[Nexus] Inside 43

[FireFox]

[Grey Zone - Warehouse]

You too, hun. Ally kisses her back, then leaves the warehouse and starts exploring the neighborhood. The city is an incredibly confusing place, but by walking its streets and becoming familiar with its patterns of activity, the redheaded rogue is gaining confidence. One step at a time, nice and easy, and soon she'll be pulling off big heists.

[Rebonack]

[Sojourn]

A blob large enough to consume a human... Wes very promptly decides that perforating it with hot lead is not a bad idea. Aiming shouldn't be too difficult, as it is large and lurching. Rounding the corner to suddenly find it upon them means they're probably in fairly close range, so she doesn't waste time with her other weapons, instead she just takes aim and unloads a few more rounds.

"My money say's we'll need teamwork to take this thing. Ranged weapons first, then, if it's still standing, Yamamoto, it'll be your turn..." Because the moment the dwarf is in there slashing away with his Katana Wes can't shoot any more for fear of hitting him.

Hot lead?

But that's environmentally unsound!

*cough*

Anywho.

The bullets rip into the huge blob! This creature's membrane proves to be far more plastic than many of the previously encountered monsters. The attacks are spilling some of the goop, but the membrane quickly melts back together again!

This might prove to be a problem!

Amil likewise opens fire whilst Sandwich launches a volley of psionic arrows! Though the attacks are doing little to slow down the approaching wall of cytoplasm!

Maybe a tactical retreat is in order?

[Earl of Purple]

[Docks]

Well.

These land-dwellers are boring! They won't even talk back!

With a spray of liquified air from his nostrils the strange aquatic newcomer goes swimming off above the roofline! He wants to find something exciting!

If the sea urchin/porpoise hybrid thing flies low over a certain patch of roof, it shall find itself challenged by a large flying statue made of granite. The granite gargoyle has bat-like wings, an apish body with carved fur and all four limbs end in clawed hands. Its head is that of a handsome male human, slightly too small in relation to its body; its mouth is filled with shark-like teeth. It certainly looks menacing, and hisses threateningly.

[Rebonack]

[Above a Certain Building]

A flying statue?

Well I guess that's no stranger than flying sea-life.

The newcomer puzzles over this strange creature! It flies like a bird! As opposed to swimming like a fish. But it doesn't look like a thing which should properly be alive.

Like a boat!

But far more articulated than a boat.

Are you a sky-boat? the curious creature inquires telepathically.

Who knows?

Maybe the gargoyle will respond.

[Earl of Purple]

Above a Certain Building

The gargoyle does not respond. Despite its humanoid shape and apparently human head, it's still made of solid granite, and even magic has difficulty making rocks smart. So, it continues hissing, and slowly flaps forward, tensing the muscles in its forelimbs and balling its hands into fists.

[Rebonack]

[Above a Certain Building]

Hmmm...

Must not be a boat.

Boats usually aren't this menacing.

The thing doesn't appear to be alive, though. And so the newcomer decides to experimentally prod at the gargoyle with his density manipulating ability! Said ability doesn't work on living flesh. But it does work on non-living matter, magical or otherwise.

What impact might this have?

Well.

The rock would gain the consistency of jelly, for one.

[Earl of Purple]

Above a Certain Building

The gargoyle is no longer made of granite. Instead, it's made of jelly. It seems not to notice, and continues to hiss threateningly. It hasn't attacked yet, though; it's hostile when its territory is invaded, but it doesn't feel that its territory is invaded yet.

[Rebonack]

[Above a Certain Building]

This is a more fortuitous discovery!

Flying boats can be turned into jelly!

The as-yet unnamed sea critter was pretty sure that non-flying boats could be turned into jelly as well. But the sailors he had encountered requested no-so-politely that he not experiment with their boat.

He suspected it was because they're really terrible at swimming.

He should know. Found some floundering in the water and carried them to their boat!

Because he's so nice!

And because they probably wouldn't have tasted much like squid.

At this point he decides to investigate this building the boat is protecting! No doubt there is something interesting hidden here!

