hurt in the future, I am the one that's going to be close to you anyway. Unless you'd prefer I simply don't treat you and would rather have someone else do it, but as far as I've been told, I'm the only qualified medical staff on hand now. I don't have magic, so I'm forced to take the up close and personal route."

Ronai's Room

"As I keep saying, I don't serve their God. I serve Jezebel. She's my employer. Nothing more, nothing less." Ronai clarifies again.

[Darkcomet]

[Meeting Room]

"Are you finished?" Is all DC says for now.

[Reinholdt]

[Meeting Room]


[Meeting Room]

"And in your opinion, which of these outcomes would be more favorable?" Says KR, patiently. She doesn't look entirely pleased, but at least she's held off on slinging accusations at Ilpholin so far. Traitor or not (and KR hasn't decided at the moment which one she truly is), Ilpholin has brought up some interesting opportunities which KR can't let drown under lesser questions of loyalty.

"In the short term, I believe the destruction of AMEN would be more favorable. It would give Watchtower much, perhaps unneeded prestige, raise morale across the Nexus, and show citizens they need not be afraid. In the long run, I believe such things will lead to rage, retribution, and the rise of an even less civilized AMEN as villains gather to make a name for themselves."

"On the other hand, if AMEN grows out of its psychopathic murderer stage and into the corrupt politician stage, shedding the less savory and uncontrollable members, I think that'd be the best overall result. It's in the perfect position to be watched, with an undeniable balance of power theory in action. It can be infiltrated, steered, and will attract those types we least have to worry about in terms of apocalypse, especially if one keeps a proper information network set up within such a system. I can't make suggestions on that front, but it won't be me. I'll never go back there." Ilpholin's not returning to AMEN.


[Meeting Room]

"I say that if AMEN wants to go straight and play nice, we should help them in this noble resolution by giving them an incentive. As in, we should destroy their volcano base so they're not quite as tempted to run wild and then hide like scared chickens in there when someone fights back," Wenomir says.


"If you decide to go that route, I brought along all the information and such that I gathered on AMEN and AMENites while there." Ilpholin says, motioning to Mister Squiggles' hobo bag.


[Meeting Room]

"Are you finished?" Is all DC says for now.

"That depends on you DC." Ilpholin says softly. "I don't want there to be friction between us DC, I really don't. I've spent my life looking over my shoulder for the knife my friends held just as much as my foes. But here, at Watch... it was different. I know I've had my share of difficulties here. I've never quite seen eye to eye with several its members at many points. But I always felt that when push came to shove, I could count on you, all of you, on having my back. I've always believed in you and Watch and what it stands for more than you can ever know. And I don't want to lose that feeling now because of... because of a misunderstanding."

"I've performed my actions with all due intent on Watch's behalf. Right or wrong. I'll stand by them, and you can disagree with them, and time will tell the truth. And nothing can change that now."

"Lolth knows I'm more than tired of proving myself, but I'll do it again if I have to. So I'll put forth an option. Instead of drilling and questioning my loyalty, tell me what I can do to prove it to you. Give me ground to work with, please DC. Tell me what I must do."

[The Bushranger]

[Somewhere]

Mia's new dress is a bit simpler related to her high priestress robe. It still got some shine parts where gold silver or other metals are used, but it's only an accent.

"Ready to go."

Shawna looks at the meeting room door, sighs, then removes a small device from her belt and plants it on the doorframe. "Alright, let us go...Trog's?" she suggsests.

===


Jeremy and Shawna's Room


Once the greeting is over, Jeremy smiles at his girlfriend and reaches up to stroke her face. "I love you, you know that?" he asks, already knowing the answer but wanting to hear it again anyway.

"I do, however I will never tire of hearing you say it again," Shawna confesses, sighing softly and tilting her head against Jeremy's hand with a smile. "And I love you as well, the true man of my heart."

[Darkcomet]

[Meeting Room]

DC...sighs, but does not lower the gun. When he speaks, he manages to sound less violent and hateful, his anger replaced by a colder tone. "That depends on you. Let me tell you a story, Ilpholin, of enemies past that helped to motivate the creation of this organization.

I was not always so distrusting. Hell, I even got to be GLoG's vice president. There, I showed mercy to an enemy. I showed trust, and in doing so I allowed some of the greatest atrocities ever to befall the Nexus to occur. Because I spared a single enemy, who like you gave us many reasons to believe he was not the monster he truly was. My trust has killed, destroyed minds, and in my mind, that is why this organization cannot afford trusting those who have crossed us in the past. Many died, and others suffered arguably worse, because I was merciful, because I was foolish enough to take a chance with a single individual.

Place yourself in my shoes and give me a reason I should not pull this trigger, because where I'm standing, one life is an insignificant price to pay for the protection of the thousands that life might destroy. That is the game we are forced to play, where kindness kills and cruelty saves, and it is what this organization has always been meant to do. We are ruthless and unforgiving because we must be, lest we unwittingly unleash the next Reinholdt or Ebon Mirror. It might not be on that grand a scale every time, but the principle remains the same.

Why should we consider you different, Ilpholin?"

[Reinholdt]

[Meeting Room]

"Because I've only ever operated on that principle. The Watch principle. YOUR principle. 'One life is an insignificant price to pay for the protection of the thousands'. 'Kindness kills and cruelty saves'. 'We are ruthless and unforgiving because we must be'. The things I've done only match this entirely to a tee. I played cruel to save. I acted ruthless to control AMEN. And I sacrificed a small few to protect thousands. I agree with you."

"Don't consider me different DC. Consider me the same, as all of you."

[Darkcomet]

[Meeting Room]

"We have had...difficulty in maintaining the loyalty of agents sent to AMEN before. I'm sure you know all about that, with the company you keep." DC, that company is right there, stop that.

"That said, should the others wish it now, I will put the gun away. I am not the sole authority here, after all. I expect your chances are good, considering they don't seem to feel as strongly about this as myself, so let me give you one piece of advice: Make me regret this, and you'll wish I'd shot you today."

[Morty]

[Meeting Room]

"Put the gun down, DC," Wenomir says. "Whatever we end up deciding about this situation, it won't be resolved by shooting her in the face after she came to us willingly. Now..." He turns back to Ilpholin. "Two more questions. First: what do you think will happen to the AMEN leadership once you're gone? Second: what do you think their most likely reaction is going to be if we decide to destroy their volcano base and succeed?"

[Training Grounds - Cutter]

"My pleasure," Wenomir says. "In any event, welcome to Watchtower."

[Darkcomet]

[Meeting Room]

DC lowers the beam gun and proceeds to go into the AMEN conversation like nothing happened. "The original base must be destroyed if we can expect to make AMEN a manageable problem, one way or the other. That is easier said than done, however. I suspect it would be easier to render the entire area uninhabitable than destroy the base itself-a task I may be able to perform, in theory, but I am...reluctant to deploy or even create weapons on that level, lest we provoke an equal response or start an arms race. Thus why my actions thus far have been less direct."

[happyturtle]

Meeting Room

Darcy relaxes slightly, and lets up on the hate glare a little bit, once the gun has been lowered. But she still has nothing to add unless someone addresses her directly.

[Reinholdt]

[Meeting Room]

"We have had...difficulty in maintaining the loyalty of agents sent to AMEN before. I'm sure you know all about that, with the company you keep." DC, that company is right there, stop that.

"That said, should the others wish it now, I will put the gun away. I am not the sole authority here, after all. I expect your chances are good, considering they don't seem to feel as strongly about this as myself, so let me give you one piece of advice: Make me regret this, and you'll wish I'd shot you today."

[Meeting Room]

"While we're on the topic of adding threats to the conversation, if you ever use my girlfriend again, particularly to try and get to me, I'll make Reinholdt and Ebon Mirror look like fleas on the back of a raging Wampa in terms of your failures." Ilpholin replies, with an icy stare and an even colder voice.


[Meeting Room]

"Put the gun down, DC," Wenomir says. "Whatever we end up deciding about this situation, it won't be resolved by shooting her in the face after she came to us willingly. Now..." He turns back to Ilpholin. "Two more questions. First: what do you think will happen to the AMEN leadership once you're gone? Second: what do you think their most likely reaction is going to be if we decide to destroy their volcano base and succeed?"

"Magtok will be in charge. For a time. But I've tested his leadership capabilities and found them lacking. His association with me, coupled with his polarizing stances will soon alienate him. Unless he can make some concessions and distance himself from me quickly, he'll fall soon enough. Most likely to a 'suddenly back from the not-so-dead' Gordon who will swoop in when he hears I'm gone. That said, he would be the best at changing AMEN into a corrupt politician if he can hold on long enough."


