[Nexus] Outside XXVII

[bladescape]

Hamlet

Fade just stands there while his shadow animates one hand and waves it with a white glow.

The bullet reflect on an invisible wall around Fade.

"I said they where killed. I don't know what that has to do with gunshots. Maybe they tried to defend themself?"

((To be true I don't really understand the reaction of the man. It makes no sense))

Turiel will, providing there is no obstructions to magic or teleportation, warp to another shadow, attempting to stay unnoticed. He is especially looking for a person who isn't so with the rest, so that he can abduct or otherwise kidnap him. For information gathering. Yes, he has a weird way of going about it.

[EtherAin Manor]

The Tyr makes no move, but says "It will."

The Lord nods, waving at a servant. "The Servant will take you to the prepared quarters, I'll send a message to you and all the other mercenaries when the assault is ready to begin."

[Lady Serpentine]

[EtherAin Manor]

The Rayaat will follow the servant.

[Courts of Chaos]

*Pokes TE*

[Zefir]

What a bounty! This must be the biggest quantity of stardust you have ever seen! Almost enough to fill a good-sized soup bowl! Amazing!

"i don't THINK so."

The purple fellow takes one Chakram and immediately imposes it between Fade and the stardust.

"we got here FIRST. why would YOU own the stardust?"

The girl in blue crosses her arms on her chest. The orange fellow immediately flicks a switch on his Van De Graaf Gun and it begins to hum.

The girl in green does nothing more. She just... kind of stares.

Devan Mountain

A giant made of shadow appears here. He places himself well enougth to have no problems and just growls.

"Cause I owned it befor someone stole it and threw it to this point."

Well you know he lies, but there is nothing that could prove that since he allways is emotionless.

[Neon Knight]

Isn't that tempting fate, Amil? I mean, it's just when you say something like that when things tend to get worse. Like, for example, that man sized were squirrel dropping down behind you and trying to sink his incisors into your neck.

...

Were squirrel! Doing just that! Behind Amil! As silent as the deadly ninja!

Darst can do nothing to save Amil from the were squirrel, as he is currently putting the were moose into a sleeper hold. Using both arms, if necessary.

A sleeper hold? Like the wrestling move? =P

...

Awesome! The moose goes down for the count! Now go for the finisher! Use the Cobra Clutch!

So it's up to Amil to save herself from the weresquirrel. Good luck, miss. You might need it.

[Rebonack]

[Spooky Forest]

Amil is pretty busy watching the hilarious sleeper-hold-on-moose efforts and doesn't even notice the squirrel until the thing gloms onto her! She gives a sharp yelp of surprise as her magic pants kick in, causing her to go temporarily insubstantial and semi-transparent right as the were-rodent's teeth punch through her hide.

She whirls around and aims to clobber the thing with her shield arm!

Ka-pow!

Hmm...

She now has a weresquirrel bite-wound.

Hopefully nothing comes of that.

[Murkus]

River

"No... Just cause what those... those things are scares me, doesn't mean I won't help. Hell, it's all the more reason to help." Jasper lies back on the bank, staring up at the cloudy sky. "Can I ask you a question though? You don't have to answer, but I'd feel better about this if you did... Why are you Seeking?"

Legion turns quiet. She gets out've the water, lying down beside Jasper and propping herself up on one elbow. "Well, I tell people it's because I want to contain them. But, well... I like the power. Even if it's not much, they feel powerful. Call me greedy, but..."

[Neon Knight]

[Spooky Forest]

The were-squirrel is knocked back with a black eye, but it quickly resumes the attack, slashing with clawed hands and going for the throat with overgrown incisors. Chew some nuts or bark, guy! Your dentist will thank you for it.

>.>

Amil can be infected with were-squirrelry at her player's discretion.

[Rebonack]

[Spooky Forest]

Rebo isn't sure about whether or not Amil can be infected by a weresquirrel. First of all because she's a Tyranid and second of all because Lycanthropy doesn't work like that on her home world.

On the other hand it would probably be hilarious.

We'll see what happens Amil.

As the squirrel is gathering its wits she blasts at its face with her web-thrower. There's a good chance that will make it hard for the thing to do much aside from using its claws.

Though use its claws it does!

Amil's hide is absurdly tough, cutting into her will take some real effort. Especially because she aims to smash the beast in the face with her shield even harder now that she's actually ready for the attack this time around.

[Lost_Deep]

Devan Mountain

...

"Uhh... NO. listen, BUB, we went through SO MUCH trouble to find this stuff, you don't even KNOW. we are NOT going to give up this star-"

He looks up at the shadow.

"if you want to fight us for it, we will be EAGER TO OBLIGE!"

All the trolls are now ready to fight... except for that girl in green. She's just holding her lantern in front of her. Unless that is her fight stance?

Spooky Forest

Darst NOW notices the were squirrel.