[Earl of Purple]

Above a Certain Building

The gargoyle attacks as the flying sea-critter gets closer. It swoops in, and attempts to rake its perceived foe with its jelly claws. The jelly's hardened, due to the magic animating it also hardens the stone.

It's unlikely to be effective.

[Rebonack]

[Above a Certain Building]

Oh no!

Hardened jelly claws!

That's like someone trying to stab you to death with a lemon!

What a horrible way to die...

*ahem*

Yeah.

The explorer will alight near the roof of the building to examine it whilst being savaged in a fashion as brutal as it is totally ineffectual! And given how brutal it is that's gotta be really ineffectual.

[Earl of Purple]

Above a Certain Building

The gargoyle continues its attack, adding its needle-sharp jelly teeth to the fray. That won't work either.

Meanwhile, there's a nest. Sort of. It's a ring of large chunks of masonry scavenged from somewhere and ringed with a length of stolen power cable perched atop a flat space between four chimneys. In the middle lies a humanoid skeleton clad in tattered finery, a mace, a decomposing sack with metal gleaming through its many many holes and a pile of various jewellery and gems. I don't know what the aquatic flying thing will find useful, so...

[Rebonack]

[Above a Certain Building]

Oh hey!

It's a dead land-dweller!

And they have sparkly things!

Tools, money, gems, none of these have any real worth to the explorer. His race whilst quite intelligent is content to simply gather fish from the sea to eat and live in largish extended family groups. They have no written language. No technology. And certainly no concept of impractical value.

Wow! Those sure are sparkly rocks! he comments before extending a lone tube-foot from between the joints of his underbelly armor to pick up a stray gem. I wonder why it was carrying these rocks. He couldn't have eaten them, that's for sure! Hmm... unless land dwellers eat rocks...

This deserves further investigation!

[LadyOfWar]

Hot lead?

But that's environmentally unsound!

*cough*

Anywho.

The bullets rip into the huge blob! This creature's membrane proves to be far more plastic than many of the previously encountered monsters. The attacks are spilling some of the goop, but the membrane quickly melts back together again!

This might prove to be a problem!

Amil likewise opens fire whilst Sandwich launches a volley of psionic arrows! Though the attacks are doing little to slow down the approaching wall of cytoplasm!

Maybe a tactical retreat is in order?

Westlanna clearly agrees with that assessment, and she speaks with her feet: a good bit of retreating is now occurring.

The retreat earns the definition 'tactical' as Wes utilizes the time to pull out one of her new toys: explosive rounds. Aeryn said that one would 'blow a fist-sized hole out of a brick wall.' This is a cytoplasmic brick wall, and Wes figures a few fist-sized holes in it might do them all a bit of good. With her handgun now loaded with the spiffy new bullets Wes is ready to continue this fight.

And, hey, now there won't be any more hot lead to poison the birds and fish!

[OrchestraHc]

[Grey Zone - Warehouse]

"Well, I've been getting paid by NO since I joined. It's not much, but I've got a little more than enough to take care of myself." Ashley looks at Ally. "Why, do you need some?"

[Blue Zone - Library]

"I don't doubt it," Ashley tells Kuko, "Her domains are rather popular around here."

"So all we need to do is look up her other titles." He'll do just that running back to the Mytholgy section for books on Savorla's more positive epithets. Especially recent ones. He'll also try to find an atlas of inside. See if any churches bear the void goddesses other names.

[Hattish Thing]

[Streets Leading to Louv're Laboratories/"Toy Factory"]

Marciano and Grantaire walk along the streets...They really ought to get one of those bicycles....Oy. Grantaire. I'm going t' 'ave meself built a motorcycle...with a little area for you t' sit in! There...that'll get us to the Toy Factory faster. Grantaire nods as he munches at a donut. Who knows how he gets the food....They are probably accompanied by there new Pantherbot...bought straight from AMEN. After all, everyone needs a sizeable panther on their side. Especially if it's mechanical and has enough teeth to scare away most ogres...It's about an hour walk so someone might run into them on the way. Yay interaction! :D

[Earl of Purple]

Above a Certain Building

It doesn't know what the metal gleaming from the sack is since there aren't any holes big enough. Also, the gargoyle-jelly is continuing its futile attack.