[Meeting Room]

DC lowers the beam gun and proceeds to go into the AMEN conversation like nothing happened. "The original base must be destroyed if we can expect to make AMEN a manageable problem, one way or the other. That is easier said than done, however. I suspect it would be easier to render the entire area uninhabitable than destroy the base itself-a task I may be able to perform, in theory, but I am...reluctant to deploy or even create weapons on that level, lest we provoke an equal response or start an arms race. Thus why my actions thus far have been less direct."

"I'm not sure it'd be worth destroying one of their two bases now, particularly since they're no longer preoccupied and prevented from teleporting in. You'd guarantee a leadership change with that action and probably an arms race as they turn around and decide to destroy this base." And drama. Oh the drama.

"Besides, I have cameras in every single room in AMEN that doesn't directly belong to a member. We can have every one of their plans and schemes streamed directly to us at all times."

"But if you still want to go, you'll want a technomagical created electromagnetic field created at high amplification to hurt the eldritch creature. I'd recommend stealing Magtok's. I told him to set it up to power AMENside's electricity. Though he did want to set up a fail safe that'd teleport it to Evolution Industries should it get targeted for bombs and such. Still, very useful. If you intend to attack the AMEN base, I'd go after that first. Then create some sort of distraction to lure members away, go in with the program I gave you to turn the base against itself and then do whatever you're going to do." That'd be her strategy. The optimal timing might be gone, but the plan's still sound. For the time being at least.

[Shadowcaller]

Gardens

Cutter blinks, not having expected this, but eventually pulls an automatic blood pressure cuff from his bag. "Ma'am. For the most part, all I have to do is put this on your wrist, watch you for a minute, and we're done except you telling me your height and weight. It takes literally one minute. Do you really need someone else to do this? If you get hurt in the future, I am the one that's going to be close to you anyway. Unless you'd prefer I simply don't treat you and would rather have someone else do it, but as far as I've been told, I'm the only qualified medical staff on hand now. I don't have magic, so I'm forced to take the up close and personal route."

Ronai's Room

"As I keep saying, I don't serve their God. I serve Jezebel. She's my employer. Nothing more, nothing less." Ronai clarifies again.

Gardens

Cessie actually chuckles. "I'm sorry Cutter, I meant for the mental and physical examination. If you want to take a quick test then by all means..."

[UncleWolf]

Gardens - Cutter

"In all honesty, I'd prefer something more thorough. At least a body scan so I can get a clue as to what your internal systems are like and where they are precisely placed." Cutter informs her as he tries to put the cuff on her wrist and turn it on. "Reason being that there won't be a Third Party in the field. If my gender is the issue here, I do have a gender-neutral form, though most find it somewhat disturbing."

Training Grounds - Cutter

The Doctor smiles and offers his hand to the swordsman. "Thank you. It's an honor to be of service." He says joyfully.

Jeremy and Shawna's Room

The man smiles at his girlfriend and leans forward to kiss her again before guiding her towards the bed to lay down with her. If they get settled in, he'll hold her close, but even then she'll sense he has something on his mind, distracting him heavily, as if he's afraid. It's uncharacteristic of him not to say what it is though.

[Shadowcaller]

Gardens - Cutter

"I'm just a normal human as far as I know." Cessie smiles. "But gender isn't really the issue. I'm just uncomfortable with strangers inspecting my body." She laughs again. "Of course, I might not know what exactly you mean by a "body scan"."

[UncleWolf]

Garden - Cutter

"I'd make you lie down on a bed while it goes through a big electronic ring. The computer would scan through you and give me everything I need to know about your anatomy. You wouldn't need to undress in the slightest, though I do ask that you remove any metal from yourself if you do this." Cutter explains.

[The Bushranger]

Jeremy and Shawna's Room


The man smiles at his girlfriend and leans forward to kiss her again before guiding her towards the bed to lay down with her. If they get settled in, he'll hold her close, but even then she'll sense he has something on his mind, distracting him heavily, as if he's afraid. It's uncharacteristic of him not to say what it is though.

Shawna is quite easily steered to the bed, and snuggles against Jeremy's chest, her multicolored-haired head tucked under his chin as she rests her hand against him, relaxing for a little while before pulling back enough to look into his eyes.

"Something is troubling you, my love. What is it?"

[UncleWolf]

Jeremy and Shawna's Room

He's quiet for a few moments, looking into her eyes before leaning forward to kiss her forehead gently before he finally speaks. "I was thinking about children Shawna. And hoping about them too." He whispers.

[Shadowcaller]

Ronai's Room

"As I keep saying, I don't serve their God. I serve Jezebel. She's my employer. Nothing more, nothing less." Ronai clarifies again.

Ronai's Room

"So you're not a form of cleric then that gain powers by serving a god or an ideal? I had assumed most people in the masks were like that." Cessie asks.

Garden - Cutter

"Eh... very well then. But can you tell me how it works first?" The sorceress asks.

[UncleWolf]

Ronai's Room

Ronai shakes his head. "As far as I can tell, few of them are actually priests. There are some psykers and sorcerers if that's what you meant. The former uses their mind to manipulate energies while the latter use rituals to the same effect. As for me, I was just a worker in a brothel she bought out. Made the place better admittedly. But the reason why I was sent here is precisely because I don't go along with the worshiping and my intelligence is unclouded by the need for Sensation."

Gardens - Cutter

Cutter opens his mouth, about to go into the technical details, but stops himself and gives a much simpler explanation instead. "The machine shoots varying unharmful rays through you. Some pass through unheeded, some are slowed, and some are bounced back depending on the density of what they hit. The machine looks at all the data, and gives a detailed image in return."

[The Bushranger]

Jeremy and Shawna's Room


He's quiet for a few moments, looking into her eyes before leaning forward to kiss her forehead gently before he finally speaks. "I was thinking about children Shawna. And hoping about them too." He whispers.

Shawna blinks in surprise at Jeremy's confession, her eyes widening slightly, and her cheeks color as a small smile crosses her lips, lifting her hand to brush against his cheek. "Oh? Are you thinking that you would...want some some day?" she asks.

[UncleWolf]

Jeremy and Shawna's Room

"I was thinking that for a long time now." He admits. "If you're ever willing to try..." Jeremy starts, letting Shawna decide if she wants to answer it herself.

[Shadowcaller]

Ronai's Room

Ronai shakes his head. "As far as I can tell, few of them are actually priests. There are some psykers and sorcerers if that's what you meant. The former uses their mind to manipulate energies while the latter use rituals to the same effect. As for me, I was just a worker in a brothel she bought out. Made the place better admittedly. But the reason why I was sent here is precisely because I don't go along with the worshiping and my intelligence is unclouded by the need for Sensation."

Gardens - Cutter

Cutter opens his mouth, about to go into the technical details, but stops himself and gives a much simpler explanation instead. "The machine shoots varying unharmful rays through you. Some pass through unheeded, some are slowed, and some are bounced back depending on the density of what they hit. The machine looks at all the data, and gives a detailed image in return."

Ronai's Room

"I understand, I think I shall leave it to you then. If you have any questions or feel that someone is treating you unfairly, just come and talk to me okay?" Just don't walk around half-naked.

Gardens - Cutter

"May I see it? The machine I mean." Cessie asks. She figures Cutter is going to guide her to it anyway so let's have a good look at it first.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Meeting Room]

KR can't help but smirk ever so slightly as Ilpholin snaps at DC. That's probably what her reaction would be, too.

As to the rest...
"I think we'll need a little bit of time to discuss our next course of action, both in regards to AMEN and also your future status in the organization. We should call Cessie in too." Says KR, pulling out a communicator to do just that, with a quick text requesting her presence.
"In the meantime, I hope neither DC or Wenomir will mind if I let you go until we make our decision. I will ask that you don't leave the base until then, though."
KR will probably have to have some robot or maybe the cat or one of the tower servants on lookout for that.

[Morty]

[Meeting Room]

Wenomir nods.

"So long as she stays in the base, let her go. We have two important decisions to make, and if we want to attack AMEN, we need to do it as quickly as possible."

[Reinholdt]

[Meeting Room]

"Very well." She motions to Mister Squiggles who will place the rest of the hobo bag contents on the table before taking back the stick and cloth.

Ilpholin points at each piece in turn. "That's access to all the cameras in AMEN, visible and hidden. That's Becky's phone gps tracking I tricked her into taking. That there is a recorded copy of every AMENite interview I performed, in addition to each of the filled out forms that I have over there. That's the secret location of the Atlantis base from what I could gather. That's detailed schematics of the Riverside base. That's the general layout of AMENside and its defenses. And I think that's everything."

I reserve the right to remember something if I forgot to bring it up.

Beyond that, Ilpholin stands and stands and the left one gives a little bow. All three of the above then move to depart the room.

[happyturtle]

Meeting Room

Darcy goes with them.

[Reinholdt]

Outside Meeting -> Ilpholin and/or Darcy's room?

That's where she and she will be headed anyways.

