[Nexus] Inside 37

[happyturtle]

Philip Memorial Library

The Wolf understands, and whimpers softly in recognition. When he releases her, she licks at his muzzle to show she accepts his dominance.

But Lorraine is absolutely terrified during the entire display, expecting him to tear her apart at any moment. Finally she makes a whimper that is not quite wolf-like, and the alien translator (a circlet around her head) speaks out in Common. "Please don't hurt me."

[UncleWolf]

Philip Memorial Library

The Alpha flicks his ear at the licks and turns his head to nibble at her muzzle. When Lorraine whimpers, the wolf looks at her, and she as well as the Wolf will feel and smell a sense of calm from him, trying to help them both.

You have nothing to fear from me. A voice in their heads replies.

[Rebonack]

[Streets - Rooftop]

The head?

But without a head then how will the jeanstealer eat pants? That simply won't do!

The monster blocks the sword stroke with one of its more heavily armored, more unfriendly looking limbs before doing something... Rather clever.

It lashes out with its other claw not Rot, but rather at Rot's umbrella.

Trying to sheer right through the handle with its talons.

Cut the top off.

Which would probably have some pretty dramatic results should it succeed.

[happyturtle]

Philip Memorial Library

The Wolf is completely calm. This is a situation her instincts have prepared her for. She was frightened before, but now there's an alpha to take care of her.

Lorraine, however... "Then what do you want?"

[VampireRot]

[Streets - Rooftop]

Rot growls and... lets go of his sword?

The vampire's now-free hand shoots across his body to try to catch the Jeanstealer's other claw-arm before it can slash his umbrella. So he can try to snap it with his supernatural strength, snarling in the thing's face.

[Lost_Deep]

((sorry this took so long, stuff happened.))

Well, they will come across three different things rather quickly.


The first tells of a blood moon that appears for no apparent reason from time to time, seemingly randomly. It says that when the moon appears the dead walk in greater concentration and even gain enough intelligence to break into buildings in order to attack people. Furthermore, normal animals change and become highly aggressive, seeking out people to attack.


The second tells of a moon god that was slain by a rival sun god. The sun god, named Nivucist, condemned a people to a horrible fate. To become inhuman monsters that fed on the blood of the living, vampires. The moon god, Temiras, opposed him, but Nivucist was too powerful. The sun god's curse, while not stopped, was changed. The people were still changed, but maintained much of their humanity. Now, to this day in the world where this occurred, the moon turns blood red and increases in size annually. It has an invigorating effect in vampires of all kinds that isn't described in full here. It's said that it is the redness of the moon is the moon god's blood flowing anew, a reminder of his sacrifice.


The last entry is also known as the Hunter's Moon. It is the first full moon after the harvest moon, which is the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox. It was said to be called that because the brighter moonlight made it easier for hunters.

Hunter's moon: that sounds very interesting! The cultural ramifications are fascinating, but this is not what we want.

Blood moon of beasts: close, but this is human turning into a wolf. Remember this.

Blood moon of vampires: Humans turning into beasts! No, wait, these are vampires. Buhh.

Further research into these items are required. Cross-reference and whatnot. Notes are taken. Very many notes!

[UncleWolf]

Philip Memorial Library

Wolfy lays close to The Wolf and curls up around her, to share his warmth. To help. You shouldn't have to be disgusted or afraid.

[Rebonack]

[Streets - Rooftop]

The arm staunchly refuses to break! Possibly because the thing's carapace is harder than steel. That might have something to do with it. Or it might be because it's strong enough to match the vampire's unnatural strongness!

Rot snarls in its face!

It go "BLEH!" and tries to stab him in the eye with its spiked tongue!

...

That's...

That's really gross...

Regardless of whether or not the tongue stabbing works the jeanstealer make a grab at Rot's legs with its human-like hands and attempt to pull his feet out from under him.

[VampireRot]

[Streets - Rooftop]

One of Rot's eyes gets stabbed! It goes 'splurch' and pops like a tiny round pinata of gore! Oh geez, that mental image just makes you wince in pain.

The vampire isn't as worried about this as anyone else would, though. Since he's undead, the wound doesn't hurt as much as it should since the tongue (to my knowledge) is not a holy object or one of those silly weaknesses vampires have for some reason. Anyway, he has another eye and can use echolocation even in his human form, so he still sees fine.