The rock selected is an asymmetrical carved and faceted chunk of amethyst, with a swirling shape inside it. The flying sea dweller had best not break it; who knows what might happen then.

[Mindfreak]

[Streets Leading to Louv're Laboratories/"Toy Factory"]

Marciano and Grantaire walk along the streets...They really ought to get one of those bicycles....Oy. Grantaire. I'm going t' 'ave meself built a motorcycle...with a little area for you t' sit in! There...that'll get us to the Toy Factory faster. Grantaire nods as he munches at a donut. Who knows how he gets the food....They are probably accompanied by there new Pantherbot...bought straight from AMEN. After all, everyone needs a sizeable panther on their side. Especially if it's mechanical and has enough teeth to scare away most ogres...It's about an hour walk so someone might run into them on the way. Yay interaction! :D

Streets leading to Louv're Laboratories/"Toy Factory"
The panther bot is indeed following.
Though it isn't exactly speaking.
Robert isn't fond of speaking at all.

[Lady Serpentine]

"So all we need to do is look up her other titles." He'll do just that running back to the Mytholgy section for books on Savorla's more positive epithets. Especially recent ones. He'll also try to find an atlas of inside. See if any churches bear the void goddesses other names.

The closest thing to an atlas of Inside is a 3d arcanomorphological map, as anything else would be outdated within a week. However, there is, if the minish doesn't get too distracted, a building labeled "The Ghost Lover's Children", on the edge of the Blue Zone.

As for finding more on her positive aspects, it would appear that someone managed to dig up her entry in a chronicler-deity's records, starting here (the spoilers being the most relevant parts of most of those posts).

[Reinholdt]

Spoiler

Show

Park

Nothing stirring in the underbrush here, but the underbrush itself may be stirring...

From the trees on their way to their goal, the trio may notice vines hanging down in their path, vibrant yellow and purple flowers trailing along their lengths. They sway in an unfelt wind, but do not react visibly to the presence of the warm, fleshy people. Something is restraining them.

A groan, and a rustling off to Arel's left. Something stumbling through the bushes?

[Park]

This is starting to get rather eary. Arel looks around nervously as they near the vines. She manages to not jump when she hears the rustling. "Hello?" She says tentatively as she peers at the bushes.

Park

"Those are some pretty flowers... why are we here? Is everyone all right?" Last he recalls there was some fire going on! Why are they in a park now?

[Shadowcaller]

Park

Crap!

A nymph-maker? A spine crawler? A air vampire? Whatever it was, it probably wasn't anything good. She needed fire and quick, preferably controllable fire. Starting a wildfire wasn't a very attractive option either but she rather burn down a park then turn into a nymph or be mind controlled by a freaking plant.

She dives down into her bag looking for a pact bound being able to deal with whatever was attacking them.

[Rebonack]

[Above a Certain Building]

Something explosive maybe?

That would seem likely. Lots of things like exploding in the Nexus.

Of course the explorer doesn't know that!

As such he simply tucks the rock away near his underside and goes swimming off through the air to find more neat things to look at!

Maybe the boat will leave him alone once he gets further away from the dead land-dweller. Only one way to find out!

[Sojourn]

Those would be big holes.

And big holes are exactly what's made in the enormous jelly!

Big enough to blast smaller jellies off the big jelly!

"WARK!" says Wark at one of the small oozes, causing it to burst for no readily apparent reason. It isn't reforming! That must be how you kill this thing!

[Slii Arhem]

Park

Through the bushes, a dark figure stumbles, holding a hand to its head and groaning lowly.

Once he's gotten closer, Arel can see that it's a rather rumpled looking businessman, his suit smudged with dirt, and hair all up in disarray.

And then he stumbles closer, into the path of a beam of light that pierces through the foliage from the moon overhead.

His skin is deep yellow with jaundice, and that isn't hair sticking up on the top of his head, it's moss, and other various plants, which also adorn the back of his hand, and some of the visible parts of his face.

He stumbles closer to Arel, reaching out with his other hand blindly for a grab.

Astrana may hear something in the trees surrounding her, a low, melodic giggling from many tiny throats. This does not bode well.