"I think that went well." Ilphy says out loud, kinda to Darcy, kinda to no one in particular.

[happyturtle]

Ilphy and Darcy's Room

"He almost shot you!" Darcy says. That is not her definition of 'going well'.

[Reinholdt]

Ilphy and Darcy's Room

"Yeah..."
"I'll admit with the bounty up, I was disappointed the whole thing wasn't an elaborate ruse. But almost shooting was expected."

[happyturtle]

Ilphy and Darcy's Room

"You thought I was part of a ruse against you?" :smallfrown:

[Reinholdt]

Ilphy and Darcy's Room

"No. Such an elaborate ruse would be to support my position in AMEN and further justify 'separation' in AMENites mind of me from the Watchtower."
Not that Ilpholin thought Darcy would be in on it at all.

"And it was more of a distant hope than a belief."

[The Bushranger]

If checked, Becky's phone GPS will probably show her partway between AMENside and Eastside. Huh.

***

Jeremy and Shawna's Room


"I was thinking that for a long time now." He admits. "If you're ever willing to try..." Jeremy starts, letting Shawna decide if she wants to answer it herself.

Shawna's blush deepens, and she knits her fingers with Jeremy's, squeezing his hand as she smiles, almost shyly, her expression more, for want of a better term, girlish, than at any time since they'd met.
"It would be an honor."

[Devixer]

Courtyard

Anyone watching the courtyard might see Boris heading towards the main gate, in his Spetsnaz uniform and carrying several firearms. Which is probably odd, since nobody has sent him on any sort of mission.

[UncleWolf]

Jeremy and Shawna's Room

Jeremy leans in to kiss Shawna, but doesn't go anywhere with it for now. "Thank you. It means a lot." He admits, slipping off his silver ring to try and push it on her finger. "In...in case that matters to you. Just being with you is enough for me, but..."

Gardens - Cutter

Cutter shakes his head. "I don't have it yet. It's been ordered though. Had a similar piece of equipment in my old clinic before it got burned down." He admits with a shrug. "But that's what happens when you have one in Riverside."

Ronai's Room

"Thank you, I'll be sure to remember that if anything happens." Ronai says as he begins to unpack his few belongings.

[Shadowcaller]

Gardens - Cutter

"Ah, we'll let's worry about that when you have it then." Cessie replies. "Anything else I can help you with or are we done for now? I need to get home to my children."

Ronai's Room

"Have a good stay." The sorceress says before bidding farewell.

[The Bushranger]

Jeremy and Shawna's Room


Jeremy leans in to kiss Shawna, but doesn't go anywhere with it for now. "Thank you. It means a lot." He admits, slipping off his silver ring to try and push it on her finger. "In...in case that matters to you. Just being with you is enough for me, but..."

Shawna returns the kiss softly, and smiles as she looks at the ring, blushing fiercely now. "Just being with you is enough for me as well, my love. I know that what we share is...ours," she says quietly, looking up with a smile and tears in her eyes as she leans in to kiss him once more.

[Zefir]

Shawna looks at the meeting room door, sighs, then removes a small device from her belt and plants it on the doorframe. "Alright, let us go...Trog's?" she suggsests.

===


Jeremy and Shawna's Room



"I do, however I will never tire of hearing you say it again," Shawna confesses, sighing softly and tilting her head against Jeremy's hand with a smile. "And I love you as well, the true man of my heart."

Mia nods and follows the female paladin.

[happyturtle]

Ilphy and Darcy's Room

"No. Such an elaborate ruse would be to support my position in AMEN and further justify 'separation' in AMENites mind of me from the Watchtower."
Not that Ilpholin thought Darcy would be in on it at all.

"And it was more of a distant hope than a belief."

"I'm glad you're not going back there." Darcy says.

[Reinholdt]

Ilphy and Darcy's Room

"Well it was only a matter of time before they decided the same thing they decide about every one of their leaders. They didn't like me and wanted me dead. Thought it best to just avoid that particular conversation." And get out early and still alive.

[Darkcomet]

[Meeting Room]

"Us and what plan? I don't believe we can eliminate that base with the provided resources alone, and I can't bring in too much in the way of Evolution Industries resources-I don't pay them enough to fight terrorists, and the force I deployed in Riverside was volunteer-only. Unless we're seriously going to just turn on that program she gave us and charge." DC does not seem to like that idea.

"What are we going to do, blow up the mountain? Make the entire region uninhabitable? I don't have superweapons in my pocket, contrary to popular belief. I mean, I could just start slinging the lava at them, but..."

[UncleWolf]

Jeremy and Shawna

Jeremy doesn't bother trying to hide his own smile as he leans towards her as well, fully intent on bringing the curtain down.

Gardens - Cutter

Cutter offers her the medical cuff first, but once that's over with, she'll be free to go.

[Shadowcaller]

[Meeting Room]

Some moments after KR called Cessie and illusion of the sorceress appears in the meeting from from the council communicator which have been hand-waved to be in there.
The sorceress doesn't appear to be in the best of mood though and look rather tired and worn. A moment after the illusion appears the gathered leaders can hear Cora and Bastion crying at full volume in the background, causing Cessie to wince noticeably.

"Garn, please close the door! I'm trying to talk to Watchtower at the moment!" She yells to the unseen gargoyle and suddenly the crying is thankfully cut short.

Turning back to the others she gives them a tired look. "Let's make this quick shall we? Just tell me what's going on."

[The Bushranger]

Mia nods and follows the female paladin.

And off to Trog's they go!

****

Jeremy and Shawna


Jeremy doesn't bother trying to hide his own smile as he leans towards her as well, fully intent on bringing the curtain down.
Shawna helps pull the curtain down, possibly for quite awhile.

[happyturtle]

Ilphy and Darcy's Room


Ilphy and Darcy's Room

"Well it was only a matter of time before they decided the same thing they decide about every one of their leaders. They didn't like me and wanted me dead. Thought it best to just avoid that particular conversation." And get out early and still alive.

"I still believe you should be one person again," Darcy says. "Well, after you've made out with each other a while. I know you wouldn't want to miss that." :smallredface:

[Reinholdt]

Ilphy and Darcy's Room

Ilpholin looks at Darcy incredulously while Ilphy gives a smirk.
"We wouldn't want to miss that, or you wouldn't want to miss that? I know I can think of... opportunities we should all take advantage of." :smallamused:

[happyturtle]

Ilphy and Darcy's Room

"But if I could just watch for a while first..." :smallredface: "You're both so beautiful...."

And curtains probably fall.

[Reinholdt]

Ilphy and Darcy's Room

Man, they didn't even start making out and curtains are already falling. This must be the 4kids version.

Anyways, they'll put on a very steamy show for Darcy before inviting her to participate at some point.

Not that anyone gets to see how because there are curtains.

[happyturtle]

Ilphy and Darcy's Room

Darcy's shy. She doesn't even like me watching, let alone all those other pervy players. :smalltongue:

At some point, she'll bring up the discussion about reuniting her Ilpholins, but for now, she's probably wiped out.

[Reinholdt]

Ilphy and Darcy's Room

Wait. Other pervy players? :smalltongue:

Ilpholin will explain that she wants to wait until after Watch makes a decision, because it puts forth the image that she stands by her decisions made in the absence of any direction or guidance from Watch.

She also hints at a serious consideration of ditching all this ridiculous nonsense and going to Remnant, even if it is something of a pipe dream of them ever accepting her.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Meeting Room]

KR briefly summarizes the events of the meeting for Cessie, including the measures Ilpholin has taken against AMEN and her assessment of AMEN's current situation, while at the same time not trying to seem too annoyed that Cessie apparently considers babies more important than vital Watchtower business.
"Right now we're trying to decide what our next moves should be; whether we strike at AMEN or not, and what we're going to do about Ilpholin."

[Morty]

[Meeting Room]

"My opinion is that we need to strike AMEN now. We have the biggest advantage we've had in a while. They're distracted with Riverside, arguing over leadership, and we can turn the base's defences against them. And we don't need to destroy it," he says, turning to DC as he addresses his point. "If we attack and do as much damage as we can, it'll be a success. As for Ilpholin, I think we should let her stay, one way or another. I do take issue with her choices and methods, but she made a good case for herself and she did open AMEN up for an attack. Of course, we will have to do something about her brief tenure as the head of AMEN. But if nothing else, she's proven that she's too valuable an asset to willingly let go of."

[Darkcomet]

[Meeting Room]

DC shakes his head. "Eliminating that insane base as a problem is vital to any effort to inflict a lasting defeat on AMEN. Otherwise they can just hole up in there with next to no fear of reprisal. It must be destroyed. As for Ilpholin, I recommend keeping her here-guarded. For her sake or everyone else's, I'm not sure."

[Zefir]

And off to Trog's they go!

****


So they go. You post first?