When the Jeanstealer tries to pull his feet out from under him, Rot snarls and locks his legs. The vampire's unnatural strength allows him to keep his footing.

Rot then goes to shove the arm he's holding away so it doesn't go straight back to ripping his umbrella apart and let go of it. If this works, he'll summon the sword he just let go of back into his hand and try to awkwardly chop at the Jeanstealer's shoulder-area with its razor-sharp and enchanted edges.

[The Bushranger]

Blue Zone Streets

Also walking through the streets is a tall cloaked woman, white hair peeking out from under the hood of her cloak, black leather boots thudding on the roadway as she makes a purposeful way in a certain direction.

===

Erin's Emporium

"I would like it lighter for me so I can swing it easier, but I don't want the weight to transfer also to anything hit by it, if that's possible." The elderly lady places her flail on the counter. The haft is worn with decades of use, the chain well-cared for and the head is viciously spiked and shows some sign of battle damage- missing spikes, dents and so on.

"I see. Is this one of sentimental value?" Crissy asks politely.

[Rebonack]

[Streets - Rooftop]

Nope. Not holy at all.

The jeanstealer seems to have decided to bypass damage reduction by doing gratuitous amounts of damage instead of being magically enhanced.

Rot locks his legs!

And then swords the jeanstealer in the shoulder! The shoulder area is pretty well armored, so that results in a gash in the harder-than-steel armor rather than something more life-threatening. Might want to aim for squishier looking spots. Like joins or the neck or something.

Anywho!

While Rot is doing the hacking the jeanstealer will attempt to simply lift the vampire up off the ground by his locked legs and then slam him into the rooftop.

WHAM!

"You can't have my head!" the monster objects rather loudly.

[VampireRot]

[Streets - Rooftop]

Oh noes! Rot gets lifted up! But before the Jeanstealer can slam him down, the vampire extends his wings and flaps them. Of course, since they're leaving the protective-ness of his umbrella, the leathery and spiky metal wings burst into flame. The vampire yelps in pain but still goes to simply fly in the opposite direction enough to not get slammed into the roof, with awesome flaming wings.

And Rot doesn't need to aim for squishier looking spots with the sword he's using! The vampire aims to stab at the gash he just opened on the Jeanstealer's shoulder and tries to lodge his sword in it.

So he can activate its vampiric properties and attempt to suck the other monster's blood or blood-like substance out through the weapon.

[Saurous]

[Red Zone]

In the skies above the Red Zone, there's a brilliant flash of light as a small tear in reality is violently torn open for the briefest of instances. This window into warpspace spits a small vehicle into the slums during the short moment that it is open. The discarded space ship comes careening down out of the sky, crashing nose-first into one of the Red Zone's streets. The wrecked vehicle bears a striking resemblance to a large, antiquated Cadillac with a bunch of booster parts tacked on, and begins releasing a small pillar of steam into the air as soon as it settles.

[ApeofLight]

[Near K'rax]

Prodding the statue with his sword will have the same effect trying to grab it will! Absolutely nothing! Despite its magic, the weapon also phases through the idol. Old One magic is pretty powerful stuff.

[Near K'rax]

Foro scratches the back of his head and yawns. " Foro going to go to Trog's. Statue is boooring. " He declares and scampers off despite what influence the Basta statue might have over him. The monkey didn't care about it anymore, it was boring.

[Reinholdt]

[Streets]

Fez Hat Reinholdt wanders them, taking a look around at the recent damage mostly.

[Gullara]

[Philip Memorial Library]

Just so you aren't floundering around forever, the aliens could find out about the vampires that set up shop in Riverside some time back. A large coven in fact. I'll leave it up to you for how they might discover this information.

[Red Zone]

The crash attracts attention. Not of the friendly sort. Several humanoid shapes flit through the streets and rooftops. Suddenly a smaller shape launches from a rooftop and lands on the top of the car.

The shapes at first glance appears to be a young girl, about fourteen years old. She's dressed in a tshirt and knees length skirt. Of course, that leap wasn't anything a human could manage. Her pale skin and bright, red eyes might give away her nature, along with the mouthful of fang-like teeth.

She looks up to the sky and gives off an ear piercing scream, somehow combining the scream of distress and a predator's cry. Soon enough the remaining shapes start to close in with long, loppign steps. Whoever's inside the car better move fast.

[Rebonack]

[Streets - Rooftops]

Blood is getting sucked!

