[Nexus] Riverside VI

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech

Defelent will move to take Naethalee's arm, and if allowed he'll lead her to the stairs leading to the next floor. There's doors down both sides of a long corridor, each leading to a bedroom. Defelent will take Naethalee to one quite a distance away. "All the rooms are empty, but there's only one with an on-suite bathroom containing a bath and a shower, though in every other respect it's identical to the others." That room is the one to which Naethalee is being led.

[The Bushranger]

Temple of Dalachrech

"And I get it? You flatter me," Naethalee says with a soft chuckle. "But thank you.."

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech

"Don't worry; the Temple's practically deserted. Just me and another cleric for now, plus the Temple Slaves, of course, but they won't interrupt." When they arrive at the room, Defelent will try to lead Naethalee to the bed, unless she has other ideas anyway.

[The Bushranger]

Temple of Dalachrech

The sultry half-drowess has many of the same ideas as Defelent, and she chuckles at him as she tries to pull him down onto the bed with her!

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech

Carefully removing his robes, once he's nude Defelent will pull the curtain in an incredibly enthusiastic manner.

[Murkus]

Eastside

After a time, Teq reaches an empty lot in the dankest part of Eastside. He has a quick look around. After a moment, a ramp folds out of empty space in the center of the lot, an entrance to his vessel simply floating in the air. Without further ado, Teq boards the ship and closes the door behind him.

He didn't make a sound then, and there's little difference now. Complete stillness.

Ordo frowns. "What the hell?"

[Lord Magtok]

Exbourne Manor

Magtok jovially approaches the vampire manor without so much as an ounce of fear. There's a bounce in his step, a handful of leftover Halloween candy in his pocket, and...is he singing something under his breath?

...It's now the Mash!
It's now the Monster Mash,
The Monster Mash!
And it's a graveyard smash,
It's now the Mash!
It's caught on in a flash,
It's now the Mash!
It's now the Monster Mash-

Oh, so he is. Honestly Magtok, sometimes I wonder if you have some sort of secret suicidal complex or something. I mean, who in their right mind approaches the manor of a bunch of blood-sucking monsters completely unarmed, without any sort of guard detail watching your back, and singing that song?!

NEW MAGMART

Elsewhere in Westside, another MagClone is announcing the official opening of the Riverside MagMart! No longer content to just hoard all the money they were raking in from the Mallside MagMart, MagCorp has decided to go ahead and build another one, right here in the darkest, dreariest, most dangerous city in the Nexus! Come one, come all! Bring plenty of money and hop on over to our opening day sales extravaganza, and try not to get abducted by any cults or vampires on the way here!

[Gullara]

[Exbourne Manor]

Maggy has taken no more than a few steps into the courtyard when the gate behind him glide closed on oiled hinges. A loud CLANG echos though the cool, autumn air. A muffled sound emerges from hedge nevt to the gate. The giggle of a small child? No, a muffled scream. Clearly.

Meanwhile, the front door opens, seemingly of its own accord. The dark depths of the manor warn of the monsters lurking within. Dare Magtok proceed?

[Morty]

Eastside

After a time, Teq reaches an empty lot in the dankest part of Eastside. He has a quick look around. After a moment, a ramp folds out of empty space in the center of the lot, an entrance to his vessel simply floating in the air. Without further ado, Teq boards the ship and closes the door behind him.

He didn't make a sound then, and there's little difference now. Complete stillness.

Ordo frowns. "What the hell?"

Dipsnig scowls as well. Yes... strange. An invisible ship. It might have flown away without sound, too. Let's go check. Dipsnig prods Viima, who approaches the spot.

[Murkus]

Eastside

Viima might be able to tell that the ship's still there. Heck, anyone who walks up and touches the 'empty air' will feel a cold metal surface curving upward.

[Morty]

[Eastside]

Dipsnig and Viima go back to Ordo. Still here. Think it's enough to notify our employer?