[KerfuffleMach2]

Training Tower - Gym

Krystal is here. She's trying to get into a regular work out routine. She wasn't exactly out of shape, but she could be doing better. And with her actually being a part of this group, she figured that she should do what she can to improve herself. She was going to be doing target practice with her crystals later. for now, she's on the treadmill.

[Devixer]

Training Tower - Gym

Kyrstal's exercise will be consistently interrupted, every ten seconds or so, with the sound of a sniper rifle going off. She might know that Boris spends nearly all of his time at the firing range when not sleeping or eating.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Training Tower - Gym

She has noticed him being here quite a bit. Pretty much every time she's here, actually. And she hasn't noticed him anywhere else...

Krystal shuts off the treadmill, grabs her water bottle and towel, and will walk over to where Boris is. She'll watch for now, seeing how good he is.

[Devixer]

Training Tower - Firing Range

Boris is currently practicing with his SVU sniper rifle. At least all that time in the range honed his skills. Of course, with the military uniform he wears, he probably doesn't need much practice. He fires at human-shaped targets, and almost always hits in the exact center of the forehead. Kyrstal's caught him in the middle of reloading.

[happyturtle]

Outside >> Inside

A portal opens and Decker steps through, along with a young boy. "Come along, Blake." Decker says, and takes his hand as she heads inside with him.

[Earl of Purple]

Outside --> Inside

Blake, the boy, has dark skin and hair, and seems to be about ten. He takes Decker's hand and follows. His eyes are the same shade as Decker's. He's also wearing a white t-shirt, green shorts, black crocks and a plain green rucksack. "Where are we going, Mum?" He will willingly grip Decker's hand.

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin/Darcy's Room

Ilpholin and Ilpholin are sleeping, having some interesting dreams.

[happyturtle]

Infiltrating

"This is Watchtower. Some of my best friends live here!" Decker says. She's perfectly capable of reconciling that with her current scheme. Because Decker.

Once inside, she attempts to follow Ilpholin's scent, since she doesn't know where her bedroom is.

Meanwhile, to avoid any chances of icky self-rp, Darcy kisses her sleeping lover(s) and goes to have a shower.

[Reinholdt]

Infiltrating

There's scents leading to the meeting room (wherever that is, I can't find it in the first post. Possibly the second floor map room?) and to the barracks as well as to the courtyard, where Ilphy spent a large part of her time while here.

Or she could just follow the smell of curtains.

[Earl of Purple]

Infiltrating

"Will I meet them, Mum?" Blake curiously follows, tugged along by his hand. He has no way of detecting where Ilpholin is, and doesn't know the base's layout.

[happyturtle]

Infiltrating >> Ilpholin's Room

Decker knows where the meeting room is, and decides if Ilpholin is there, then there will be others around, and the chance to abduct her is nil. But since she's tracing the scent of AMEN's Ilpholin, and not Ilphy, she won't catch the nymph smells that lead to other places.

"This way," Decker says, headed for the room where Ilpholin is sleeping.

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin's Room

Normally Ilpholin keeps rooms she's in locked. Because paranoia. That said, there's a good chance Darcy doesn't or didn't lock the door behind her when she went to take a shower.

In which case they should have no trouble getting in.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Training Tower - Firing Range

Boris is currently practicing with his SVU sniper rifle. At least all that time in the range honed his skills. Of course, with the military uniform he wears, he probably doesn't need much practice. He fires at human-shaped targets, and almost always hits in the exact center of the forehead. Kyrstal's caught him in the middle of reloading.

You sure are here a bunch.

Krystal takes a swig from her water bottle, then wipes some sweat off her face.

Smooth intro there, Krystal. Real smooth.

She's wearing a fairly standard workout outfit of a black sports bra, dark blue running shorts, and white sneakers. With her pale skin, the clothing seems to stand out more.

[Devixer]

Training Grounds - Firing Range

Boris finishes loading his rifle as he hears Krystal talk to him. He lowers the weapon, pulls out his earplugs, and looks back at her. "What's your point?" he asks.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Training Grounds - Firing Range

Krystal shrugs a little. None, really. Just kinda find it odd that you pretty much live on the firing range here.

...sorry if that sounded mean. I didn't mean it to be.

[Devixer]

Training Grounds

"You've seen how everyone else here fights, with some kind of magic or some future technology? All I have are my weapons and skill. I have to keep it honed if I want to keep up," Boris says, placing his rifle on a nearby table and unholstering one of his pistols.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Training Grounds

Krystal nods a little. Okay, point. But, you can't just train all the time. Wouldn't that get boring?

[Devixer]

Traing Grounds

"I don't see how I can't keep training. Nobody's tried to stop me," Boris says, exchanging the magazine in his pistol with another loaded with subsonic rounds.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Training Grounds

Poor choice of wording, Krystal.

What I meant was...don't you have other stuff you want to do? I guess I just have trouble understanding how somebody could spend pretty much every waking moment training.

[Devixer]

Training Grounds

"This is fine for me," Boris says, attaching a suppressor to his pistol and taking the safety off. "Besides, what would you have me doing instead?"

[KerfuffleMach2]

Training Grounds

Krystal shrugs. I don't know. Whatever you want. I just can't believe this is all you want to do.

[Terumitsu]

[Infirmery]

Where else, aside from someone's medicine cabinet, would one expect to find painkillers? Generally it was looked down upon if one was caught raiding the latter and it was typically free from the former so the choice was obvious.

Still, it was probably due to how odd the headache felt compared to ones previous that made this wing of the base take so long to locate for a certain muse in question. It wasn't even pain half the time although there was a definite pressure which was almost as bad. If she had to describe it, it was like having wires threaded through her braincase until it was a heavy, buzzing network of discomfort.

In any case, Cutter may have a new visitor to look after seeing how she's apparently doing the best she can to not simply crush her head between her own hands as she walked in.

[Earl of Purple]

To Ilpholin's Room

Blake will follow Decker, gripping her hand quite tightly and gazing around in wonder at all that he sees.

[happyturtle]

To Ilpholin's Room

Decker reaches Ilpholin's room and tries to quietly open the doorknob. Heads Darcy left it unlocked, tails it's locked:

http://www.random.org/coins/faces/60-gbp/1pound/reverse.jpg

Darcy gets Good Girlfriend points for remembering to lock the door!


"Hey Blake, are you any good at lock picking?" Decker whispers.

[Earl of Purple]

To Ilpholin's Room

Blake carefully looks around before positioning himself to block view from as many angles as possible. Then a blade made of solid red light slowly emerges from one of his wrists. It's not a very long blade; only about thirty centimetres long. "Unless this counts, no."

[happyturtle]

To Ilpholin's Room

"Try it," Decker says.

[Earl of Purple]

Outside Ilpholin's Room

Blake carefully lines his wrist up with the lock and tries to cut through the bolt. If necessary, he'll extend the blade to its full length of sixty centimetres. I keep on using the wrong gender pronouns.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Another Time - Airship Hanger]

Bright lights are coming from the from the airship hanger! Bright lights. And vibrations! Anyone with the capability to detect magic will be able to tell that there are some serious shenanigans going down over there, if the bright lights and such weren't clue enough.

[UncleWolf]

Infirmary

The person rummaging through the medicine cabinets will hear a polite, yet disapproving, cough come from behind her. "May I help you?" Cutter asks, leaning against the doorway and raising an eyebrow.

[Reinholdt]

Outside Ilpholin's Room

I'll presume the blade's capable of cutting bolts or he wouldn't have suggested it.

But I don't really know its capabilities. My only question is... how loud is it while doing so?

