[Nexus] NO XIII: Do Clockwork Penguins Dream of Mechanical Fish?

[Vhaidara]

[Main Room]

Jit thinks through various plans of finding the halfling, then begins working on telelocating him.
Any ideas where he, or anyone associated with him, might be? I have a talent for locating people, but it works faster the more I can learn about them.
Jit is hopeful on this. Unaided telelocation from just a name, race, and vague description will likely have poor results. As in a year will narrow him down to a given planet.

(Marciano is singingnoodle's character, right? Just confirming.)

[Murkus]

((Indeed.))

[Main Room]

"I can sniff him out, too, if he was here recently," says Ordo, sniffing the air around them. If Marciano entered the base within the last couple weeks, he should be able to catch something.

[Morty]

[Main Room]

I have no idea where he might be. Dipsnig shakes his head. Last time I saw him, it was in an abandoned mine in the middle of nowhere, but that was a while back. But he did have that vampire from AMEN with him. So he might be working with them. Can't say I'm surprised... he and AMEN fit each other.
Marciano hasn't been in the base lately.

[Devixer]

[Main Room]

Ashley comes back into the main room after some more deadtime, and hears the tail end of the ongoing conversation. "You need someone found? If you have something of his, I can try and scry out his location."

[Vhaidara]

[Main Room]

AMEN...
Jit pauses for a moment as he recalls the group.
The Association of the Malicious, Evil, and Nefarious. Founded by Magtok, right?
Then he turns to the Ashley.
A halfling scoundrel by the name of Marciano.

[Murkus]

[Main Room]

"So? What now?" Asks Ordo, a scowl on his face. "It's a whole new kettle of fish, if AMEN's involved. But we could always fight em' off if they come for Marciano."

The psion glances toward Ashley at this point. That seemed like an idea, if Jit couldn't find this halfling.

[Morty]

[Main Room]

Dipsnig nods.
Well, they probably don't like him much, AMEN being what it is and Marciano being a pain in the ass. I suspect it's just a business arrangement. Either way, how you handle that is up to you. I don't suppose we have anything of his... he didn't leave any paperwork with us, I think.

[Devixer]

[Main Room]

"Well, that's not ideal. Are his only connections with us and AMEN? I don't know if we should be going to them for information." Ashley is pretty nervous about the idea of dealing with that particular organization.

[Vhaidara]

[Main Room]

If they don't want to cooperate, I'm sure I could at least pick up a lead from their minds about where to look further.
Jit isn't overly fond of AMEN, but he likes that they're at least honest about being evil.

[Murkus]

[Main Room]

"We gotta go in ready for a fight, either way," says Ordo, grimacing at the proposition of having to speak with the reputed madmen of the Nexus. Though he'd heard that someone named Ilpholin had been shaping them up somehow. "They might not let us leave."

[Morty]

[Main Room]

He seems to have some cronies, but he keeps them close. So, yeah. Looks like AMEN is your only lead right now, Dipsnig says. He doesn't feel too great about it either.

[Devixer]

[Main Room]

Ashley closes her eyes for a moment or two, then nods. "Right, I suppose we should head out there as soon as possible. Won't do any good to delay it."

[Vhaidara]

[Main Room]

Fine by me. Does one of you know the way?
As he speaks, Jit passes his hand over a pouch at his side. As he does, his outfit change to his Ghost armor.

(Before, he looked like my avatar with a grey streak in his hair. Now he looks like this (middle one for the last picture))

[Murkus]

[Main Room]

"I can get us there, yeah," says Ordo, studying the rather intimidating armor that just grew over Jit. He attempts to lightly bump Ashley with his elbow, saying reassuringly, "Don't look so worried, little lady. We got this."

He gestures for the two of them to follow, and presumably they head off toward AMEN.

((I suppose one of you two can post first))

[Morty]

Once the trio is gone, Dipsnig heads to the beast pens to check on his wolves. The pups are several months old, growing fast and getting into all sort of trouble. Anyone looking for him will find him there.

[BladeofObliviom]

And, a knock comes at the door. A completely mundane, nonmagical knock. Nothing terrifying behind it at all. Nope.

[Morty]

As per usual, the door slides open to let the potential contract giver in.

[BladeofObliviom]

Front Door

As the door slides open, it reveals a woman who looks out-of-place in her current casual attire, as if she were in armor so often that she felt naked without it. Accepting the unspoken invitation to enter, she...

...Actually, there was no mention of whether there was someone behind the door, so I'm not actually sure. If there isn't, she just pins a note to the job board.

Otherwise, she bows respectfully and attempts to hand the note to whoever is there.

[Morty]

[Front Door]

Dipsnig, as it happens, is standing a little behind the front door. He likes to have it open automatically, then wait for the visitor.
Welcome to NO. How may we help you? He asks as he takes the note.

[Shadowcaller]

[Up the mountains]

A snowcat comes driving up the slope. Inside are two drow, Dena behind the wheel and Kirk sitting beside her. The later one looking pretty drunk at the moment.

