[NEXUS] WATCHTOWER 14: Now a Family Business.

[UncleWolf]

Observatory

Waterstrider frowns at Cessie and his ears flick in annoyance. Even though she says she can take care of herself, he's going to end up having to watch over her because of her condition. Her as well as Brand. Even though he knows its his duty to, its going to make it harder for him to fight anything if he's paying attention to them more than the slavers.

Even though he wants to say that he doesn't want to lose his other paw, he stays silent as he has no real say in the matter.

[Morty]

[Observatory]

Wenomir sighs. As much as he might agree that Cessie's pregnancy makes her unfit to join the mission, he doubts he can dissuade her.
I agree that talking to Terrowin before finding out if the slaves are there is unadvisable. We need to see for ourselves. But we can't just barge in. If we do, they'll flee or kill the slaves. It has to be covert.

[Reinholdt]

[Main Room]

Mister Squiggles returns... without an Ilpholin! He seems to have come from Riverside to here, rather than AMEN.

[Darkcomet]

[Observatory]

"Cessie. Do tell me why I shouldn't keep you out of this operation." DC, evidently, doesn't share Wenomir's doubts about convincing her.

Or he just doesn't give a damn. Either one.

[Shadowcaller]

[Observatory]

"I'm aware of the risks DC, but my current condition won't hinder the operation. I won't join the fray as I will stay back and send in elementals which I can directly control. That way I won't be at risk but still be able to help." She explains calmly to him.

[Morty]

[Observatory]

Wenomir rubs his forehead. You're both going the wrong way about it. There shouldn't be any fray to send elementals to if everything goes right. This is a rescue mission, not an attempt to burn the place to the ground. A fight would endanger the slaves' lives.

[Darkcomet]

[Observatory]

"Obviously, then, throwing elementals at the problem is not an option. An infiltrator would be preferable." DC thinks on that for a moment. "Who would you recommend?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Observatory]

"I'm not sure, it really depends on what kind of wards they have. An air elemental might be able to sneak in but there could be better options in this case." Cessie comments.

[UncleWolf]

Observatory

"I'll be going no matter what is decided." Waterstrider tells them. Even if everyone else' decision was to stay and let it continue, he still planned on going.

[Morty]

[Observatory]

Wenomir scratches his chin.
I'm not sure... He scowls, then raises his eyebrows. It occured to me that Mister Squiggles, Ilpholin's spider, might make a good infiltrator. I mean, he could easily get through that forest and there's bound to be plenty of spiders there so he might go unnocited.

[Shadowcaller]

Observatory

"Waterstrider, you will of course be going along, but at this point I'm not sure how much combat that will be involved. I'm not sure about mister Squiggles though, I don't really know that much about him. I though he was Ilpholine's? Is she even in watchtower right now?" Cessie asks.

[Morty]

[Observatory]

He's Ilpholin's spider, yes. Seems more like a friend than a pet to her, though. Still, he would be able to infiltrate the Hermitage easily, since spiders are probably common there. Plus they're good at stealth anyway. So he could tell us whether the slaves are there. Wenomir begins to pace up and down the room. We'd better start making plans for what to do if it turns out the slaves are there already, though. If they do keep slaves there, we can't waste any time.

[happyturtle]

Observatory

Brand is starting to feel afraid that he's going to be left behind. He doesn't have any of the abilities these people are looking for. "I had hoped if I was there, I could convince the slaves it was save to come with us."

[Reinholdt]

Mister Squiggles, as it turns out, has one of the four labs here (if I'm recalling my Watchtower history correctly). DC and KR have one each as well.

And that is where the giant dire spider is heading right this moment.

[Murkus]

[Firing Range]

Boris realigns the sights on his Vintorez as he answers. "I've tried, but it seems to have been an isolated event. I have yet to find any sort of connections, but that attack was far too precise to have been a coincidence." He fires a few more rounds at respectably far targets.

"Did ye talk to the gen'rals and such? The rest of yer army?" Cornelia asks, clearly unfamiliar with the whole system of an organized military. Though with the way she talks, the smith seems to think she knows quite a bit.

[Barracks]

"Yes, I am new. I am known as Marcus." Marcus nods his head slightly, which probably gives Adir a good view of the four eyes on the bear's head that he wears as a hood.

"Then since you are Adir you will test me now, yes?"

That's one freaky bear. Adir's eyes linger on that before Marcus straightens again. "Um, test you now, yes. Do you have your membership form?" Adir can't give a good test if he doesn't know what Marcus can do.

[Barracks]

"I'm a half dragon. Thought that is obviously."

"What is a dragon?" Dar asks, with deliberate confusion. He's never heard of such things, and thereby, he won't know what a half-dragon is either.

[Devixer]

[Firing Range]

"I haven't been able to get into contact with them. To be honest, I'm a little worried," Boris says as places his rifle onto a table, lowering his head. "Normally, someone in Spetsnaz should be able to talk to a commander whenever he places a request. If I'm not able to, either they think I'm dead, or something's happened."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Barracks]

Well, would you look at that. Marcus does indeed have a membership form...but it isn't filled in yet.

So he quickly sits down and fills it in as best he can.

Name: Marcus
Age: 105
Sex: Male
Species: Wastelander
Profession: Diplomat
Reason for joining WATCHTOWER: It seems like a good thing to do while I adjust to being here. I think it good idea to help keep this place safe.
Special skills/items you believe will aid/have decided to contribute to WATCHTOWER: I lived in a land full of great beasts. I am good at hunting, fighting, and killing big, fierce creatures. My clothes made from skins of creatures I killed. I am not perfect at it, but know many languages well enough for people to understand me. My land is also filled with magic and it does not affect me strongly.
Other Information:

105? Well that can't be right! There's no way he's that old.