[Darkcomet]

[Meeting Room]

Have a log. Pruned of OOC, characters correspond to players, etc.
13:05 Shadowcaller "Okay... disregarding the whole Ilpohlin issue for the moment, Magtok's activities on the wall seem to suggested he's trying to build up AMEN's reputation again. I believe he might feel embarrassed over the whole Ilpholin issue." She los over at KR. "Of course, I don't know Magtok very well."
13:07 Shadowcaller *looks
13:08 DC "He's throwing a tantrum because I had a clone shot for entering a warzone when AMEN was attacking and subsequently placed a bounty on AMENites. Apparently this translates into a bounty on his head specifically even though I specified evidence was required to take Magtoks. Regardless of whether or not you agree with me, conflict is inevitable at this point."
13:09 Morty "Yes, Magtok's going to push AMEN to attack us. About time, really. I'm /really/ tired of all this political bull****. Now it's even more important to launch a pre-emptive strike while we're on the advantage."
13:10 KrisOnATablet KR shrugs. "Do any of us? You can predict his behavior sometimes, but you can never really tell what's going on in there. Honestly, I'm surprised he's taken such a strong stance against us. Provoking us like this seems unusually bold for him. He's always seemed more reactionary when it comes to fighting."
13:10 Shadowcaller "I did get that impression as well."
13:11 Shadowcaller "Perhaps heäs trying to prove something to the rest of AMEN?"
13:11 Shadowcaller *he's
13:11 Morty "It's really refreshing to see him cut out this whiny victim-playing".
13:12 Shadowcaller "If so, maybe AMEN is not united under him as Magtok makes it out to be."
13:13 DC "Likely. I doubt everyone there believes him unconditionally. Could try to amplify that, but I don't want to touch /those/ minds..."
13:13 Shadowcaller "After all, Ilpholin must have left a lot of confusion and old loyalties behind."
13:14 KrisOnATablet "If he's really asking for us to come ruin him, I suppose we should oblige." Says KR, seeming slightly resigned. "It's not exactly going to be straightforward, though."
13:15 Morty "It's not. Mr Squiggles' hack should give as an edge though, as should the distraction from Riverside and the leadership squabble. I was thinking we could ask HALO to provide a distraction in Riverside."
13:15 KrisOnATablet KR taps her foot against the table leg a little.
13:16 KrisOnATablet "That's.... actually a good plan. I didn't think about involving HALO."
13:16 KrisOnATablet "They have a representative here on the base, don't they?"
13:17 Shadowcaller "HALO might be a good idea, Tobias did offer sympathies to Magtok's plight at the council however. But it might have just been for show."
13:17 Shadowcaller "However, I think we must raise the question at some point. Have we considered the possibility that this is a trap?"
13:18 Morty "I doubt it is."
13:19 KrisOnATablet "Given purple text's talk of slaughtering innocents and such, I would hope he's changed his mind." Says KR, ruling her eyes.
13:19 KrisOnATablet *rolling
13:19 DC "Does it matter? We can't just sit back and do nothing about the problem, and we're not getting any new agents any time soon, I imagine. Not that I'd recommend trying that anyway, with the last two times we tried that..." DC sighs. "Regardless, we need a plan to attack the main base."
13:20 Morty "We do. I think the best method would be to try to get inside and then plant some explosives there."
13:21 KrisOnATablet "He might have felt sympathetic to Magtok's plight in particular, but the rest of AMEN are pretty clearly trash." KR neglects to mention that she herself sent Magtok help, though he's revealed that on the Wall already.
13:21 Morty "Attacking from the outside probably won't work."
13:21 DC "Unless we blow up the mountain."
13:22 Shadowcaller "It does sound like Magtok is still excepting sympathies on the wall."
13:22 Shadowcaller *expecting
13:22 KrisOnATablet "Given that the thing in the walls is basically omniscient inside the base, attacking from the inside might not work as well."
13:23 Morty "Ilpholin mentioned Magtok having some device to fight it off."
13:24 DC "The description she gave made it sound like I might be able to duplicate the effect with a modified power generator."
13:26 DC "I do not know if I will be able to get a strong enough effect out of a portable unit, however..."
13:26 KrisOnATablet "We can certainly try it. Though we should have a backup plan, in case neutralizing the thing in the walls fails. Assuming we're still in a position to keep fighting after, that is ."
13:26 Morty "That damned thing does make it a lot more complicated."
13:27 Morty "Which is why should try to get in there, plant something strong, and get out. Then watch the fireworks."
13:27 DC DC suddenly gets that 'oh, /no/' look. "...hrm."
13:29 Shadowcaller Cessie gives DC a look. "Did you just remember something DC?"
13:31 DC "We have one remaining example of the technology I based all my current power generators on. Vastly higher-capacity. My own estimates have suggested it would qualify as a planetary-scale destruction event if overloaded."
13:33 DC "I could conceivably apply some of the modifications I made for the EI technology to it to allow us to neutralize that creature. The downside of the plan being the part where it is, again, a planet buster."
13:34 Shadowcaller "That sounds taking a pretty big risk considering that's the kind of things we are supposed to prevent."
13:35 DC "I could try to link it to an artifact in my possession to shunt any potential overloads into an extradimensional space."
15:10 Morty "So what you're saying is, we can use that generator to keep their thing in the walls at bay?"
15:11 Shadowcaller "I rather not go to war with equipment we aren't even sure will work."
15:12 DC "I've used the generator before and I don't believe my technology has let anyone here down /before/. Don't treat me like I'm incompetent."
15:13 DC "Moreover, I intend to /kill/ that thing."
15:13 Shadowcaller "I'm not, I'm just saying I could use some guarantees here DC: Are you certain this will work?"
15:13 KrisOnAStick "I can think of a few times your technology has failed with some pretty catastrophic results." Says KR sardonically. "I don't think she meant to imply that you're incompetent, it's just good to have a little caution."
15:15 Morty "There's little room for failure when dealing with an infantile eldrith abomination."
15:15 DC "I have accounted for the possibility of explosion via extradimensional shunt. It'll work."
15:16 Morty "So how will it work, exactly?"
15:18 Shadowcaller "Okay, if you're willing to risk not only your own life, but others on that this device works I'm inclined to trust you DC."
15:18 DC "I don't think you want the technical details. I've made a career out of mastering power generation and directed energy weapons. A high-power EM field is nothing."
15:22 Morty "Let's just hope the thing doesn't overpower it, then."
15:26 Morty "What do we do once we're inside and the thing in the walls is kept away by the field?"
15:28 DC "I can /also/ throw the base into chaos with mental attacks. Won't work on the stronger-willed, but it ought to disrupt things nonetheless. Beyond that, I was leaning towards 'bring explosives and start planting bombs'. Also 'kill everyone who tries to stop us'. That's..."
15:29 DC "More or less how most of our attack plans have worked before."
15:31 Morty "That sounds like a solid enough plan for me."
15:32 Morty "Anything more complicated would not survive contact with AMENites."
15:33 Shadowcaller "So who is going to attack the base exactly? I don't think I could join the charge."
15:34 KrisOnAStick "I'd volunteer for it, unless you think I could be more useful elsewhere."
15:35 Morty "I'm going to go."
15:35 DC "I'll be going, obviously-I have to handle the EM field generator."
15:36 Shadowcaller "I'll guess I defend the base in case they or someone else decides to counterattack then."
15:36 Morty "So... the three of us on the frontline? We could put a member or two on standby in case things get rough."
15:37 Shadowcaller "'Standby'?"
15:37 Morty "You know, ready to show up as reinforcements."
15:38 Shadowcaller "I don't claim to know a lot about strategy but wouldn't it be better to have everyone attack at once instead?"
15:38 KrisOnAStick "If DC and Wenomir go in first, I could remain in the airship ready to reinforce or defend against a possible counterattack. Assuming we're committing our air power to this."
15:40 DC "Presumably we ought to bring more than two people, but then, it's hardly just the four of us here anyway."
15:40 Morty "Not really, Cessie. If everyone attacks at once and the enemy gains the upper hand, they're all right there, outmaeuvered. If someone is on standby, they can attack from a new direction. And it seems like a good idea, KR."
15:42 Shadowcaller "Fair enough, it just sounded you were going to attack the base with just two people."
15:42 Shadowcaller "Seeing how few our numbers usually are."
15:47 Morty "I suppose just me and DC might not be enough..."
15:51 Morty "Maybe we should get there by airship, then me, DC and KR go in, and a member or two stay behind on the airship just in case."
15:51 Morty "I think we're going to need our strongest inside the AMEN base."
15:53 KrisOnAStick "I think I may be able to co-ordinate better if I'm one of those remaining on the airship."
15:54 DC "I would offer to fill that role myself, but again, I need to manage that device."
15:54 Morty "Fair enough. We need a third member to go in with us, then."
15:56 Shadowcaller "Keep in mind that all AMEN members will join in the defense."
15:56 Morty "I wouldn't be so sure of that..."
15:57 Shadowcaller "At least the majority of them considering we're planning to wipe their base off the face of the nexus."
15:57 Morty "True."
15:58 Morty "Our hope is that they're distracted by their leadership dispute and their Riverside holdings."
15:58 Morty "Especially if we ask HALO to distract them there."
15:58 Shadowcaller "I wouldn't trust hope too much."
16:05 Morty "As far as hopes go, it's well-founded."

[Morty]

[Meeting Room]

"We have a plan, then," Wenomir says. "I'll go contact HALO. One of you find the other member or members who'll be joining us."

[Devixer]

Training Grounds

"Feel free to not believe it then," Boris says, pointing his pistol downrange and firing at a target. The subsonic rounds and suppressor make the firearm fairly quiet - not totally silent, but enough to reasonably use it in a covert mission.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Training Grounds

Krystal sighs. Obviously, she wasn't going to get him to do anything else. Oh well. At least she tried.

She turns and wipes her face again before heading to a different target. She starts stretching out her arms and hands. She needed to get a little of her own target practice in, anyways.

[FireFox]

Meeting Room

Watchtower gets a phone call! It's from HALO. What a coincidence.