[Gullara]

[Park]

"Yes, everyone's alright, but something might have happe-" Arel cuts off when she sees the man approaching. She takes a step toward him. "Are you okay?" She starts to move closer still, but suddenly changes her mind. Something's not right here. She changes direction and back steps, but she won't be getting away from him quick enough if he lunges for her.

[Reinholdt]

[Park]

Reinholdt murrs a little and looks up at the strange man.

[Earl of Purple]

Above a Certain Building

The sea-dweller will stop being attacked after awhile; it either doesn't care that it has been robbed or hasn't noticed. The gargoyle returns to its lair and sits upon the nest of rubble and power cable.

[Shadowcaller]

[Park]

Again? Geez.

The tiefling panics a bit, hoping Arel can fend for her own a bit as she picks up what looks like the finger of a charred human skeleton and quickly look around for potential attackers.

Her eyes, now glowing in the dark are quite capable of seeing even in the low light her staff now emits. "I'm warning you, I'm a warlock of the third circle which translates to that I'm pretty sure I could kick your asses and then curse all your families just to be a bitch about it." She says out loud, not really believing that whatever was out there had families, but one could always try.

[Slii Arhem]

Park

The man doesn't quite lunge, but his reaching out has overbalanced him, causing him to shufflingly stumble forward, possibly grabbing Arel by the elbow.

In the process, the hand grasping his forehead becomes dislodged and flops down to hang useless at his side, revealing a gaping wound just above his left eye, a glint of white skull peeking out through the hole.

Oh dear.

From the trees, a flock of pixies descend at a sluggish pace, circling around Astrana's head and not paying much attention to her threats. Now that they're in the light, she can see their pallid yellow flesh, sunken eyes, and fungal growths, very similar to the businessman Arel is dealing with.

And, if she looks closely, the massive hole drilled into the back of each of their heads.

The mushrooms adorning each pixie begin to glow with a dull yellow light as the mushroom circle begins to activate. If Astrana doesn't act fast, she may find herself teleported to another, more mundane fairy circle in another park.

Halfway across the city.

[UncleWolf]

Burning Tenement - Mobile Hospital

"The family name. I never heard the kid's." Noah says.

Meanwhile, Little Miss Hellstomper is looking over the designs and gadgets on Jyarl's power armor. If she can find any weapons, bonus! She'd love to get hold of a knife or a gun. >.>

Hellstomper might be able to grab onto the rapier at his side, but it seems locked into the sheathe somehow. With a sigh, he shifts his grip on her once more and decides that he had to find someone else for her to talk to. She didn't seem to be injured or traumatized, but she didn't even know her name.

"It's okay, Hellstomper, we'll figure out what's happened."

Middleton Apartments

The mage blinks, at the same spot? But Harnel picked it. She guessed that spot just was good for any type of building, couldn't be a pure coincidence.

"That's nice to hear... so how's the family? Are you still part of that... religion or have you joined another organization?" She asks.

Middleton Apartments

"Your family is doing well. Acceptance of us was mixed, but since we don't live in Hestopia for the most part, no one's truly bothered." Jezebel tells her. At the other question, she pauses and takes a few sips of her tea as she thinks. "That...is complicated." She tells Cessie, not wanting to admit a couple things. It's obviously a touchy subject with "Telly".

[Shadowcaller]

Park

Astrana would probably be the lucky one in that case considering what strange things is going on in this park. She isn't going to let such creepy pixies do anything to her without a fight though.

Sadly there really aren't pact bounds which really fits this situation except incarium ballest but she rather not burn Arel and her boyfriend to death. Instead she aims her staff at the closest pixie and fires off a beam of arcane energy and then starts running.

Arel could handle herself... right?

[Hattish Thing]

Streets Leading To Louv're Laboratories

Marciano asks Robert, Oy. What exactly can ye do? I think I'm going t' send you with me clone. See, I'm going to plan somethin'. A heist. I need you to help. You can kill stuff. Alrigh'. When we ge' back t' the laboratories I'm going to show ya aroun' an' then I'm gonna see wha' ya can do. Grantaire continues munching on his breakfast.