Almost certain that sucking up a 'Nid's blood would result in one's bio-mass getting omnomnomed. Whether dead or not. It may or may not be healthy for Rot to snack on. Guess we'll find out together!

Jeany's arm suddenly makes some gross popping and snapping sounds as it splits apart and reforms into... Eerr... That looks an awful lot like a gun. But what could a gun made of meat possibly shoot?

*PHWUMP!*

A high velocity grub is launched at Rot.

Whether it punches a hole through his torso or not it'll explode in a violent spray of acid as soon as it reaches about where the middle of his body mass would be (assuming he hadn't dodged.)

"That hurts! Stop it!"

[Saurous]

[Red Zone]

There's a panicked fumbling inside the space car before the passenger-side door is suddenly kicked open by a brown, clawed foot. The owner of said foot makes an acrobatic roll out of the vehicle, coming to a stop a couple of yards away. The alien lands in a kneeling position, aiming his weapon at the vampire girl currently standing on top of his car. He is armed with an exotic short-barreled rifle and dressed in a black waistcoat over a white long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black dress pants. The quills on the alien's head twitch and shift as he tries to get a bearing on the other figures surrounding the car, while his solid gold eyes remain trained on the girl.

[Lost_Deep]

Philip Memorial Library

They eventually come across the information during what is effectively a wiki binge. About half an hour later, the male is reading about werewolves and the female is reading on Tesla coils.

Half an hour is enough time for a wolf to escape...

[Mr. Moon]

[Docks]

After Ry'leh had been put back to sleep and the apocalypse was averted, trade slowly began to return to Inside. Merchants went back to the ages-old tradition of trading with recently shored vessels. Coin is exchanged for exotic goods and foods, and dry rations are exchanged for more coin.

It is here, that a young woman is hoping to trade some of her smoked meats. She is short but strong, and while she would usually be dressed more practically, she has taken the chance to dress up for the day. Her golden-brown hair is pinned back in a loose knot low on the back of her head, a thick cascade of curly locks cascading from the bottom of the knot. She wears a simple but elegant white dress, edged with just a smidgen of lace at the cuffs, with a jade pendant that compliments her bright green eyes. She stands behind her stand, already half-empty from the day's sales. Twelve copper coins jingle in her pocket.

She is just finishing trading with a burly captain. So engrossed in the transaction was she that she fails to notice a plain, dirty young man step up to her table. He clears his throat, making her glance up at her. She pauses, looking him over. His skin was darkly tanned, his sandy-blond hair tousled and uncombed. He wore a simple brown cloak that covered his entire body.
"Come me own one, come me fair one,
Come now unto me.
Could you fancy a poor sailor lad,
Who has just come from sea?"

The young woman was quiet for a moment, before laughing to herself. Giving him an amused look, she scoffs.
"You are ragged love, and you're dirty love,
And your clothes smell much of tar.
So be gone you saucy sailor lad,
So be gone you Jack Tar."

The young man does not miss a beat. He shakes his head, smirking. He throws the cloak away in an impressive flurry of fabric, revealing a perfectly-tailored and well decorated Captain's uniform.
"If I'm ragged love, and I'm dirty love,
And me clothes smell much of tar
I have silver in me pockets love,
And gold in great store."

With a gasp of horror, the young lady realizes her mistake. She slips out from behind her stand, falling to her knees before the captain.
"I will marry my dear henry, for I love sailor lad so well."

The captain shakes his head, laughing to himself.
"Do you think that I am foolish love?
Do you think that I am mad?
For to wed with a poor country girl,
Where no fortunes to be had!"
He turns, walking away back down the docks. Walking over to a large battleship docked not far away, he pauses and turns back to the young lady, calling out across the wind and the clamour of the crowd.
"I will cross this briney ocean!
I will whistle and sing!
And since you have refused the offer love,
Some other girl will wear the ring!"
With a jaunty step, he propels himself up the gangplank. Taking his hat from his first mate, he presses it down over his head and takes his place behind the wheel. As he gives the orders for his ship to disembark, he observes to the crewmen gathered around him.
"I am frolicsome and I am easy,
Good tempered and free.
And I don't give a single pin me boys
What the world thinks of me."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxXhA88ru0A

[Gullara]

[Red Zone]

The girl looks feral, but there is an intelligent gleam in her eyes. She knows she's killing another thinking being, but her hunger is too great for it to matter.