[Morty]

[Meeting Room]

"...looks like HALO is contacting us, instead," Wenomir says. "I'll get it." He picks up the phone.

[FireFox]

[Meeting Room]

Hello? I just wanted to make sure you got profiles of the AMEN members from Ilpholin. Do you have pictures of the one called "Greg"?

[Terumitsu]

[Infirmary]

A rather amusing coincidence that someone was rummaging through medicine cabinets while the muse had been idly poking fun at the idea when she felt coherent enough to manage internal natter between the throbs. All Ghoul had done so far was to walk into the infirmary although the somewhat disgruntled greeting was about on par for what she expected. She wouldn't particularly feel enthused about a task where the prime reason people come calling is to just get patched up from whatever latest ills they had suffered.

In any case, though, she had a question that needed a response. "First, what is the paperwork I need to go through if I'm looking at transfusions? Actually, no, that's second. First thing is what is the strongest thing you can give me that doesn't require a prescription for headaches?" she said, shutting her left eye in a mild wince from a particularly notable throb.

[Earl of Purple]

Ilpholin's Room

Blake got it from Murkus, a long time ago, and uses it rarely. I think it's basically a slightly more solid laser blade, and therefore ridiculously sharp, but Blake's never used it to open a door before and the lock might have been magically reinforced. He suggested it because it might work.

As for how loud it is, I'm not certain, but not very I would assume- there's nothing falling, so it's just the sound of something very sharp cutting through metal.

[Morty]

[Meeting Room]

Hello? I just wanted to make sure you got profiles of the AMEN members from Ilpholin. Do you have pictures of the one called "Greg"?

"Hmm... I'm not sure at this point. There's a lot of materials here. Why do you ask?" Wenomir responds.

[FireFox]

[Meeting Room]

He's working for me. Tobias pauses to let that sink in. I'd appreciate it if you could retrieve his body while you're in there. Or completely destroy it, at least.

[Morty]

[Meeting Room]

Wenomir rubs his forehead. Is half of AMEN double agents?

"Okay, will do. And we'd appreciate it if you could hit their Riverside holding while we bust into the volcano base. Keep them occupied on two fronts."

[FireFox]

[Meeting Room]

Aren't you supposed to have some super magic observatory or something? I already have three teams there. Tobias certainly sounds like he's enjoying stealing a march on his allies. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like many people are home. The bastards, most likely, will only fight you where they have the most defenses. But the battle's still young. We'll do our part.

Was there anything else you wanted?

[Morty]

[Meeting Room]

"Yes, well, if that means we force them to choose between their two bases, I'm fine with it. They're about to find out what it's like to try holding two positions with not enough people," Wenomir says. If he's disappointed that HALO is one step ahead of them, it doesn't enter his tone. "Either way, good luck. We'll be moving out immediately."

[FireFox]

[Meeting Room]

You too. Oh, and give Ilpholin my compliments. Unless it's a trap and AMEN slaughters you all. That would send the wrong message, wouldn't you say? With that, he hangs up.

[Reinholdt]

Note to self, make an evil organization filled entirely with double agents who aren't really evil but play up being evil to each other as they try to manipulate the organization and each other.


Ilpholin's Room

Blake got it from Murkus, a long time ago, and uses it rarely. I think it's basically a slightly more solid laser blade, and therefore ridiculously sharp, but Blake's never used it to open a door before and the lock might have been magically reinforced. He suggested it because it might work.

As for how loud it is, I'm not certain, but not very I would assume- there's nothing falling, so it's just the sound of something very sharp cutting through metal.

Ilpholin's Room

Ok, lock's cut and hardly a sound was made. I guess the bolt would even stay in the lock as they open it, so there's no falling pieces.

Which means there's two naked, still sleeping Ilpholins on the bed! Lucky them. Clothes are scattered all over the place at random.

[UncleWolf]

[Infirmary]

A rather amusing coincidence that someone was rummaging through medicine cabinets while the muse had been idly poking fun at the idea when she felt coherent enough to manage internal natter between the throbs. All Ghoul had done so far was to walk into the infirmary although the somewhat disgruntled greeting was about on par for what she expected. She wouldn't particularly feel enthused about a task where the prime reason people come calling is to just get patched up from whatever latest ills they had suffered.

In any case, though, she had a question that needed a response. "First, what is the paperwork I need to go through if I'm looking at transfusions? Actually, no, that's second. First thing is what is the strongest thing you can give me that doesn't require a prescription for headaches?" she said, shutting her left eye in a mild wince from a particularly notable throb.

Infirmary

Cutter pushes off the doorway with a small shove of his shoulder before walking closer. "Well, first, depends on the transfusion. I presume blood? Give me your blood type and we'll see." He tells her with a small smile before opening up a certain cabinet. "And it depends. Headache-Headache, Sinus Pressure Ache, or Migraine? A lot of people don't really know the differences."

[Terumitsu]

[Infirmary]

"O-Negative. And can I just answer yes to that?" the muse replied as she slumped down on a stool. "I've got like a hundred hot needles shoved into my braincase and they're trying to crowd my grey matter out my ears. And then they sometimes want to be a million threads of raw cable every so often." Ghoul said. Maybe some exaggeration there but it had certainly been getting progressively worse ever since whatever Klitcht had done wore off. Or this was some new side effect that she was just now running into that hadn't been forseen.

Regardless, it was far from comfortable. It would be a bit more on that ongoing lesson of how capricious some of the forces here were. Still, at least she was intact and alive still so it wasn't as horrible as it could be.

[happyturtle]

Ilpholin's Room

Decker pulls Blake inside, and closes the door behind them. Motioning Blake to stand guard at the door, Decker takes out a tube of president glue (something like sovereign glue (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Sovereign_Glue), but without the 'only one specific way to unbond things' limitation) and tries to glue Ilpholin's hands to her sides, and her ankles together. She starts with the AMEN Ilpholin, and moves next to Ilphy (if neither awakes or anything else happens to interrupt her). She's also counting on the fact that, since it's Ilpholin, the room is probably sound proofed.

This may be a mistake.

[Earl of Purple]

Ilpholin's Room

Blake will stand by the door, sheathing his wristblade because that's not something a young boy should have visible because that leads to questions.

He'd really like to be poking around for magical artefacts, but he isn't.

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin's Room

Oh. Hmm... I forgot to put Mister Squiggles in the hall. I guess he's further down around the corner somewhere and will show if there's a particular ruckus. If Watch soundproofed the rooms, I'm unaware of it. Also there is a variety of objects on the floor that Blake could poke around in. I know there's a magic item or two there. A utility spy belt, a necklace, a ring, a glove that looks somewhat darth vader-esque, and a rod-like object with an engraving on one side lying near the bedstand, where it no doubt fell during prior events.

So the glue can be defeated by a congress of solutions? Good to know. :smalltongue:

Decker gets through AMEN Ilpholin and halfway done with Ilphy before she might find herself roundhouse kicked in the face. Twice, since Ilpholin's feet are stuck together. Even so, she gets remarkable spin just lying on her back. A talent that I won't elaborate on. Hit or miss, she's soon off the bed and balancing into a standing position, albeit with some difficulty.

"Please tell me they didn't send just you two to take ME, rightful Demon Queen of AMEN." Ilpholin states incredulously.

[happyturtle]

Ilpholin's Room

Congress only blocks President Glue from acting; it can't remove it. :smalltongue:

Decker goes flying across the room, but scrambles up, seemingly unbothered for now, though that's going to leave a dreadful bruise. "Oh! Rightful Queen - that's great. Then we're here to rescue you rather than abduct you!" Decker says. She starts to glow read and transforms into her devil form, which is a massive goat legged and goat faced figure with immense horns that isn't sexy in the least. There's no incubus blood in Decker's lineage.

The transformation will take the rest of her action.

[Earl of Purple]

Ilpholin's Room

Nephrim would like to be poking around, but she isn't. At least, not yet.

"Still guarding the door. Or do you want help?" Blake doesn't look away from the door as he speaks, so doesn't actually know what's going on.

Also, to remove President Glue, you just need to spin it in a circle. Might take multiple revolutions, though. :smalltongue:

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin's Room

My ideas have been impeached! D=

"I don't need rescuing morons. Things were under control." Ilpholin says, hopping a little over there and using her tail to grab the rod like object and flick it, unveiling her whip with a crack. Not a big crack with a bunch of force behind it like usual. More of a thwip really. Or a thwack maybe? This is definitely not a fighting style that she's used to, and certainly doesn't have the leverage she's used to either.

"But if you insist on this nonsense, I shall be forced to defeat you both with my hands tied behind my back. Side. Whatever. Just to keep my cover. Now get out before I get murdering." Ilpholin's eyes flick briefly and switch over to the not frequently used hypno-eyes. You want to please Mistress Ilpholin. You want to make Mistress Ilpholin happy. You want to do as she says. Yes...