"You actually get the hand of these things after a few months, they remind me a bit about this magical ancient sandmobil which I had to drive. I crashed it almost immediately of course, but I meant to do that so it was okay." Dena tells Kirk as they drive up the slope.

[BladeofObliviom]

[Front Door]

Dipsnig, as it happens, is standing a little behind the front door. He likes to have it open automatically, then wait for the visitor.
Welcome to NO. How may we help you? He asks as he takes the note.

((Sorry, I somehow managed to go into super-ADD mode and forget about this.))

[Front Door]

Due to the presence of conversation, Blade has arbitrarily upgraded this character with a name and proper description! Shazam!

The woman, who has short-cut reddish hair, blue eyes, and a light dust of freckling upon her face, speaks.

"I am Knight-Commander Arvitha, of the Templar Order of Starkhaven. As such, I have come to place a bounty on any and all dangerous and criminal mages that your organization may encounter. The Templar Order is dedicated to tracking down and depowering dangerous Mages, and we will generously reward any who would make our task easier.

The note I have brought is simply a notice of this bounty, and a number to contact us at. Further, if you have questions or concerns, I am conveniently here to ask."

Surely enough, that is exactly the information that the note contains: An open bounty on magically talented criminals and villains and a number at 1-909-TEMPLAR.

[Gullara]

[Up the Mountains]

"Are you sure you didn't just say you meant to crash it after the fact?" He gives her a sly look. It seems Kirk's drunkenness hasn't diminished his wit.

[Shadowcaller]

[Up the Mountains]

"Only if I didn't mean to crash it right into the main gate of the black raider fortress." Dena replies, returning Kirk's sly look. "The others claimed I have an untapped potential for crashing things. I doubt Dipsnig would appreciate it if I did the same thing to the NO entrance thought."

[Gullara]

[Up the Mountains]

"Oh I don't know. Just think of all the time you'd save not having to open doors." Kirk closes his eyes, but then snaps them back open. He's surprisingly tired seeing as it's not that late.

[Shadowcaller]

[Up the Mountains]

Dena abruptly stops the snowcat which might cause Kirk to fall forward a bit considering he's unprepared. "Sure, if you're willing to pay for new doors." She tells the other drow before getting out the keys from the vehicle. "Must be easy being you, partying all night, sleeping all day."

[Gullara]

[Up the Mountains]

That catches Kirk off guard. The drow snaps forward, barely stopping himself from smacking his head on the dash. He should have buckled up. "It's absolutely grueling. It's truly difficult to be me." He opens the door of the vehicle to get out. "On the plus side, it keeps me out of the sun."

[Shadowcaller]

[Up the Mountains]

Dena gives Kirk an odd look until she seem to realize something. "Oh right... I forgot your people are afraid of the sun. That's why you wear those sunglasses all the time." She says as she hurries out of the snowcat towards the entrance of NO.

While she now wore a jacket against the cold, she still seem to like to avoid it all cost.

[Morty]

((Sorry, I somehow managed to go into super-ADD mode and forget about this.))

[Front Door]

Due to the presence of conversation, Blade has arbitrarily upgraded this character with a name and proper description! Shazam!

The woman, who has short-cut reddish hair, blue eyes, and a light dust of freckling upon her face, speaks.

"I am Knight-Commander Arvitha, of the Templar Order of Starkhaven. As such, I have come to place a bounty on any and all dangerous and criminal mages that your organization may encounter. The Templar Order is dedicated to tracking down and depowering dangerous Mages, and we will generously reward any who would make our task easier.

The note I have brought is simply a notice of this bounty, and a number to contact us at. Further, if you have questions or concerns, I am conveniently here to ask."

Surely enough, that is exactly the information that the note contains: An open bounty on magically talented criminals and villains and a number at 1-909-TEMPLAR.

Dipsnig raises an eyebrow skeptically. Dangerous mages, you say. How do you define "dangerous"? Pretty much half of Nexusian mages would dangerous if they wanted to, and they're found under every second rock around here.

[BladeofObliviom]

[Front Door]

Arvitha stands up straighter than usual, and gives off the next set of lines almost as if they have been rehearsed.

"I will answer your question, but allow me to first clarify something. In my homeland, we segregated ALL mages from the general populace and depowered the ones that were too much at risk of becoming a threat. We did this because, in my home dimension, Demonic Creatures see Magically Talented individuals essentially as neon signs saying 'possess here.' However, since I am a progressive individual, one capable of adapting to conditions like the lack of such a significant threat in the Nexus, the Templars of my order now limit their actions to mages that are insane, criminals, or otherwise not fit for absorption into society at large.

That is what I define as dangerous: Not the power to harm others, but the mental state that would be required to intentionally do so."

After finishing, she relaxes a bit.

"Oh, and before I forget, I have a more direct job in addition to the open bounty, if you would wish to hear it."

[Morty]

[Front Door]

Let's hear it, Dipsnig says, managing to keep snark out of his voice. Progressive individual, his ass.