[Lord Magtok]

Exbourne Manor

Magtok not only proceeds, he proceeds and keeps on fudging singing that racially insensitive song, too!

Now everything's cool, Rot's a part of the band
And my Monster Mash is the hit of the land
For you, the living, this Mash was meant too
When you get to my door, tell them Magtok sent you!

Then you can Mash!
Then you can Monster Mash,
The monster mash!
And do my graveyard smash,
Then you can Mash
You'll catch on in a flash,
Then you can Mash!
Then you can Monster Mash!

Awfully nice of them to open the doors like that for him, though. He'll have to remember to give the doorman a tip or something on his way out. Unless you're not supposed to tip doormen, that is. Magtok's not exactly sure how that works. Do vampires still do tips? Do they get extra offended if you don't tip them well? Do bad tippers get stalked back to their homes and then have their blood drained little by little each night, not enough to turn or kill them, but just enough to make them feel really groggy and unpleasant in the morning?

[The Bushranger]

Temple of Dalachrech

Needless to say, Naethalee appreciates Defelent's enthuiasm very much - and matches it.
By the time it rises, she's likely exhausted - and napping!

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech

Defelent is likely to be equally exhausted, so he's also asleep. He's snoring softly, and it's likely that he's deep asleep enough for Naethalee to do most anything, so long as she wakes up anyway.

[Gullara]

[Exbourne Manor]

The door swings closed behind Maggy and he is plunged into utter darkness. Silence permeates the manor. Then a voice.

"What brings you to this place, mortal?" That's... that's almost definitely the voice of a ten year old boy.

[The Bushranger]

Temple of Dalachrech

Between the vision earlier and the rigourous exercise later, Naethalee was quite (pleasantly) exhausted. It's quite likely that Defelent will be waking up first.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech

Thud.

The bed's smaller than the one he sleeps in at home, and Defelent's just rolled over into an area of bed that doesn't actually exist. So, now he's nude, on the floor, and awake.

I had a waist-high bed once, and I fell out whilst asleep. I woke up halfway down, and it was horrible.

[The Bushranger]

Temple of Dalachrech

Ouch.

The thud, needless to say, awakens the other occupant of the bed!

And Naethalee peers sleepily over the edge. Smiling a little.
"Oh, good morning, are you alright down there?"

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech

It's not so bad- I was smaller, so my waist was lower. And I didn't have a particularly hard floor.

"No. I landed on my face." Fortunately, the fall wasn't far enough to do more than hurt, though he begins chanting in Abyssal regardless.

If Naethalee knows Abyssal, she'll discover that he's chanting a healing spell to fix any damage.

[Lord Magtok]

Exbourne Manor

Magtok's red left eye switches to a night-vision green. Of course, if the darkness is magical in nature, it won't really make a difference, will it?

"I'm here for business. Regarding the Gambling League of Gambling, to be precise."

[The Bushranger]

Temple of Dalachrech

"Oh, dear."
Naethalee knows a bit of Abyssal; as it is, she slips out of bed to attempt to embrace Defelent from behind comfortingly.

[Gullara]

[Exbourne Manor]

Nope, just regular old darkness. Looks like the lights are out. So Maggy ends up looking at young boy who's covering his mouth to stop from giggling.

Suddenly the lights flick on and a young woman holding a baby is standing at another entrance to the room. "Davide! No trying to scare the guests, and the lights stay on. You find your brother and get to the dining room." Ada says firmly. The boy simply laughs and runs off.

"I'm sorry about that. Those boys can be nothing but trouble at times. Are you here to talk to Ramiro, or someone else?"

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech

Defelent is hugged! He twists his head around and tries to give her a passionate kiss. He'd hug back, but he's not in quite the right position at the moment.

[AmberVael]

[Wellspring Tower - Celestial Garden]

"Ouroboros is the World Serpent, representative of the eternal cycle, the circle. It bites its tail and forever devours itself. It is an ideal, representative of the immortal and immutable, that which will survive all, and yet, it is a warning about the failings of stagnation and the cycle of self-consumption." Genesis explains with relish. Apparently it is a symbol she is quite fond of. "The library is closer- lets begin there, shall we?"