He proceeds to charge toward it, intending to smash it's skull open with his pick.

What? He already didn't kill the were moose! This thing is fair game!

[Neon Knight]

[Spooky Forest]

The weresquirrel leaps back after the claws fail, barely avoiding the shield bash. It begins nomming on the silk binding its mouth like the Tasmanian Devil, frantically chewing for freedom. It hops up into a tree, pausing to once more nom at the binding, sitting out of the reach of Darst.

[Lost_Deep]

Spooky Forest

"Out of reach" of a dwarf? Not difficult.

"Out of range?" Not easy.

Darst will start rummaging for rocks, sticks, large pieces of wood, stray gardening tools, and other such items to throw at the were squirrel. Anything he can get his hands on that he could throw far enough to peg the squirrel. He does not throw his pick. He needs that.

[Rebonack]

[Spooky Forest]

Darst should totally find a discarded toaster oven and throw that.

Wouldn't be any more ridiculous than anything else that has happened thus far.

Amil grits her teeth and squeezes off a few more shots at the squirrel!

Now that the were-beast is sitting in a tree it's really only that much easier to web to a solid surface. Monsters webbed to a solid surface usually have quite a bit more trouble getting free.

Oh.

And it turns out that the web is about as hard as steel cable. Gnawing through it with the squirrels unnaturally sharp teeth is possible, though it'll take a pretty major investment of time and effort.

"Weremoose and now weresquirrels? This forest is just a regular zoo of ridiculous therianthropes, isn't it?" she grumbles aloud.

...

Oh come on Amil!

Haven't you realized that this sort of thing invites disaster?

[Neon Knight]

[Spooky Forest]

Rocks are easily found, and underneath the first rock he throws, he finds... a toaster oven. The projectiles knock the poor weresquirrel silly, setting it up to get webbed to the branch. It slides off and hangs upside down from the branch like a bat.

...

Werebat! Nah, just kidding.

They might want to pack up their captives and leave quickly. This place likes to throw odd stuff at you.

...

Werebadger badger badger mushroom mushroom!

I can only hold off the silliness for so long.

[Zefir]

Devan Mountain

...

"Uhh... NO. listen, BUB, we went through SO MUCH trouble to find this stuff, you don't even KNOW. we are NOT going to give up this star-"

He looks up at the shadow.

"if you want to fight us for it, we will be EAGER TO OBLIGE!"

All the trolls are now ready to fight... except for that girl in green. She's just holding her lantern in front of her. Unless that is her fight stance?

Devan Mountain

"This is just my partner. I only want the things back that belong to me. It doesn#t intresst me what you have done to came here. I have to come here as well adn whatever you did you just did it and not cause it's nessessary."

Still imagine this speech emotionless. The giant doesn't do anything right now just standing there.

[Rebonack]

[Spooky Forest]

Better get these people out of here and to the Fortress then!

Amil starts getting bigger! Within a minute or so she'll have reached roughly sixteen feet tall! Big Tyranid! She'll sling the weremoose onto her back and yank the weresquirrel down for the dwarf to carry.

"We can take them back to the Sanctuary Fortress. I'm almost certain they'll have the right herbs to cure or at least suppress their curse."

Yay!

Adventure complete?

Maybe?

Unless accosted by something else Amil will stomp back Inside.

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage of Dalachrech- Elezibethele

Elezibethele will lock the manacles. Mine didn't have the keys, so couldn't lock them anyway. Elezibethele will also put a blindfold on Mine.

The temple slaves will receive the two-tailed scorpion of Dalachrech on their left shoulder and a number between 01 and 04 on their right shoulder.

Mine, on the other hand, will get a foot-tall E pressed against his stomach for longer than is strictly necessary. Elezibethele's eyes shine with hatred as she does it, though Mine can't tell that.

When this has been finished, the manacles will be unlocked and Mine's blindfold removed. "That's that done. Now, follow me. I shall give you your uniforms." Elezibethele will then open the torture room's door.

Hermitage of Dalachrech- Azurelle

Azurelle will slap the middle slave as hard as she can. Azurelle is a paladin, and therefore her slap is very hard. "Do I look like a man? No. You will address me as Mistress, not Master." Azurelle isn't angry when she says this, nor furious; she's cold. "You will clean my room, maintain my equipment, polish my trophies, make my bed, taste my food, warm my bed and anything else I want you to do. If you displease me enough, you will help me practice with different weaponry." That doesn't sound so bad, does it?

[ThirdEmperor]

River

"I can understand... Place like this, up to the gills in overpowered lugheads... Power's a pretty enticing thing." Jasper says, rolling over to look into Legion's eyes. "But... What happens if you get all the Objects? I know that, well, something or other will happen if they're brought together, and it doesn't sound very pleasant."