Ilphy is scrambling to her feet, since those aren't glued and making her way towards cover. Probably the closet. She'd go for the door if it weren't being guarded.

[happyturtle]

Ilpholin's Room

I blame gerrymandering.

Decker at this age (rather than the older catgirl version) would be more vulnerable to hypno-eyes, except for the fact that she went to school in the First Circle, surrounded by sucubi and incubi. It also helps that she's watching the tail rather than the eyes.

"Blake, grab the nymph." Decker says. "Listen, Ilpholin. I'm here to bring you back, and that's what I intend to do. If you want to remain leader, you need to deal with the coup that's going on." And if you don't, then you obviously need to be captured and returned so the Thing can eat you. She squeezes one great devil hand into a fist, and then lunges at Ilpholin, trying to grab her around the waist and hoist her into a fireman's carry.

[Earl of Purple]

Ilpholin's Room

Blake turns from the door and looks at the Ilpholins. "Which one?" A red blade of hard light shoots from his right wrist. "Stop moving! Both of you!" He's directing mind control at the pair of Ilpholins; it's strong, but blunt- it's trying to force its way through mental barriers, rather than work around them. It's more effective on the weak-willed, but less so on those that are paranoid/strong willed enough to use proper mental defences.

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin's Room

"I'll deal with it in my way. Not a pair of mooks deciding what's best for me."

Ilpholin's no slouch to countering mind control herself, though that amulet she's not wearing would've helped. Ilphy stumbles mid stride because of it, but Ilpholin's already moving and doesn't stop.

Particularly Ilpholin's hopping backwards and shooting a web at Decker's face. It might be enough to cause a miss, but it does require throwing Decker off balance a little to work. Otherwise she's grabbed. Her tail does flick the whip at Blake though, sending a razor sharp coil of death at him. Not particularly aimed beyond 'towards' him though. Really quite hard to fight from two angles at once.

[happyturtle]

Ilpholin's Room

"The one I'm not grabbing, you idiot!" Decker yells. The two Ilpholins look completely different!

Decker gets webbed, but it mostly catches on her horns and doesn't throw her off much. After she hoists Ilpholin to her shoulder, she opens her fist which she just used to crush the glue tube with the intent of glueing her own hand to Ilpholin's rear. "Let's go!"

[Earl of Purple]

Ilpholin's Room

Until just now, I didn't know that. I don't follow WATCHTOWER ordinarily, and I didn't realise there was a visual difference.

The whip narrowly misses Blake, but the boy turns his attention to Ilphy and, sheathing his wrist-blade, drops his rucksack and wrecks his t-shirt by growing a pair of snow-white feathered wings before diving after the fleeing female, aiming to tackle her waist and cling on. He's stronger than he looks, but still only adult-human-average rather than superhuman.

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin's Room

Hmph. Decker might still find herself cut pretty bad when Ilpholin's tail flicks to whip her with the super sharp whip instead. I imagine gluing her hand there will stop all future instances of that though, so that's the last of that.

However, I'm not sure if it'll stop Ilpholin from using her face spider pincers to bite Decker and forcibly inject her demonic C'thun essence into Decker. Normally she asks nice, but...

Ilphy's actually a fair bit more graceful than Ilpholin at the moment, what with having her feet free and being a better dancer. She nimbly, if barely leaps out of the way. Ilpholin would have recognized a good counterattack opportunity there, but Ilphy lacks any of Ilpholin's follow through. That and limited weapons of a nymph. She ratchets up her nymphy pheromones for all the good that'll do. But mostly she'll show off her latest singing voice. With a high pitched, deafening scream. It even makes Ilpholin wince uncomfortably.

[happyturtle]

Ilpholin's Room >> FLEEING!

Decker flings open the door and runs, hobbling a little from a cut leg, and then getting venom in her system. With that scream, help is bound to come, so there's no time to lose. Maybe she can get down the stairs, out the front gate, and away from the anti-teleport field before anyone catches them!

Maybe...

[Earl of Purple]

Ilpholin's Room --> Fleeing

Blake is unaffected by the high-pitched scream and the pheromones; he spent a lot of time around very loud music, so he's used to it, and his true gender is non existent. His response is to open his mouth and sing. The song is linked to his mind-control; in fact, it's a slightly purer form of said mind-control, and he's trying to use it to get the Ilpholin in front of him to bow and put her head in his reach. If that works, he'll try to deliver a blow to the back of the skull that should knock her out.

[UncleWolf]

[Infirmary]

"O-Negative. And can I just answer yes to that?" the muse replied as she slumped down on a stool. "I've got like a hundred hot needles shoved into my braincase and they're trying to crowd my grey matter out my ears. And then they sometimes want to be a million threads of raw cable every so often." Ghoul said. Maybe some exaggeration there but it had certainly been getting progressively worse ever since whatever Klitcht had done wore off. Or this was some new side effect that she was just now running into that hadn't been forseen.

Regardless, it was far from comfortable. It would be a bit more on that ongoing lesson of how capricious some of the forces here were. Still, at least she was intact and alive still so it wasn't as horrible as it could be.

Infirmary

Cutter smiles a bit and reaches into a cabinet to pull out a bottle of medicine. He peels off the cap and gives her a couple red pills. After a moment of staring at her, he gives her a couple more. Another moment, and he goes to a minifridge to pull out a bag of blood. O Negative.

"Have you thought of getting treatment for the headaches? I may have a couple ideas. And how long have you been part-undead?"

[Terumitsu]

[Infirmary]

Ghoul let out a short laugh before responding. "That obvious, is it?" she said, knowing full well that she was now looking a bit too unnatural from her going too long without feeding and.. Well, just asking for blood was kind of a tipoff as well. "It's been long enough for me to get used to it but not quite comfortable with it." she said, managing a wry tone between the pulses. "But this has just started recently. 'S probably due to having someone poke around my brain, really. They meant well but I'm probably having some kind of reaction. Or it could be something else entirely but it seems to be the most likely event." the fledgling said.

Taking the first pair of pills Cutter had given her, she tossed them back and made a face as she swallowed. Now all she could do was wait until they either did or didn't work.

[UncleWolf]

Infirmary

"Well, I have a helpful suggestion. It sounds outlandish, but I wonder if you'll consider me putting you on a regimen of chiropractics, acupuncture, and meditation." Cutter suggests. "It sounds a bit silly, but it should help your physical and metaphysical conditions that cause the headaches."

[Terumitsu]

[Infirmary]

"If that's a joke... Actually. What exactly would that do for me anyway? I mean, you can say Fffffff-" Leaning heavily on a nearby counter, Ghoul gritted her teeth and pressed on the sides of her head while letting out a hissing stream of expletives that were probably more colorful than a delux box of neon crayons. "...I'm gonna say that if you think you can get this to stop, I'm willing to try." she said once the pain-pressure had receeded somehwhat.

"Probably the only silver lining here is that I'm not trying to rip that bag from your hands right now given that this takes the edge off my appetite.." she mumbled. It was worth giving this guy's suggestion a try if he thought it would work. And besides, it wasn't as if he was likely to be a quack if they stationed him here. Else she would have to do some real re-evaluation of this organization.

[UncleWolf]

Infirmary

"Hold still for a sec." Cutter says before moving around behind Ghoul. "Now hold still. This'll feel weird." He admits before he tries to set a hand on her shoulder before using his other hand to make some quick adjustments to her spine and backbone. As a result, pressure in her head should decrease by a noticeable amount.

[Terumitsu]

[Infirmary]

While Cutter might clearly be able to tell there were a few rather nonstandard things about the muse's skeletal structure during his little procedure, they wouldn't get in the way, at least. Though, it might be because of them that there wasn't as robust of an effect as he would have expected. Still, it did have an effect and Ghoul was more than a bit surprised at that. "Alright.. What was it that you just did?" she asked, her accusatory tone clearly undercut with relief. She wasn't pressing on her head either though she was holding it in her hands in a gentle massage of her temples.

"And you can't tell me that's the only thing you had to do." she said with a small note of incredulity. There was still pressure and pain but it was a magnitude of difference from what it had been before.

[UncleWolf]

Infirmary

"There are teachings that certain parts of the body, when out of alignment, can damage other parts despite being wholly unrelated. A toe connected to the back, a finger to liver, things like that. When put back into alignment, it supposedly helps." He says before grinning. "Congrats. You're the first I've tried it on."

[Terumitsu]

[Infirmary]

"Ah. So I got to be your test subject then?" she said with a not imperceptible amount of what could be called 'playful derision' to her tone. Still, the explanation made sense in the way that a body was rather complex. Toes were actually rather important for balance and bad balance was killer on the back, after all. Was why sole inserts in shoes were a thing. She'd debate on the finger/liver connection, though.