It's hard to describe exactly how they moved to the library. It certainly wasn't a portal, or teleportation- there was the impression of time passing, of walking and making a journey, but at the same time, attempting to recount the journey itself is impossible. Thinking on it vaguely, one might be sure that it is there, but putting a finger on any given point of it reveals an absence of any actual travel.

Really, it's as if it occurred, but Genesis simply skipped ahead to a more relevant and interesting point in time. "My library is a collection of my own works, and significant artifacts from my life and the world around me. There are books, but also many other items of interest." It is indeed, as she describes it. Shelves, barrels, chests, drawers, tables, floors, ceilings and walls are all decked with the most motley and unusual assortment of items. A harpoon is set onto a plaque on one wall, a vast tome is spread open on a stocky, low bookstand, a collection of gems hang from a string, and a series of stacked, squat stone statues loom over them as they enter.

Sigrun looks up as they enter, and as starts as she sees Genesis. The white robed young woman stands and curtsies. "If you'd like to see anything in particular, I leave its organization up to my librarian, Sigrun. I'm sure she'd be happy to oblige you."

[Lord Magtok]

Exbourne Manor

"It's alright, he wasn't any trouble. And yes, Ramiro please."

Magtok actually has no idea if Ramiro is the name of the guy in charge, as his memory is kinda terrible and he hasn't been here since forever, but since that was the first and only name volunteered, he figures that odds are pretty good that Ramiro is the guy he came for.

[The Bushranger]

Temple of Dalachrech

Defelent is hugged! He twists his head around and tries to give her a passionate kiss. He'd hug back, but he's not in quite the right position at the moment.

Needless to say, the kiss gets returned, and when the half-drowess has to breathe, she grins at him. "Well, I suppose I should get dressed if I'm going to be heading out..."

[Gullara]

[Exbourne Manor]

"Sure, I can take you to him." Ada gestures for him to follow, and she'll lead him to Ramiro's office.

Inside, the great vampire is seated behind his ornate desk, writing away on something. Probably boring, running the city stuff. He looks up when the door opens. "Lord Magtok. What a pleasant surprise. Please, sit down. How can I help you?"

Eastside - Hospital Site

"A fire could easily spread to the rest of the hospital, we need to call the fire department right now." Edward says nervously as he sees the smoke outside.

The others might be able to recall that the fire escape is one the floor below them.

"Let's worry about getting out of here ourselves first." Estella goes to check the window for a fire escape... "Dammit. I don't even see any on this floor on this side."

[Lord Magtok]

Exbourne Manor

"Please, just call me Magtok. And you can start by allowing me to tell you exactly what I can do to help you."

Magtok gives Ramiro his best smile. There's something dark and sinister going on behind those gleaming eyes, though. He's definitely planning something terrible. Whether Ramiro's clan stands to be hurt by whatever Mag's thinking of remains to be seen, though.

[Gullara]

[Exbourne Manor]

Ramiro raises an eyebrow. Magtok's reputation proceeds him. "Whatever you did you'd stand to gain from it, I'm sure." He says, his tone jovial. "At the moment I can't think of what you might help us with. Perhaps you have an offer?"

[VampireRot]

[Exbourne - A Room of Rot's Own]

Durin takes the card after a moment of internal struggle. "He must be. He's... very bloodthirsty."

"Can you contain him, Durin?" Ramiro asks, perhaps with the slightest touch of concern.

"Yes, Ramiro. I can." The drowpire says and stands. His fangs and claws are retracting, but not all the way just yet. Blood runs freely from his torn scalp.

[Exbourne - A Room of Rot's Own]

For now, fledgling.

Rot's "voice" goes silent, except for a nonstop gnawing at the back of Durin's mind. kill. feast. kill. feast...