[Lost_Deep]

Devan Mountain

"This is just my partner. I only want the things back that belong to me. It doesn#t intresst me what you have done to came here. I have to come here as well adn whatever you did you just did it and not cause it's nessessary."

Still imagine this speech emotionless. The giant doesn't do anything right now just standing there.

"well-"

"Can we Just Cut to the Chase?"

The girl in bue steps up. "We are not going to Just Give it to you, no matter what you say. If we are going to have to Fight over it, let's not stall. Either Buzz off or Get Ready to Fight!"

She cracks her knuckles. She is obviously not a fan of just standing around and doing nothing.

[Spooky Forest]

Better get these people out of here and to the Fortress then!

Amil starts getting bigger! Within a minute or so she'll have reached roughly sixteen feet tall! Big Tyranid! She'll sling the weremoose onto her back and yank the weresquirrel down for the dwarf to carry.

"We can take them back to the Sanctuary Fortress. I'm almost certain they'll have the right herbs to cure or at least suppress their curse."

Yay!

Adventure complete?

Maybe?

Unless accosted by something else Amil will stomp back Inside.

Leaving the Spooky Forest

Darst will help Amil carry the two werethings. Sleeper holds will be applied periodically, if necessary. Attempts to bite him will be met with him trying to punch the teeth out of the aggressor's mouth.

[Zefir]

"well-"

"Can we Just Cut to the Chase?"

The girl in bue steps up. "We are not going to Just Give it to you, no matter what you say. If we are going to have to Fight over it, let's not stall. Either Buzz off or Get Ready to Fight!"

She cracks her knuckles. She is obviously not a fan of just standing around and doing nothing.

Devan Mountain

"If that is what you really want, then bring it on shabby thieves."

Fade graps into his coat and drags out a rather normal looking sword. mainly just like a german longsword, but it can only cut shadows and it can only be blocked by strong magic items... on the other hand it can't be used to block something that isn't high magic. Fade himself doesn't have a fighting stand either he just stands there and the giant shadow does nothing as befor.

[Neon Knight]

[Leaving the Spooky Forest!]

And they escape, just as the wereraccons start slinking into the forest. Phew, that was a close one!

We can just handwave that they go to Inside, deliver the victims, and get them treated. From that point, it's a question of whether they just shrug this one off and go back to their normal lives (which is a perfectly valid answer in the face of far too many silly werecreatures) or try to do something further about this mysterious plague of frivolous cursed shapechangers. I warn you, though; any answer you find will only be very, very silly.

[Rebonack]

[Returning to the Spooky Forest]

Amil will most certainly be trying to get to the bottom of this mystery! Whether or not the dwarf returns with her remains to be seen. When she returns she's...

Actually completely human in appearance!

With a nose and everything!

Seems she has finally figured out how to deal with the few lingering features that she just couldn't deal with previously. She's actually very excited about it! Most people probably would be after finally managing to get their old body back.

Or at least cause their new body to look like their old body.

She'll begin her search at the exploded hut!

[Lost_Deep]

Spooky Forest

Darst is here again. He is standing watch.

He's in a bad mood. Worse than usual. He's spared two lives today. Unless someone gives him a really good reason...

[Murkus]

River

"I can understand... Place like this, up to the gills in overpowered lugheads... Power's a pretty enticing thing." Jasper says, rolling over to look into Legion's eyes. "But... What happens if you get all the Objects? I know that, well, something or other will happen if they're brought together, and it doesn't sound very pleasant."

"Overpowered doesn't begin to describe it." Legion says, looking back into Jasper'e eyes. She averts her gaze when he asks his question. "Well... I dunno. I haven't thought that far yet. Maybe there's a way I can stop it." But Gods forbid they permanently destroy a single one.

[The Alexandrian]

[Hermitage of Dalachrech]

The beings in this place are not good people. Except for Percy. Percival isn't so bad. In fact, Eericka might go so far as to say that Percival is rather nice, apart from his choice to occasionally tool around with an icky entourage of demons.

Spoiler

Show

Hermitage of Dalachrech- Elezibethele

Elezibethele will lock the manacles. Mine didn't have the keys, so couldn't lock them anyway. Elezibethele will also put a blindfold on Mine.

The temple slaves will receive the two-tailed scorpion of Dalachrech on their left shoulder and a number between 01 and 04 on their right shoulder.

Mine, on the other hand, will get a foot-tall E pressed against his stomach for longer than is strictly necessary. Elezibethele's eyes shine with hatred as she does it, though Mine can't tell that.

When this has been finished, the manacles will be unlocked and Mine's blindfold removed. "That's that done. Now, follow me. I shall give you your uniforms." Elezibethele will then open the torture room's door.