Depending on how good Adir is at spotting these things, he may or may not notice that there is something unusual, misshapen, or just...wrong...with every fur that makes up Marcus's clothing. It's as if every single one of them was some sort of mutated monstrosity, just like the bear that he used for his hood.

[Murkus]

Firing Range

After the shots ring out, Cornelia continues, "I'd bet they think ye died with the rest of that base." She moves around Boris and leans toward him, pursing her lips. "Ye could always try goin to em' personally."

Barracks

Adir will take the sheet and look it over, if allowed. A smirk grows on his face. "Marcus, I think you and me are gonna be good friends." He tries to put an arm around the wastelander's shoulders chummily. The wildfae raises a hand fantastically. "You like to hunt, right? How about a little taste of Nexus fauna?"

[Devixer]

[Firing Range]

"I suppose I could," Boris says as he returns his gaze to Cornelia. "Why didn't I think of that before?"

[Murkus]

[Firing Range]

"That's what I'm here for." Cornelia says with a grin, attempting a peck on the cheek. "How bout I go make some breakfast, eh?" It's been a while since they ate.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Main Room]

Right. Spooky it is then.

"Great ma'am! I love giving tours ma'am."

Butler grins and starts on the tour! Showing spooky girl all the places he has access to and aren't people's personal rooms.

I'm sure they have so much fun! Spooky girl must have been bouncing off the walls in every room!
...

[Reinholdt]

Well Butler has fun anyways and he tries to make it as fun for her as he can.

"And that's everything ma'am. Is there anything else I can help you with ma'am? Anything I can show you or get for you ma'am?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

Barracks

Adir will take the sheet and look it over, if allowed. A smirk grows on his face. "Marcus, I think you and me are gonna be good friends." He tries to put an arm around the wastelander's shoulders chummily. The wildfae raises a hand fantastically. "You like to hunt, right? How about a little taste of Nexus fauna?"

Marcus looks...vaguely surprised by the arm round his shoulder, but doesn't complain. "Well yes, I think. Life in wasteland very different though. Everything I hunt there, hunts me too. Not as much sneaking as elsewhere, often creature attacks first and have to kill or be killed." In other words, it's less a case of hunting things, more a case of just trying to kill 'em first.

"I still know how to sneak and be quiet though. Some things there too big, too dangerous, have to avoid them. Need full tribe to kill them, if no other way." Marcus shivers slightly, recalling a particularly unpleasant encounter his tribe had with a gargantuan land-squid. Damn thing could uproot a tree and swing it like a weapon with each tentacle. Trying to fight a 30-foot tall monstrosity tossing and swinging trees all over the place was...not easy.

"I would like to see what Nexus has to hunt though, yes."

[Devixer]

[Firing Range]

"Sounds good, love," Boris says as Cornelia kisses his cheek. "You want me to come with you, or no?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Observatory]

He's Ilpholin's spider, yes. Seems more like a friend than a pet to her, though. Still, he would be able to infiltrate the Hermitage easily, since spiders are probably common there. Plus they're good at stealth anyway. So he could tell us whether the slaves are there. Wenomir begins to pace up and down the room. We'd better start making plans for what to do if it turns out the slaves are there already, though. If they do keep slaves there, we can't waste any time.

[Observatory]

"Very well... attempt to convince Mr. Squiggles to join us then." Cessie replies, a gigantic spider, why not?

"Can he talk? We need to be able to communicate with the slaves if there are any there, telling them what we are planning to do."

[Zefir]

"What is a dragon?" Dar asks, with deliberate confusion. He's never heard of such things, and thereby, he won't know what a half-dragon is either.

[Barracks]

She looks at him very confused. She forgot that she forgot near all and she never thought how to describe that.

"Dragons are great creatures. They are able to breath fire, ice or acid. They got big wings to fly and there scales make them resistent to some things."

[Morty]

Observatory

Brand is starting to feel afraid that he's going to be left behind. He doesn't have any of the abilities these people are looking for. "I had hoped if I was there, I could convince the slaves it was save to come with us."

[Observatory]

"Very well... attempt to convince Mr. Squiggles to join us then." Cessie replies, a gigantic spider, why not?

"Can he talk? We need to be able to communicate with the slaves if there are any there, telling them what we are planning to do."

I think only Ilpholin can talk to him. But he would only do the initial reconeissance. The rest of us would wait in readiness to act if he confirms our suspicions. Wenomir strokes his chin as he looks at Brand. That's a good point... they might not be willing to go with us without some convincing. It'll be dangerous, though. The cultists won't let go of them easily. You should be ready for this.

[UncleWolf]

Observatory

Waterstrider sets his good paw on Brand's shoulder. "I think Brand is probably as ready as the rest of us." He says, backing up the halfling.

[happyturtle]

Observatory

"I know what's at stake." Brand says.

And then he suggests a plan:

Squiggles carries someone who is a master, along with WS and Brand who are that person's slaves. They go through the forest unharmed, because of GIANT SPIDER, and stop for lodging at the Hermitage. The master person is ostentatious enough about their slaves that the temple people feel no need to keep their own hidden. Squiggles does recon, WS and Brand liaise with the slaves and find out how many there are and where they are located.

Assume that was all converted to IC speak.

"We should assume that anyone from Watchtower would be known by description to the slaveowners."

[Morty]

[Observatory]

That could work, Wenomir says tentatively. But yes, Terrowin knows most people from Watchtower. That, and once we're inside and know where the slaves are, there's still a matter of getting them out.