"So basically it's a form of global treatment through regional interaction, then?" Ghoul asked. Having been in and out of hospitals as many times as she had been, she had picked up more than a few concepts during her varied stays. "Can't say I would know exactly what part of me would be considered 'out of alignment' seeing how many time's I've been put back together now." she said, that wry tone returning to her voice.

[UncleWolf]

Infirmary

"That's probably the biggest problem." Cutter points out before leaning back against the counter. By now, the extra-strength undead-special painkillers should be taking effect. "It's entirely possible, depending on one's definition of a soul, that because you've been taken apart and put back together like a puzzle so often, that your own soul or spirit has scars and is out of alignment along with your body."

[Reinholdt]

Fleeing

Ilpholin pumps so much of her essence venom into Decker it makes her woozy.
Or maybe that's being held upside down.

Ilpholin's Room

Singing as a form of mind control. Ilphy really should of thought of that. She'd be pretty good at it she thinks.

Anyways, she fights it, but is clearly lowering herself all the same. As she does though, she grabs a dirty sock with her tail and throws it at Blake's mouth. This no doubt would have been completely ineffectual against Decker. Still, barring that providing necessary interference, he's still in position to knock her out and can do so.

Whether he knocks her out or not, Mister Squiggles rounds the corner from the hall onto the scene. He barely glimpses Decker rounding the corner over there and has to make a split second decision. Since he's not sure he can catch up with whatever's making their escape, he skitters into the doorway instead and will be shooting a sticky web at Blake. This will occur briefly after possible knock outs though. Probably in the midst of scooping and turning to leave.

[happyturtle]

Fleeing!

Decker gets down the stairs...

Staggers a bit...

Gathers her strength and keeps going...

Reaches the door...

Outside...

Decker can see and feel the border of the anti-teleport field as clearly as if it were the surface of a lake. It's just so obvious, so flagrant in it's overdesign. As she runs, she reaches her free hand out, thrusting it past the border, and opens a portal to AMEN's meeting room.

And that's the end of Decker's strength. She collapses on the ground, just short of the portal, with Ilpholin glued to her and half-pinned to the ground.

The portal remains open.

[Shadowcaller]

[Courtyard]

Cessie comes wandering out in the courtyard from the main building as she thought she heard a sound, in her company is Garn the gargoyle who walks in her steps, always vigilant of danger.

Her eyes are drawn to devil and the demon laying between the gates. What in the void...

The others will have a chance to do stuff before she reacts. Garn is already moving in their direction however.

[ThirdEmperor]

Courtyard

Two gloved hands reach through the portal, trying to grab hold of Decker and Ilpholin by the wrists and pull them in.

[Darkcomet]

[Courtyard]

Popping out of the ground now is a drone. A little mouse-sized thing, possibly recognizable as one of DC's designs.

DC's drones probably took notice of the yelling.

The Cat Burglar there may find his life suddenly unpleasant as a laser shot is fired his way. Not especially powerful, but a laser nonetheless.

[happyturtle]

Ilpholin's Room

All that screaming and singing definitely gets Darcy's attention. She comes running out of the shower, with wet hair, bare feet, and a fuzzy bathrobe. "Get your hands off of her!" she yells. Since Darcy has not the slightest amount of mind control, this is unlikely to accomplish anything but warning Blake that she's got opponents coming from two different directions. Blake might make it to the steps in time, or she might want to consider the window.

Portal

Decker's unconscious devil body (about the size and weight of a gorilla) are being godmodded by Reinholdt for now.

[Reinholdt]

Courtyard

You'd probably have to step through the portal to get to their wrists Cat Burglar. They aren't flopped out everywhere, they're glued places. Furthermore, Decker also apparently weighs as much as a full grown gorilla right now, in addition to Ilph's weight. Dragging without proper leverage could prove incredibly difficult at best. That said, he might have surprising strength and I know he spend a good amount of his demonic energy to get strength boosts and stuff. At least I'm pretty sure that's a thing.

He might not want to, though, as Ilpholin stares at him through the portal with her hypnotic eyes. "Stop it! I'm in the middle of using Watchtower and you fools are going to ruin everything. Make sure no one comes or goes through that portal. Your Queen commands it." I don't know Cat Burglar's resistance to such effects, but the fact that he was literally sired from Ilpholin and should be highly loyal to her as a side effect of becoming an Ilpholinite probably leans things in her favor, even without hypno-eyes. Resistance is futile. That said, he might still resist, and I have no idea how the portal plays into such a maneuver. She's never tried it through a portal before.

Granted, he might be averting his eyes in the first place because she's naked, but that makes for bad groping grabbing and dragging. :smalltongue:

[Shadowcaller]

Courtyard

Not exactly the words Cessie wants to hear at the moment but she had to save Ilpholin regardless. Summoning the elemental of force she attempts to hold Ilpholin and Decker against the ground. She figures it would take too much energy at this distance to pull them towards her so she settles on trying to lock them in place instead.

The Cat Burglar might suddenly find it even more difficult to move the two.

Meanwhile Garn is flying towards them and will attempt to grab the two women in the next post to pull them back.

[Earl of Purple]

Ilpholin's Room

Blake swats the sock out of the way, so it doesn't prove much of a hindrance- but does distract him long enough that he gets stuck to the floor by webs. He doesn't have any guns or other weapons (besides his implanted blades) because Decker still has them all. He does pull out the one thing he has that might be useful- a hand-mirror. The hand-mirror is an Object, and shows whomever that gazes into it their worst fear. Blake makes a concerted effort to avoid looking into the mirror as he points it at Mr. Squiggles with his left hand whilst his right is pointed at Darcy. "The spider is threatening Ilpholin; defend her." He's trying to mind-control her with a bit more finesse than normal; it's powerful, and will try to force its way through any mental defences, but it's also subtle enough to try and find a weak point to attack first.

[ThirdEmperor]

Courtyard

The Cat Burglar wrenches his gaze away, but it's no good. Her eyes remain imprinted over his vision and the voice echoes inside his skull. It's no good. With a defeated whimper, he lets go and stumbles back through the portal.

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin's Room

Mister Squiggles chitters! That is a blatant lie and he is highly offended at that accusation! :smallannoyed:
He also shoots web at Blake's face to get him to stop talking.

But then there's mirror time. I won't describe what terrifies Mister Squiggles the most, but that doesn't stop him from having a heart attack from the potency of the Object. And I do mean that literally. Two of Squiggles legs clutch at his Opisthosoma as he starts twitching and making really pained chittering noises.

Ilpholin doesn't like windows in her bedroom. She needs to convince Darcy to move to a room without them. =x

Courtyard

GAH. Crushing Ilph even more Cessie? YEESH. If she weren't a demon right now, she'd definitely be in danger of serious damage here.

As it is, Ilpholin's just pressed to the ground and kind of lies there, watching the portal, just in case.

[Shadowcaller]

Courtyard

She's actually more holding them in place than crushing them against the ground but I suppose my last post was rather confusing in that regard. Nonetheless, even if the Cat Burglar just retreated, Garn will still attempt to drag Ilpholin and Decker away from the portal.

Cessie herself let's go of the two for the time being and hurries over to see if Ilpholin is okay. She still have no clue what to say to her however. No clue.
She had hoped their first encounter after all this time wouldn't be Ilpholin naked and glued to some kind of goat woman.

She was at loss of words really. Someone should close that portal though, but for now, she summons an earth elemental to stand right in front of it. That could work.

[Reinholdt]

Courtyard

I guess Garn's strong enough, being a gargoyle and all. Or maybe he's really weak. Imagine having a stone gargoyle no one can move, but he can't even bench a hundred pounds. Hehe. Poor imaginary gargoyle.

"Hi Cessie." Ilpholin flicks her hypno eyes off. "I know this isn't the usual sticky situation I'm in. Not as pleasant at any rate. I don't suppose you can remove glue without ripping my arms off?"

[Terumitsu]

[Infirmary]

"Can't say that seems like that is the case, though." Ghoul said, doing a little neck stretching. "I mean, I come from a place where it isn't unheard of for a person to just jump from body to body as suits their whims. You'd think not being tied to a specific form or just migrating so often would induce this kind of thing or at least make it more well known? I'm just not seeing it especially with what chrome I have stuck in me being symbiotic rather than that invasive crap that people here seem to think of." she said, voicing her skepticism on that diagnosis.

Still, while the painkillers were in her system, they didn't seem to be really doing anything. That was a bit odd but given just how much of a mashup Ghoul's makeup had become both before and during her stay in the Nexus, it could be any number of reasons why... Although it may be a hint at her troubles not specifically being physical, though.

[UncleWolf]

Infirmary

"But can you say any of what's happened to you is normal for your world?" Cutter asks as he pours water into a beaker for him to drink from before offering Ghoul a beaker of her own.