Hermitage of Dalachrech- Azurelle

Azurelle will slap the middle slave as hard as she can. Azurelle is a paladin, and therefore her slap is very hard. "Do I look like a man? No. You will address me as Mistress, not Master." Azurelle isn't angry when she says this, nor furious; she's cold. "You will clean my room, maintain my equipment, polish my trophies, make my bed, taste my food, warm my bed and anything else I want you to do. If you displease me enough, you will help me practice with different weaponry." That doesn't sound so bad, does it?

The stitches are definitely ready to come out, and because I believe Elezibethele cleaned the wound properly, there's no visible infection.

"Someone cut it off." Percival explains, frowning a little at all the staring.

[Hermitage of Dalachrech- Elezibethele]

I get the distinct impression that the slaves don't much like Elezibethele at all. She seems like a cruel witch. One of the slaves would jump at the chance to take a stab at her quite literally. Which one that is, I leave up to speculation.

Mine might not be able to see what Elezibethele is doing, but the other slaves sure can. Let's just say that it doesn't do a thing to elevate her to a loftier position in their minds.

Most of the slaves just hold their breath as they are branded. A few holler, but not many. Mine, however, does scream and clench his teeth. Elezibeth chose to burn him on the gut! On the gut! Pain! Agony! These words cannot describe the pain of charring organs and soft tissue. Mine was prepared to be branded, but not there! At least Elezibethele didn't shove that iron a few inches south. Mine has that much to be thankful for.

When it ends, most of the slaves are rolling there shoulders and grimacing. Mine is doubled over clutching his stomach. He wears a huge grin across his face. A grin that implies that Mine would be swearing at Elizibeth if he were allowed to.

Anyway, off to the torture room the slaves go!

-----
[Hermitage of Dalachrech- Azurelle]

The triplets don't really like Azurelle either. She's a callous...one. One isn't the best word I can think of that would sum up what Azurelle is, but it will have to do under these circumstances.

The middle slave is ker-thwapped right across the face! Her eyes begin to tear up, though she is able to refrain from openly crying. The other two slaves are rendered speechless. They don't think that Azurelle is very nice, and with good reason!

And practicing anything with Azurelle sounds as though it would be an atrocious and mind-scarring experience. The triplets would rather not be cut to shreds by some sadistic freak.

-----
[Hermitage of Dalachrech - Sir Percival]

Percy isn't such a bad guy. Not at all.

Eericka gawks at the arm in open amazement for a moment before setting to work removing the stitches. She's rather proficient in this task, having practiced it many times before on both cadavers and living patients. Percy might not even feel anything but her fingers working their way around his arm as Eericka skillfully performs this procedure. About midway through her work, she addresses Percival in a spritely voice packed with wonder.

"You don't appear to be afflicted with any signs of severe nerve damage. If I may ask, how did you manage that?"

Percival's miraculous recovery is truly a mystery to Eericka.

[bladescape]

[EtherAin Manor]

The Rayaat will follow the servant.

The Rayaat will find himself led along another set of pristine corridors to a barracks style set of accomodations. Jakob could be found there, if Slii feels like it, and otherwise it would be suitable for most inhabitants.

Of course, if there's any particularly special necessity in accomodations that it needs, it most likely won't find it.

[Neon Knight]

[Spooky Forest]

Back to the spooky forest, which is looking quite a bit less spooky as the day has risen above the forest! No more werecritters lurking about. Just the wrecked remains of a hut littering the forest floor.

Oh! Wait, there's a flyer amidst the wreckage, next to a broken glass bottle.

The Amazing Doctor Arlington
Professor of the Paranormal
Specialist in Therianthropy
Ever wanted to be a beast? Now you can!
Inquire at the Six Dollar Saloon, Yellow Dog, Inside.

Hmmm. The woman implied that her brother had betrayed her. Maybe he also conspired to create her condition with this Doctor Arlington. After all, how often do you run into a weremoose? It might be at least worth consulting with the good doctor, though.

[Lady Serpentine]

The Rayaat will find himself led along another set of pristine corridors to a barracks style set of accomodations. Jakob could be found there, if Slii feels like it, and otherwise it would be suitable for most inhabitants.

Of course, if there's any particularly special necessity in accomodations that it needs, it most likely won't find it.

It doesn't need that much, so the accommodations should be fine.

[Slii Arhem]

EtherAin Estate

Gregorovich is up and about, and should they walk by his open door they'll see him pacing the length of his room (which, being as large as he is, is a fairly short walk) mumbling softly to himself. He's very deep in thought, so unless he's adressed he probably won't notice them.

[Rebonack]

[Spooky Forest]

That certainly sounds like a plan.

Amil picks up the flier and eyes it for a few moments before stuffing it into her pocket and turning to the dwarf. "Looks like we might have a lead. Some mad scientist is turning people into animals."

Which...

Is vaguely similar to some story Rebo has heard before...

Ah well!

This version is clearly far sillier.

That's usually the case with the Nexus.

To Inside!

[Neon Knight]

[Spooky Forest]

To Inside!