The other approaching figures are closing quickly. There are five of them, the first of which coming into view just now. It looks like a man, but hideously changed. It is a null, a sort to zombie, but far more threatening. It lets out a gurgling bellow, a bellow that is echoed by the other four.

Suddenly the vampire, Adele, shifts into a swarm of eight over sized bats which all swoop at the kroot.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Holowtinns Exterior - Blue Zone?]

Harin will look around for the robot he arrived with. Assuming it's still here, he'll say (to it, of course) "Hey. Is Phil still on the other end? I'd like to talk to him about the pod.".

If it's not there and took his pod with him, he'll start swearing in a mixture of Chinese and Fogborn, before going and hunting down the nearest Imperial patrol to report the theft of his pod.

If it's not there and it left the pod, he'll turn around and go back inside to ask if they can move 150 pounds of metal and electronics into his vault.

[Saurous]

[Red Zone]

The Kroot, Flix, gets a weary look in his eye and curses quietly as he realizes just how disadvantaged he is in his current position. In one fluid motion he stands, fires off two high-powered pulse shots at the bat swarm, and then begins running the hell away as quickly as his Kroot legs will take him.

[Gullara]

[Red Zone]

One of the bats is hit directly and another two are clipped. The rest are thrown into disarray. Seems she isn't quite used to the bat swarm yet. Flix will get a nice head start before Adele can collect herself... literally.

He chose a good direction to run too. Only one null is going to be able to reach him in a timely manner. Said null is running to intercept the kroot, its speed nearly matching his. If nothing is done the null will be close enough to attack by the next post.

[Lady Serpentine]

(If you guys don't mind, something will be done fairly soon by a new guy of mine. If you do, just let me know.)

[Saurous]

((Yeah, Flix's objective right now is escaping. I don't think that either of us really planned on stretching the fight out much further than the first zombie. Sorry about that.))

[Red Zone]

Flix comes to a skidding halt as he senses the approaching null. He spends a moment gauging the zombie's speed, before charging straight at it. He shouts something in some clicking, squawking language before leaping straight up and trying to land on the null's shoulders. Assuming it doesn't pull any sort of crazy maneuvers, he aims his pulse carbine down between his feet and fires at the monster's head.

[Gullara]

((Of course, you could have some kind of interaction after Flix has escaped. If you like.))

[Red Zone]

The null is not an intelligent creature like the vampire leading it. All it manages before its head is messily blown up is swinging its clawed hand at the kroot's legs.

Meanwhile, Adele takes this opportunity to reassemble herself and sprint toward Flix. There is some distance between them though. If the kroot gets moving he might just escape the vampire and her remaining null.

[Lady Serpentine]

(Since the sense I get is that this isn't a private location, but interference would be unwelcome at the moment, he'll simply watch from the roof. He has no particular interest in the Kroot anyway, and it's probably best to avoid antagonizing the established residents anyway.)

[Red Zone - Roofs near crash site]

Anyone flying overhead (which, now I think about it, there might be, what with there being a swarm of bats flying about and trying to regroup, and also this being Nexus) would see a figure in a dark blue cloak, hood drawn up over their head, calmly observing the proceedings.

Edit: Ninja'd.

At this point, the man draws a knife, sticks out his arm, and slices across his palm. A good amount of blood flows out, naturally, though normally it probably wouldn't just hang there in the air. The wound quickly closes, though, and the blood forms into a large raven, the same dark red as his hair, with a human mouth on its chest.

After this, he pulls out a map of Inside, marks the location of the crash, and walks off, leaping over to the next building. (He can see through the raven if he needs too, and also speak through it, as well as generally controlling it. At this point, the bird will simply sit on the roof, watching the scene below)

[TechnoScrabble]

[Holowtinns Exterior - Blue Zone?]

Harin will look around for the robot he arrived with. Assuming it's still here, he'll say (to it, of course) "Hey. Is Phil still on the other end? I'd like to talk to him about the pod.".

If it's not there and took his pod with him, he'll start swearing in a mixture of Chinese and Fogborn, before going and hunting down the nearest Imperial patrol to report the theft of his pod.

If it's not there and it left the pod, he'll turn around and go back inside to ask if they can move 150 pounds of metal and electronics into his vault.

"No, sir, but I can call him back up if you like."

The robot is still there, and is currently playing cards with a hobo.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Holowtinns Exterior]

"Yes, if he's not busy."